My Article Sofa Review

Looking for a totally unbiased Article sofa review? I’ve got you! I bought one (with my own money!) and am sharing what I thought about the process and couch.

My totally unsponsored, unbiased Article sofa review!

Hi all! It’s been a bit since I’ve done a product review post, but every now and then I find a product that I just really want to write about. And my new Article sofa is one of them.

Why? Well, because I had a really hard time picking a couch out. As of writing this in June 2022, supply chain issues are still leading to MAJOR delays in furniture design and shipping. Article was one of few companies that didn’t have crazy delays (though they do have some).

I also had a hard time finding unsponsored reviews and spent a lot of time reading through comments on Reddit. Now, don’t get me wrong—I work with brands to promote their content, too. But if you don’t know the creator who is reviewing something, you might not know whether you can trust the info.

So rest assured that even if you just stumbled onto this post from Google and have no idea who I am, I bought my article sofa (and ottoman) with my own money! I was really nervous, but the TL;DR is that I am really happy with the purchase.

Why did I choose an Article sofa?

There are a lot of reasons why I chose an Article sofa, but let me walk you through the main reasons: availability, size, and style.

1. Availability & ease

Because we still have a 4-year-old kid, I wasn’t keen on getting an expensive sofa. We also have two cats that have totally destroyed our current sofa with their claws. So my plan was to just get another Ikea sofa and call it a day.

But even Ikea had a ton of stuff out of stock. After visiting an Ikea store to sit on sofas and stalking their website for a few months, I still wasn’t seeing the sofas we wanted come into stock. I was getting really frustrated.

So I visited some furniture stores in town to see what their options were. I didn’t hate some of the options, but I was also unhappy by how difficult they made the shopping and buying process.

The salesperson I worked with was super nice, but I felt totally reliant on him to tell me what I could get and when. I like the direct-to-consumer approach Article has because I feel a bit anxious in situations with salespeople. I like to take my time 🙂

Also, some of the couches at my local furniture store were backordered several months. I was okay with a bit of a backorder for the right couch, but settling for one that I only kind of liked while also paying a ton of money and waiting 4 to 6 months? Super frustrating.

2. Size

We moved into a small 1,200-square-foot house that was built in the early 60s. So, as you can imagine, the living room is tight. There is only really one place for the couch, and we were restricted to a certain length.

Most sectionals wouldn’t work, and some oversized couches were even too big. Ikea is usually my go-to for stylish smaller pieces, but like I mentioned in point number 1—everything I liked was out of stock. When you’re constrained to a sofa that is no more than about 90 inches long, it can be challenging.

Article’s pieces are well within that size range. Even a few of their sectionals would fit into that length range! This makes their pieces perfect for small, old houses; apartment living rooms; and narrow townhouses and row homes.

3. Style

And of course I love the style of Article pieces. I like buying secondhand pieces and have been buying a lot of estate sale midcentury pieces for this house. After all, that style is true to a home built in the 1960s!

However, I am not keen on buying used couches. That’s something I definitely wanted to buy new. (Even if I wanted to buy a used couch, I haven’t really seen a ton of vintage couch options that are in good condition.)

Article sofa options we considered…

There were a few different pieces I considered for this space. As I mentioned, we had a length restriction, so there are plenty of sofas I loved that just wouldn’t work for our space.

• Sven sofa; great reviews and what I associate as one of Article’s flagship couches.
• Timber sofa; love the shape and legs on this one. The sectional and corner versions are also great but sadly are a hair too big.
• Nirvana; gorgeous couch, but at only 81″ long, I thought we might be able to get one a bit bigger. The reviews about the sagging back pillows also spooked me a bit.
• Nirvana corner sectional; amazing that we could get a corner sectional that would fit our small living room! However, at $4,000, it was just not in the budget for us.

Article sofa review: Fabric, leather, or velvet with cats?

As usual for any big purchase I make, I agonized over every detail. Once we decided to get the Timber sofa, I was torn on getting fabric or leather. (Timber doesn’t come in velvet, but before we decided on that model, I was considering the Sven in velvet.)

I mentioned not wanting to invest in an expensive couch because my cats have absolutely torn up our Ikea couch. I definitely did not want that to happen again. And after reading online and talking to lots of different people, I was getting mixed feedback on whether leather was good for cats.

My grandmother told me her cats ripped her leather sofa to shreds, but another friend told me that their otherwise very scratchy cat didn’t touch their leather couch. Since I knew Blanche would tear up the fabric Timber sofa, I figured we should try to leather.

I also really liked the “charme tan” color it comes in. I would have never in a million years thought I’d be an orangey-brown leather couch gal, but it fits with this house! It’s the perfect pairing for the original wood floors.

So with an anxious pit in my stomach, I placed our order for the Charme Tan Timber Leather sofa and the matching ottoman. We already miss our sectional, so I thought adding the matching ottoman would give this a sectional lounge-y feel. (Note that as of writing this, the ottoman is still backordered, so we don’t have it yet.)

Article Charme Tan Timber Sofa review

I’ll cut to the chase—so far we love the sofa. Not long after placing the order, I received an email asking me to schedule a delivery window for early the following week. I think it ended up being only a few business days before we got it!

The gentleman who delivered the sofa was lovely and helpful. I was in a meeting at the time, so Mike actually pulled the sofa into our entryway with the delivery man’s help. It was a HUGE box. (I can’t speak to what delivery would be like for an apartment or townhome though.)

In my excitement, I actually didn’t take any pictures of the box. Sorry! But just know that the sofa came in one piece, so it was a large box. The only assembly required was screwing on the legs and unwrapping the cushions. It took about 15 minutes to get everything set up and unwrapped.

Much like you probably are, I was super nervous to order something without sitting on it first. The reviews were great, but everyone has a different comfort level.

Honestly? I think the charme tan leather timber sofa is the perfect thickness. It’s not too firm—I hate firm couches. But it also isn’t slouchy. You don’t really sink into it (like I imagine you might on the Nirvana model), but you also have some cushion, especially on the back cushions.

It looks exactly like it does online. There were no surprises with the leather’s color or finish. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that the leather was a bit more worn-looking than I’d anticipated. (I liked the worn look on the Nirvana.)

I believe that this will help the couch age gracefully. It has already weathered a few scratches, but it kind of just blends right in to the couch. I’ve tried to capture a few pictures of the scratches, but they are pretty faint. And some of these marks were already on the couch when we got it (not a bad thing, it’s just how this leather is).

And the cats? Are they scratching?

Our two cats haven’t touched the sofa! Well, they spend a lot of time sleeping on it. But they haven’t scratched it at all.

I definitely held my breath for the first few weeks. However, they have shown zero interest in the leather. If you have scratchy cats and want to try leather, I’d recommend it.

How has the Article leather sofa held up?

So far, so good. I will update this post in the future as more time passes to include any issues! As of now, I can whole-heartedly recommend the couch. The cushions have kept their shape and stay in place, imperfections seem to blend in, and it’s comfy. More to come in the future!

Pin my Article sofa review!