100 Sofas, One Method

The 8-foot fabric sofa is the centerpiece of almost every living room, and the hardest piece to buy with confidence. Most of us spend months looking at one, then buy it in an afternoon after sitting on it for about ninety seconds.

That is the habit I trained out of my staff. I do not have interns wandering New York, bouncing on sofas and announcing that they are comfy. A showroom sofa is engineered to make a good impression, and it has had plenty of practice. So we read the specs first, using FS05™: Frame, Suspension, Cushion, Fabric and Design. That weeds out most of them. Only then do we go and sit, and only on the few that earned the trip.

Now I am grading 100 popular sofas in public, one at a time, to see whether the method holds up outside my studio. Learn the rhythm once and it travels with you: to the Marché aux Puces in Paris, to Lulu & Georgia from your couch, or to a Goodwill in Poughkeepsie.