These new sofas are the colorful, cool antidote to every boring couch you've seen online - they start at $1,599 and max out at $2,995 for a sectional

Advertisement
These new sofas are the colorful, cool antidote to every boring couch you've seen online - they start at $1,599 and max out at $2,995 for a sectional

ClareVSofaLifestyle

The Inside

The Modern Sofa, $1,600.

Advertisement

Digital furniture startup The Inside has launched its first-ever sofa collection.

If you're familiar with The Inside, the name probably conjures up images of bold prints, bright colors, and exclusive collaborations with high-end designers. What's perhaps less obvious about its sophisticated furniture, though, is that everything (so far, at least) is under $3,000.

The company's ethos is to go "beyond the beige," which is really more about increasing the diversity of budget-friendly options than convincing people to live inside a snow globe of Wes Anderson color palettes.

After years of working in interior design, The Inside co-founder and CEO Christiane Lemieux (formerly the executive creative director of Wayfair) explained to Business Insider that she'd noticed an recurring problem in the industry, characterized by the blandness of affordable options. In Lemieux's words, "Personal and interesting furniture options did not exist for everyone."

Advertisement

The Inside emphasizes affordable customization as an antidote, and its sofa launch is the latest in its efforts to give the people what they want: more options.

Altogether, there are six sofa styles (starting at $1,599) and over 100 fabrics for shoppers to choose from to complement their personal style.

In the sofa collection, as in all The Inside furniture orders, customers get to experience an affordable, digitized version of the otherwise unattainable interior designer experience.You pick everything: the style of sofa, the pattern and fabric, and, when applicable, the metal framing. Then, the sofa is made from scratch and shipped to your door in four weeks free of charge. For smaller products like ottomans and benches, the turn-around time is three weeks.

ModernSectionalLifestyle_01

The Inside

The Modern Sectional, $2,500.

The Inside sofas are available in the company's 100+ fabrics, including exclusive collaboration prints from Scalamandré, SF Girl by Bay (the original Pinfluencer), Refinery29's Christene Barberich, Homepolish's Katherine Carter, and fashion designers Peter Som and Clare V.

Advertisement

Shoppers from diverse aesthetics - from modern to traditional, maximalist to bohemian, and everything in between - should be able to create something unique that they love on the site. As Lemieux notes, The Inside avoids the siloing of style. "It's less about your preferred pattern or color - because we do offer beige options! - and instead about giving people the freedom to choose beyond the same two or three sofa options, by providing access to more than 100 fabrics."

In other words, The Inside wants to bridge the gap between what you save on your Pinterest as aspirational, and what you are actually able to execute on your own.

How do they do it? The beige couch problem is, fundamentally, an inventory problem. Since other retailers have to store their furniture, the "drab and uninspired" tend to win the decor war for their simple functionality. Since The Inside doesn't carry inventory or have middlemen, it's possible to make high-quality home decor on demand at reasonable prices. All furniture is made from scratch, and to cut expensive traditional photography, the company's photos are 3D rendered instead.

If you want to see the fabrics in your own home, you can order swatches for $1 each with free shipping. And if you love the idea of playing with color and going with a Scalamandre zebra print À la the Royal Tenenbaums - but you're not sure how - just email hi@theinside.com for free personalized design advice. If your questions are more in-depth than simple color-matching, they'll be passed along to the team's veteran designers to weigh in.

Perhaps due to a resourceful business model, a lean and passionate team, or its playful collaborations with big names priced for small budgets, but The Inside feels more like a collaborative passion project than another face in the D2C home decor space. Like watching Meryl Streep play a dynamic character role, the sense of fun is palpable from behind the screen. This love of interior design - and the symptomatic desire to give more people the freedom to design a space that feels like them - is again present in its take on sofas, the de-facto centerpiece of a home.

Advertisement

Shop The Inside debut sofa collection.

Keep scrolling to see all the styles offered in the launch:

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Find all the best offers at our Coupons page.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

{{}}

Mid-Century Sofa, $2,100

Mid-Century Sofa, $2,100
See the Mid-Century Sofa in over 100 patterns >>

Modern Sofa, $1,599

Modern Sofa, $1,599
See the Modern Sofa in over 100 patterns >>
Advertisement

Modern Sectional, $2,495

Modern Sectional, $2,495
See the Modern Sectional in over 100 patterns >>

Slipcover Sofa, $1,899

Slipcover Sofa, $1,899
See the Slipcover Sofa in over 100 patterns >>
Advertisement

Tailored Sleeper Sofa, $1,999

Tailored Sleeper Sofa, $1,999
See the Tailored Sleeper Sofa in over 100 patterns >>

Slipcover Sectional, $2,995

Slipcover Sectional, $2,995
See the Slipcover Section in over 100 patterns >>
Advertisement