If you’ve been looking at sofas for months and haven’t found exactly what you’re looking for, customizing with Interior Define may be your solution. Here’s how I designed the couch of my dreams and everything you need to know about the ordering process.
It all started late one evening when I was sweating and panting from using an upholstery cleaning machine on my entire sectional sofa—for the third time in six months. Don’t get me wrong, I love our sectional. But we have three furry cats, a big dog that likes to roll around in questionably scented spots outside, and a teenager who has never been able to hold on tight to a drink glass to save his life.
I realized that my love for our current sofa was not really outweighing my ability to maintain it. I was constantly spot cleaning the fabric, spraying fabric refreshers, deep cleaning, and vacuuming stuck-on fur. I ended up going down the rabbit hole of sofas that don’t hold in dog smells and can’t be scratched by cats in online forums, and that led me to the decision to order a leather couch.
But the problem was I couldn’t find a leather couch that was exactly what I wanted. They were either the right shape but the wrong size, or the right size but the wrong color. But then I stumbled on Interior Define and the angelic trumpets started playing in my living room. Wait, no, that was just our cats screaming at me to throw a mouse toy for the thirtieth time.
Why I Chose Interior Define For Our New Sofa
The thing about Interior Define is you can completely customize the entire couch. Like, completely. From the material and color to the width, depth, and even cushion fill. This kind of design power is perfect for my control-loving self.
Now a custom-designed sofa isn’t for someone who wants what they want when they want it, because each sofa from Interior Define is made to order, meaning they don’t even start making it until you’ve finalized the ordering process and paid the nice people a big chunk of change. But in my mind, that’s a good thing. I know I’m getting exactly what I built, and I don’t mind waiting for that.
Another reason I chose Interior Define for my living room furniture is because they are now owned by Havenly. I’ve been using and working with Havenly for the last three years and I really trust their company. So when the old Interior Define closed up shop and Havenly purchased them, I knew it was in good hands.
I know there was some bad PR around ID a couple of years ago, but it seems like Havenly really worked hard to turn things around and do right by the customers they acquired. My trust in Havenly allowed me to look past the old Interior Define stigma. Everyone’s got a past we’d rather not bring up, right? Like that year you cut your own bangs?
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First things first, please, please, please order samples. I know, you’re impatient and excited, but you need to see and feel the samples before you throw down this kind of money on a custom piece of furniture. Interior Define offers free samples, so order a couple of colors in all the material types you’re considering.
2. Pick Your Sofa Style
Once your samples have arrived and you’ve decided on which one you like best, hop on the website and start by selecting the sofa style you want. Don’t worry about the color that’s shown or the type of legs it has. All that will be changed when you start the building process. For now, just look at the shape of the sofa and nothing else.
3. Design Your Custom Couch
Once you’re on the product page for the couch you want, Interior Define walks you through six steps for building your dream sofa.
Choose Fabric
This is where you choose the type of fabric or leather you want, as well as the color. Interior Define currently has over 125 fabrics and leathers in just about any color you could possibly want. If you have pets, I recommend anything from their Performance material line, or genuine leather, because they were designed with pet owners in mind.
Choose Legs
Interior Define has over 20 types of legs you can choose from, which really sets them apart from the competition in my opinion. You can choose the leg style, leg color, and whether it has a side rail or just standard legs in the corners. You can’t order samples of the legs, but if you live near a showroom, you can view them all there.
Choose Size
Next up is the size choice, and by “size” they mean the width (or length) of the sofa. Each Interior Define sofa has a standard size, or you can pay extra to make it longer. Some of their sofas’ standard sizes are longer or shorter than others, so keep that in mind while you’re browsing. Be sure to measure your space really well before making a size commitment.
Choose Depth
Your next choice is the depth of the sofa, and this is how far back you sit. Each couch they offer has a standard depth (which varies based on the style) and an upgrade option to make it deeper. If you and your family are all tall people, the depth upgrade may be a good option for you. My husband and I are on the shorter side of the vertical scale, so the depth upgrade wasn’t needed for us.
Choose Cushion Fill
This option is another cool feature that I haven’t seen many furniture stores offer. You can decide if you want a standard cushion fill made of a foam and down blend or upgrade to a down alternative instead. The down alternative is also a multi-layer foam blend but isn’t made with feathers so it doesn’t need to be fluffed and reworked occasionally. This is totally a preference thing, and I think the choice mostly depends on whether you’re getting fabric or leather.
The Ordering Process For An Interior Define Sofa
Once you’ve gone through the process of building your sofa on the Interior Define website, pop that fancy new couch in your cart and go through the checkout steps. Interior Define has a flat fee of $249 USD for delivery, and that includes White Glove service.
Be sure to measure your doorway and make sure it will actually fit before you whip out that credit card though. If it doesn’t fit, you’ll get hit with a half price charge—ouch!
According to the Interior Define website: “If the delivery team is not able to fit your order into your home, the order will be considered a return and we will refund the amount paid minus a 50% processing fee and shipping fee once your order arrives back at our facility.“
When your order is placed, you’ll get an email confirmation that it has been received and verification that the customizations you chose are confirmed. Then you just hang out and wait while your dreamy sofa is built. In the meantime, you can brag to your friends about how you’re a real-life furniture designer now and your new HGTV show is just around the corner. Kidding, kind of.
How Interior Define Sofas Are Delivered
Interior Define uses a third party delivery service to provide white glove service. When your sofa arrives at your local delivery company’s warehouse, they’ll call to schedule a date and time. The team (usually two or three people) unpacks, assembles, and hauls away the trash for you.
No struggling to squeeze a sofa through the door and straining your shoulder while trying to attach the legs. You can sit back with your favorite beverage while your furniture gets set up. Most furniture from Interior Define is delivered via white glove service, even the two small side tables and accent chairs I ordered to go with my sofa were white glove.
I love the assembly, of course, but my favorite part is that they take the boxes and trash away with them. My curbside trash pickup doesn’t take boxes that big so it’s a huge time saver to not have to cut them up and take them to the recycling center.
Quick note: make sure you have some cash on hand for delivery day to tip your delivery people. They’re doing the heavy lifting, assembly, and cleanup, and they really appreciate being recognized for their hard work.
The Exact Interior Define Sofa I Ordered
In case you’re nosey and want to know every detail of the couch I ordered to take back my time and never have to suck up dog smells and cat puke with my Green Machine again, here are the deets:
This leather is buttery smooth and even in the hot months of August and September in the south, it was comfortable and didn’t stick to my legs. I can’t even tell you how nice the quality of this sofa is, you really just have to feel it to know. The leather grain is so luxurious, the stitching is perfect, and it feels like it will last a very very long time.
Interior Define Leather Sofa Break-In Period
It took about two weeks to really break it in. The cushions arrive kind of stiff but the cushion fill and leather soften up over time. We made sure to sit in different spots for the first two weeks to break it in evenly.
One thing to note is during that two week break-in period, the back cushions flip forward quite often. They aren’t attached to the back of the sofa; instead they just sit on the back like a throw pillow. When the sofa first arrived, they back cushions just would not stay upright. But as the cushion fill loosened up they now stay in place almost all the time.
The Interior Define Chairs And Tables I Paired With My Sofa
One of the reasons we switched from our old sectional to a standard sofa was that we wanted more flexibility with our layout. We host a lot of family gatherings and having freestanding chairs that can be moved around the sofa versus one big sectional that takes up the whole room allows us so much more versatility.
The Chairs
We chose two Gwen Accent Chairs in Limestone Performance Antimicrobial Chenille with walnut legs to sit beside our sofa. The chairs are lightweight enough to move around but weighty enough to not slide around when someone sits on them. They’re nice and deep, too, so they’re perfect for my very tall brother when he comes over for game nights.
The performance chenille seemed like the best material to hold up to our cats and we knew they’d immediately take them over as their beds. When they say this is a performance material, they aren’t joking. We’ve had a coffee spill, a blood stain, and smushed chocolate come right off with Folex and a damp cloth with no stain left behind. And cat fur slides right off using a Chom Chom.
The Tables
I didn’t want to get too matchy-matchy so I ordered two different side tables from Interior Define. I needed one to go beside the sofa and the other to go in between the two Gwen chairs. There are a lot of rectangle shapes in my living room so it felt right to get round side tables to soften it up a bit.
The Locke Side Table in Light Acacia Woodsits beside our sofa and holds a large heavy-duty marble lamp. That lamp is 40 pounds, so this table is pretty strong. The acacia wood looks so luxurious and the edges are perfectly smooth. I love the unique curved legs, too. This side table is quite tall, so it works well next to a sofa. Interior Define also has a matching Locke coffee table and dining table that are both gorgeous.
The Devon Oiled Walnut Side Table lives between the Gwen Accent Chairs and it’s much shorter than the Locke Side Table. It’s great for pairing with accent chairs because of it’s height. The walnut stain is pretty dark, and the grain is turned in different directions on the tabletop to add some geometric interest. I really like the extra shelf on the bottom and I planned on keeping baskets there for storage. But our cats decided that spot was theirs so now it holds a small round cat bed.
One thing to note is that the tables didn’t have leveling feet. Our house is fifty years old and the floors are definitely not level, so I had to pick up some hammer-on leveling feet from Lowes to make them sit evenly. Not a big deal, and this is an easy fix, but just something to keep in mind if your floors aren’t level like mine.
My Honest Opinion Of The Interior Define Ordering Experience
It’s been a month since my new furniture from Interior Define arrived, so here’s my honest opinion of the whole process.
Customizing my own furniture was really fun and easy.
Communication from Interior Define was good. I received updates throughout the fulfillment process.
My estimated wait time of 12 weeks was accurate.
The delivery and white glove service was fantastic.
The material quality of the leather, fabrics, and woods are all top-notch.
The break-in process takes about two weeks to make the leather sofa comfortable.
Performance Antimicrobial Chenille withstands stains, pet fur, and cat nails with no damage at all.
Tables are sturdy but do not have leveling feet; I had to add some myself.
Save 20% on any Interior Define purchase with code “Lela20”
If you’re considering Interior Define for your new sofa or other furniture for your home, definitely order some samples just to test out the materials. The team will reach out once your samples arrive to answer any questions you have and help you decide what’s best for you. And if you live near one of their showrooms you can walk in and sit-test everything in person.
For more inspo and looks at how their furniture looks in real-life homes, head over to @interiordefine on Instagram to see photo ideas and material stain test videos. They do a great job of showcasing their furniture on Instagram and it was a big factor in my choice to order from them.
*This post is written in partnership with Interior Define, but all opinions and text are my own. I chose my own furniture and provided my honest review of all products mentioned. This post contains affiliate links and I may receive commission from purchases.
