The sun sets on a long, tiring day of moving all of my possessions across town, from my apartment of 3 years to a home in the suburbs. We did it. Our first home. As we plopped down on our passed down loveseat that’d seen us through the past five years, controllers in hand, we knew that a new couch would probably be one of our first furniture purchases.
Weeks of gaming and watching TV on our old couch coincided with weeks of researching. Loveseats, sofas, sectionals…colors, fabric, style. We spent weeks researching. Until we came across, what we think, was the one. Meet Burrow.
A couple of things sold us on the couch – the style, the color, the return policy, the stain resistant fabric, the hidden USB hub…and probably most important of all, the price – I could go on. And I will.
So here’s my review of the Burrow couch!
Burrow Couch review
The Burrow couch is a modular sofa aimed at a generation of couch buyers who are completely ok with shopping for their furniture online…remember that old directory book that was…yellow? Something about letting your fingers do the walking? Yeah, that generation. Oh, wait.
When I came across the Burrow couch, I reached out to the company’s founder and he lent me a few moments of his time to chat about Burrow – at that time the couch was still in pre-production. I learnt a bit about his motivation for launch Burrow; he too was frustrated with the traditional way of couch shopping, so he decided to do something about it. You can read more about the startup history of Burrow here.
If you’ve heard of the “mattress in a box” companies such as Casper, Purple, or Tuft & Needle (the one my wife and I ended up coming with) then the concept of a couch in a box/direct to consumer model should be pretty familiar. And because I’d just bought a mattress in a box, and it was a rather pleasant experience, I started searching for the next biggest piece of furniture – sofas.
This is not your grandma’s couch.
The Burrow couch review is in video format which you can watch below:
Design
The traditional couch buying process is tedious…from IKEA to West Elm we visited several different furniture stores – and the first test each couch had to pass was my wife and I’s design test. Myself being a designer by trade, and my wife a designer by association, this was a lot easier than it sounded.
The Burrow couch features a mid-century design by Leah K.S. Amick, an award-winning furniture designer most known for the elegance in which she combines form and function. Bottom line: the couch looks stunning.
I opted for the charcoal-gray color, the fabric is stain-resistant and for bonus points it’s removable and washable as well; there are currently 4 other colors to choose from: Crushed Gravel, Beige, Navy Blue, and, Brick Red. The sofa has chemical-free fabric and contains high-density foam core to help the cushions maintain their shape over time.
The USB/Power is a power cube that’s attached to the bottom of the couch, it has 2 USB ports and 3 AC outlets – because the couch blocks two of my outlets, this convenience factor is a pretty nice addition.
Assembly
The couch arrived at our front door in 4 boxes. I was able to move these from the front door to the garage, and subsequently the living room without much help, but it’ll definitely take two people to move these up stairs (one thing I don’t miss about apartment living). It’s worth noting that the boxes have handles and are fairly skinny, so they can fit through most doorways. The boxes are held together with some plastic latch-like mechanisms – so, bonus points, no tape or staples to fuss with, which I really appreciated.
As for when it came time to put the Burrow together, I needed zero tools. Let me repeat…zero. Tools. This is easily the least complex piece of furniture I’ve ever had to assemble. Most times when a box proudly displays “no tools required” it’s because they’ve included an allen wrench – so with that in mind, I lugged my toolbox with me fully prepared to get to screwin’ and wrenchin’.
Though the sofa arrives in multiple boxes, the essential pieces are pre-assembled: the back, bottom, and cushions, so you simply align the pieces, lock them in place with the industrial latches (rated for 800 pounds), and you’re pretty much done. My wife and I completed the assembly in about 15 minutes, and as I think back on it I still can’t believe it.
Comfort
Being 6’4″, I wanted something I could lay down comfortably on when it came time for sprawling out, yet something firm I could sit up against in the heat of battle. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Burrow couch allowed for both.
My wife and I have logged several hours playing games and watching movies on the Burrow couch – and for that, it’s phenomenal. The cushions feel firm, yet soft so you don’t sink in but it’s plush enough to where you don’t feel like you’re sitting on a lawn chair. That being said though, don’t skimp on throw pillows – they made our sofa much more comfortable.
The angle of the back rest is a little low for me, so I needed a few of those pillows when I sit up to game – my wife on the other hand said it was perfect for her. And as for the seat depth, it got no complaints from either of us.
Quality
Having a German Shepherd Lab mix means fur, everywhere. So this factored heavily into our couch shopping – we wanted a couch that would be easy to clean at the very least, and resistant to pet hair if at all possible. The Burrow couch, while being stain resistant, made no mention of the latter but to our surprise, the couch has held up well against it and we’ve only had to whip out the lint roller once in the few weeks since we’ve been using the couch. Full disclosure: Scout’s not allowed on furniture, and he knows it.
Though we did not extensively test the couch’s stain resistance, because I’m rather clumsy by nature I’ve spilled some lemonade (sorry, Yoncé), tea (sorry, Kermit), and some Chik-fil-A sauce on the sofa – and I’ll be damned, there’s zero trace of said mishaps.
This sofa has seen a lot of action, and is holding up quote well, in short the Burrow couch is a work of craftsmanship.
Final Verdict
Is it possible to fall in love with a piece of furniture? I’d argue that it is. Everything from the initial assembly to the comfort and functionality of the Burrow couch made it the perfect couch for my wife and I. Those who live a more nomadic lifestyle or live in apartments will be pleased with the modular design, and relieved when it comes time to pack up and go.
As for pricing, the 1-seater will run you $550, the 2-seater is $750, the 3-seater is $950, and the 4-seater is $1,150. If you’re familiar with quality sofa prices, you most likely gawked at the price as I did – being that most of the couches I looked at on Wayfair, West Elm, Lovesac, and others started out at almost double that.
I’d hope to see corner pieces and ottomans, maybe even throws, rugs, and other furniture as well – I was so pleased with my experience I’m ready to furnish my entire living room with Burrow furniture.
Thanks to the Burrow team for sending over this couch for the purpose of this review. You can find out more about the Burrow couch here, and if you have any questions about the review leave a comment below.
