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Summary: I’ve been loving my Sabai Essential Sofa for over two years — it’s incredibly comfortable, durable, and even works great as a guest bed. Plus, knowing it’s made from recycled velvet and FSC-certified wood, with stain-resistant and repairable features, makes me feel good about my eco-friendly, kid- and pet-friendly choice.

What I Love:

  • Sabai (founded in 2019 and a WOC-owned business) makes all of its furniture in High Point, NC, with 90 percent of the material sourced within 100 miles of the family-owned factory. Everything is made to order. 
  • Everything is nontoxic and made with recycled and upcycled fabrics. Sabai uses FSC-certified wood, Certipur-US-certified foam, and plastic-free shipping. 
  • The brand also has a buyback program—Sabai Revive—so you can trade your old Sabai in or buy a couch secondhand. 
  • This is a perfect couch for people with kids and pets! The recycled velvet is incredibly forgiving and stain-resistant. Spills, pet hair, pup claws—none of it is a match for the material.  

Things To Keep In Mind:

  • Sabai couches are an investment. The Essential Sofa now retails for $1195 (payment plans available through Klarna).
  • Because Sabai couches are made to order, there can be a long waiting time between when you order and actually receive the couch.

I don’t remember exactly where I first heard about Sabai, but it was around the time my husband and I were searching for a new couch. Our secondhand World Market sofa was seriously sagging from years of use, and before that, the cushions were already lumpy and well-worn, thanks to however many owners had loved it before we found it on Marketplace (some things are better left unasked). It was clear that both we and our couch were ready for an upgrade.

If you know me, you know I rarely buy new things. I have a hard time with price tags (“Wait, a new bedframe really costs that much?”), and I prefer furniture that feels lived-in and full of character; vintage and secondhand pieces have a warmth to them, like living in an old library. I love filling my home with unique finds that you won’t see in every store.

But after a decade of cycling through Craigslist and curbside couches, I found myself seriously eyeing the Sabai website, ready to bring something new into our home.

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Photo by Sabai

Founded in late 2019 by Phantila Phataraprasit and Caitlin Ellen, Sabai offers high-quality furniture pieces for your home, including sofas, chairs, loveseats and coffee tables. More than this though, the brand has and continues to set a new standard for earth-friendly and domestically manufactured furniture. For example, everything is made to order in High Point, NC, with 90 percent of the material sourced within 100 miles of the family-owned factory. 

“The company also cares about how the couches are made and what they are made from.”

The company also cares about how the couches are made and what they are made from. When they say no greenwashing, no chemicals, and no sacrificing values, they mean it. Sabai furniture is both nontoxic and made with recycled and upcycled fabrics. They also use FSC-certified wood, Certipur-US-certified foam, and plastic-free shipping. They’ve even launched a buyback program—Sabai Revive—and they teach customers how to repair, not replace, their furniture. 

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Sabai color swatches

So far, so good exceptional—but is the Sabai couch comfy? Expensive? Durable? Good for kids and pets and friends who need a crash pad? Sustainability and ethics aside, I was about to find out. 

I went with The Essential Sectional in Moss Recycled Velvet with the natural legs. True story: I’ve only ever owned grey couches in various shades (is this a millennial thing?), so I figured if I was going to drain my bank account, I might as well go with a fun color. Plus, my mom had a green couch in the ‘90s, so the purchase felt like an homage to her and a way to make the purchase feel a bit more meaningful. What goes around comes around, or something like that?

I paid around $1500 (😅), which is about six times more than any secondhand couch I’ve ever bought, and I used a welcome coupon for an additional $30 off. This price included taxes and shipping. It was not an easy hit to my bank account, and I wavered for about six weeks before making the purchase (with a grand mouse-click gesture followed by a gasp). 

One note—because the market and economy have changed drastically since in the past two years, this same couch is now $1995 on the website. Knowing what I know now, I would still pay the new price tag. Here’s why:

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The update email from Sabai’s team

From the moment I clicked purchase, everything with Sabai was, no exaggeration, a perfect experience. As these couches are made-to-order, I was told they were actually building and upholstering my sofa (so cool!) and to expect shipping confirmation in about four weeks from my order date. I received regular updates along the way from a kind service rep named Ben, who let me know when and why my order was delayed by about two weeks (supply chain issues, etc.) I also ordered our Sabai a week before Christmas, so bonus points to the team for the frequent updates during the holidays.

Communication rating: 10/10.

“From the moment I clicked purchase, everything with Sabai was, no exaggeration, a perfect experience. ”

Two months post-purchase, our new couch arrived in Los Angeles in the promised plastic-free packaging. This is your warning to open the boxes slowly and gently so that you don’t puncture the fabric! It took the strength of two people to get the boxed couch (I believe it came in three boxes) up the stairs to our studio apartment. It was awkward, and I sweated and cursed a lot, but we made it. It is worth noting that you may want to enlist friends or find someone on TaskRabbit to help bring it inside. 

Setup was a breeze. It took my husband and me less than an hour. I wish I had more to tell you here, but I don’t. It was simple. And better than putting together Ikea furniture (curse those little hex keys). I also loved loved loved that Sabai sent us an electronic assembly manual to save on paper. 

The real test, though? And what we likely all care about most? 

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The Sabai Essential Sofa during its first week in our home

The Sabai sofa was comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean capital C comfortable. Like $1995, made-to-order out of recycled velvet, comfortable, like my bum had been sitting on broken springs and was now sinking into a cloud. Even my husband, who swore he’d never see the reason to invest that much money in a couch, withdrew his skepticism. It was love at first sit. And we’re still smitten almost two years later. 

Since purchasing our Sabai sofa, so much has changed—our lives, the world, and even the company itself. One of the biggest shifts was moving to a new apartment, and of course, the couch came with us. While I was nervous about the move, especially with the price tag, the whole process was incredibly smooth.

We moved the sofa down a full set of stairs and then up another into our new place. Because the couch is fairly lightweight, it was super easy to disassemble, and we wrapped the cushions in blankets for added protection. Even though I was extra cautious, it was reassuring to know that the fabric is so forgiving. Any little marks or smudges that popped up during the process came out easily, which took a lot of the stress out of moving such a central piece of furniture.

“Sabai’s recycled velvet is incredibly forgiving and so easy to spot clean. ”

And we’re not easy on the sofa. Think Friday night sushi, lots of dog cuddles, and the occasional spilled red (!!) wine. Sabai’s recycled velvet is incredibly forgiving and so easy to spot clean. Our pup’s paws don’t puncture the cushions, and her hair wipes right off. 

Our couch has also been a bed for numerous guests since we don’t have a second bedroom. My mom has slept on it for an entire week, friends have regularly crashed overnight, and my husband, who used it to quarantine when he got sick, even boasts it’s more comfortable than our bed. You’d think the cushions would start to sag with all the sleeping, but I swear, they hold their shape and keep getting better! 

As for changes to the company, they’ve expanded quite a bit and have many different couch sizes and colors now, including a sectional couch and a coffee table. I love that the updated sofa design also allows for expansion, so if you opt for a smaller sofa size now, you can always add to it if your family grows. In addition to velvet, the brand has upcycled poly and an expanding color range (including neutrals and brighter colors).

Now that we’re in our new space, the couch gets a little less daytime use, but it’s still the heart of our evenings. Whether we’re winding down with a book or bingeing a show, it remains just as supportive, cozy, and inviting as the day we got it. I’m genuinely impressed with how well it’s held up—not just through everyday use, but also through a major move. It’s the kind of piece that makes a house feel like home, no matter where you are.

Overall, Sabai is one of the few brands I will continue to rave about to anyone who will listen. They are doing something incredible with their work, on the design front and for the planet. It’s comfort and ingenuity at its finest—and for me, that is worth the price tag.

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Our Sabai sofa two years later

Kayti Christian is a Senior Content Strategist at The Good Trade. With an MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing, her work has appeared in TODAY, Shondaland, and The New York Times. Since 2017, Kayti has been uncovering and reviewing the best sustainable home brands and wellness products. Her personal journey through four years of fertility treatments has inspired her to write extensively about women’s healthcare and reproductive access. Beyond her work at The Good Trade, Kayti is the creator of Feelings Not Aside, a Substack newsletter with 6,000 subscribers, and the cohost of the FriedEggs Podcast, which delves into IVF and infertility.