First off, thank you so much for all your support/kind words/orders on the launch of the Room Service sofa collection last week. We are so proud of the pieces, and many of you have already purchased (thank you, thank you). If you are in California and it was “unable to ship to your zip code”, I’m so sorry!!! It is now fixed (it was a site-wide tech issue – I was low-key FREAKING OUT, lol). And listen, the landing page doesn’t populate my favorite photos because I used too many props in the shots, so please don’t just look at the thumbnails – click in and see what they look like in a room. We weren’t able to shoot all colorways, so please excuse the renders until we can. Also, if you are concerned about stock issues and want to wait for a sale, yes, some are selling out, but they are made in America, and we think it would be just a matter of a couple of weeks to make them, so don’t give up or get discouraged. But that’s not why we are here. Today I’m showing you all the pieces that got to the end, and we even shot them, but we nixed them because we simply didn’t LOVE them enough. Since this was our first go at furniture design, we tried some things that just didn’t work, and I thought it would be fun to talk through why :)

The Bearcat

While we likely would have changed the name (I mean, we didn’t with the “Barb” so who knows:)), this chair just wasn’t special enough and it didn’t sit right (the back was too vertical). I think the arms were meant to be more pill-shaped, but even with that, it was just fine, but I wasn’t thrilled with it. For the launch, we wanted to be excited about each piece, to want to use them so badly that we already had places in mind for them.

Of course, it doesn’t help that it’s a neutral that is on the more boring side, but all in all, it wasn’t a “hell yes,” so it was a no. I just felt that this chair could be sold in many other places (or a lot of places), falling into the “too generic” category for me. By the way, I think this one was originally designed by me with a dumb, rough sketch.

My whole thing is that if this chair were going to be $350, then it’s fine enough, but it wasn’t.

Bearcat is better in a velvet rust for sure.

The Bert

Oh Bert. I wanted to love you because he is COMFORTABLE. We designed these for my brother’s living room (to do a big sofa, a smaller sofa + 2 swivel chairs that could be turned to see the view). And Ken really liked Bert, actually.

But again, I just didn’t love it enough. The tone of the wood was too shiny – I didn’t like how they came off the chair, and yet couldn’t put my finger on how to make it better.

I agree that I could use this in many different rooms (and the scale of these was great – super generous), but they weren’t elegant enough for a living room (probably fine for a game room?).

The Bennett (Old Version)

Now, before you get too sad, this sofa was pretty great; we just redesigned it to be WAY better. I didn’t love how the front knife edge cushion popped up off the base. We could have solved it with more of a feather-style foam insert, but it would be a lot floppier. And our manufacturer was concerned that just too much room for error in the execution of that seam in this design (and remember, we are trying to keep these still on the more affordable end). I loved the cushions in the back. But we redesigned the seat cushions to be squared off and simpler.

Additionally, the middle seat wasn’t deep enough. The two chaises were, but the people in the middle were going to have to sit far too vertically for a TV watching sectional. I also didn’t love the foam in this one, and so our manufacturer re-did the foam recipe to be way more comfortable (not initially crazy sink-in-able, but soft and will hold its shape for years).

The base is so pretty and solid – pretty from the back, even. And those chunky arms make it so easy to lounge (or even set a glass on).

The new redesigned Bennett arrived last week (I flew down and approved the sample in person a month ago), and we JUST shot it at my brother’s house. It’s awesome. So comfortable, chunky, solid with fantastic proportions. This one is the most expensive, but you basically don’t need any other piece of furniture in your TV room – it’s massive! We are still selling the new version of the Bennett in this pretty “cub” velvet, a really soft green linen blend (great for kids and dog hair – that’s what my brother got!), and a blue velvet. Here is what the new one looks like:

That green linen blend is really soft (for linen), and it’s incredibly plop-in-able. The first version was too bouncy, and the cushions sprang up too much when you landed – all fixed. I was truly obsessed with the comfort of them all and how they “sat”. Read the first post where I go into detail and talk through the comfort levels (some are designed more for lounging, some more for conversation/sitting).

The Milo (The Rust Fabric)

Now, this one we just nixed this colorway in the Milo because we had a similar Otto in the same color (and same size). It felt a bit redundant, but I still really liked it.

We all really like this color (and it’s really soft), so who knows – if it becomes really popular, we’ll add more colors. Remember that the Milo is both a sofa and a sectional, and it comes in a few different colors in each.

I also think he has nice lines from the back :) No big seams and a nice step up to the back.

I hope this post helps you understand how much we cared about the design and comfort of this line of furniture. While we, of course, are not the manufacturer, we didn’t approve any samples that weren’t exactly what we thought they should be for the price. We designed these and have handed off the manufacturing to Sean and Clay’s team, who are executing our design. And by using Wayfair as the supplier/shipper, I hope you can get them fast without a big delivery fee (often free). Please let us know any questions in the comments!! xx

*Photos by Kaitlin Green