In the Press

For shoppers of a certain age, that need for tactile testing is a huge deal. That and an unfamiliarity with “millennial brands” that market via social media are keeping them from taking advantage of the efficient, direct-to-consumer, mostly digital companies disrupting the furniture, mattress and housewares industries.

After 40 hours researching couches from the top online furniture companies, interviewing experts on sofa construction and design, and testing seven sofas with Wirecutter staffers, we recommend BenchMade Modern.

BenchMade Modern is one of the best places to shop for sofas this year on Business Insider. The copy has it all: five-week lead time, the printout, wide color/fabric options.

When it comes to colors, the BenchMade Modern Skinny Fat Bed offers an unparalleled selection—far more options than any other bed frame we considered. This cornucopia includes hundreds of combinations of fabrics, colors, and leg finishes to mix and match. If you’re someone who wholeheartedly embraces the label of “picky,” this is the bed frame for you.

For Edgar Blazona, perfecting the process of creating high-quality American-made furniture at good prices took a few years. In 2011, Blazona borrowed $5,000 from his father-in-law to set up a small store in Berkeley called True Modern.

Edgar Blazona, BenchMade Modern, a L.A.-based firm that sells customizable sofas online: “China has changed the furniture industry forever. They came in and started shipping product that was below value, then they started training us Americans to believe that you can buy a five-piece sofa collection for $1,299.

Gear Patrol ranks BenchMade Modern’s Catwalk sofa as one of the 15 best. This site has 1.5M unique visitors per month.

Founded in 2015 by American furniture designer Edgar Blazona, BenchMade Modern is taking the online furniture industry by storm, offering sleek and cozy modern sofas tailored to your desired dimensions and style preferences and shipped directly to your door. 

Seeking to eliminate the challenges that can be associated with shopping for upholstery, Edgar Blazona launched BenchMade Modern in 2015 — a Los Angeles-based upholstery factory that sells directly to consumers online.

The Starting Small podcast dives into the heart of BenchMade Modern with Founder and President, Edgar Blazona.

During dinner-party conversation, Edgar Blazona kept hearing complaints about the drudgery of buying furniture. Long delivery times. Lack of choice.

Interior Define isn’t the only company in the custom-couch business. On BenchMade Modern’s site, you can customize the length of your sofa down to the inch. It can even make your couch in 24 hours, for a $270 fee, otherwise it will take seven days.

We love the IKEA aesthetic. We don't love that literally everyone we know has the same furniture from there. While the Scandinavian superstore totally is our design jam, we would really like to step up our homes with high quality minimalist wares from new or little known designers.

With its enhanced popularity, there has been a corresponding rise in sources and at different price points: big retailers like West Elm and Restoration Hardware's new modern division, RH Modern, online sites such as AllModern, and new upstart manufacturers, like Edgar Blazona's BenchMade Modern and True Modern, based in San Francisco.

Once upon a time, registries were a way for couples moving in together after the wedding to establish their first home. Now, with so many people choosing to live together before they tie the knot, the purpose of a registry has changed dramatically. Meanwhile, the needs of modern couples have also shifted; gone are the days when every proper household required a minimum of eight soufflé dishes.

Edgar Blazona, BenchMade Modern, a L.A.-based firm that sells customizable sofas online: “China has changed the furniture industry forever. They came in and started shipping product that was below value, then they started training us Americans to believe that you can buy a five-piece sofa collection for $1,299.

Seeking to eliminate the challenges that can be associated with shopping for upholstery, Edgar Blazona launched BenchMade Modern in 2015 — a Los Angeles-based upholstery factory that sells directly to consumers online and through a showroom in San Francisco.

BenchMade Modern makes custom, by-the-inch furniture in a very short timeframe. We deliver a custom sofa to your door in four weeks, not 14. Our disruption is changing the mindset of our manufacturing partners, pushing them to plan and prepare for a much shorter lead time than had ever existed previously in the market.

Benchmade Modern offers big, comfy couches that you'll love lounging on. You can choose the size and material from a collection and create your dream piece.

Selecting a sofa usually means figuring out what size will fit in your space, narrowing down all the options in those dimensions, and then hoping you can find the style you want in the color you desire. All followed by a loooonggg wait for your new sofa to arrive. Enter BenchMade Modern...

When DIY isn’t an option, it’s best to go bespoke. And now that you’ve already customized your closet (hello, glitter and zebra sandals) you’ve got plenty of time to rethink your interior motives. First order of business: replacing that boring second-hand sofa with something sleek, cozy and colorful. Introducing BenchMade Modern, a spanking new company designed to simplify furniture shopping with its super speedy, one-stop shop.

Finding the perfect place to call home is one thing; finding the perfect sofa to furnish it: mission impossible. San Francisco startup BenchMade Modern is rising to the challenge, offering modern sofas with your exact dimensions and color preferences. The best part? They can do it in as little as one day.

You can have a house that's the envy of the neighborhood without breaking the bank. All you need to do is find a statement piece or two for your main living space to ramp up the wow factor. The following are the best we found.

Nobody wants to wait for anything anymore, says Edgar Blazona, founder and owner of LA-based startup BenchMade Modern, which offers customizable sofas online that can be manufactured in the span of a single day.

"It's f@#$king insane, magic..... for under $2,000." BenchMade Modern makes top 6 for the day!

Say hello to your new favorite couch brand. From traditional to ultra-modern, you select a sofa style from 14 collections, select your fully customized size and material and you’re ready to go!

This plush Benchmade Modern OG Couch Potato Sofa is the perfect movie-watching sofa.

For tricky spaces, this direct-to-consumer brand allows you to pick the fabric, color, and depth of the sofa to fit your taste. What’s so cool about them is that they send you a life-size printout of the couch you selected, so you can see how it will fit in your space before beginning to make it.

A new generation of companies has turned direct-to-consumer furniture into an outlet for well-made original design.

“If you’re going for the Mid-Century Modern look, don’t randomly buy a few Mid-Century Modern pieces, throw them into your home, and call it a success,” advises Edgar Blazona, founder of BenchMade Modern. “Instead, make sure you start with an updated, modern space and gradually layer in Mid-Century Modern pieces. Focus on clean lines paired with classic, geometric shapes, and open sides. This sleek, functional look is iconic and withstands the test of time.”