Best sofa in a box 2021: Smart seats for the smallest of spaces

Best: Overall

• Sizes: 2 seater, 3 seater
• Colours available: Turmeric, blush coral, forest green velvet, mid grey, navy velvet, taupe velvet, teal
• Trial: 100 days
• Guarantee: 15 years for the frame, 1 year for manufacturing faults
• Delivery: 24 hours
• Number of boxes: 3
• Time to build: 12 minutes
• Rating: 9/10

If you’re after a deep, cosy sofa you can curl up in of an evening, look no further than the big chill – this is one of the most generously sized sofas in a box we tested, with plenty of space to sink into within its dimensions (a seat depth of 60cm, or two of those big rulers everyone had in their pencil cases at school, if you like specifics). The frame is heavy, which we found to be a sign of quality and sturdiness, and the assembly was fairly simple – the back goes on after the arms, so it takes a bit of guesswork to get this lined up, but once that’s done, you simply pile on the cushions and enjoy. There’s enough spring in the seats to feel supportive, but not so much that you find it prevents you from – as the name of the brand suggests – feeling incredibly snug.

There are three fabrics in the range – soft touch, easy care and velvet. We tested the velvet version, and although it’s not dubbed easy care specifically, it lived up to Snug’s stain-resistance claims and has stayed looking fresh and clean through months of regular use – doubly impressive when you consider we picked the taupe. Style-wise, the slight boxiness of the chunky arms and high back give this sofa a super-chic look; it’s a great all-rounder that will work with any décor scheme. But very few products are entirely perfect: we must note that we did take off one point for the small yet visible Snug logos on either side of the couch. While they’re not massively intrusive, particularly if you’re sliding your sofa into a space with walls on either side, in our living room layout one of the ends is quite obviously exposed, and we felt it distracted a little from the stylish clean lines of the overall piece.

Best: For style

• Sizes: 2 seater, 3 seater
• Colours available: Pumice, teal, shadow, vine, brick, elephant, seaglass, light grey
• Trial: 100 days
• Guarantee: 15 years for the frame, 2 years for the fabric
• Delivery: 24 hours
• Number of boxes: 3
• Time to build: 13 minutes
• Rating: 9/10

Swyft’s instructions declare that we’ll be able to build our model 02 in five minutes. In reality, it took us a bit longer, but almost half of that was unboxing all of the components; once you’ve got everything laid out in front of you, it really is a doddle. Everything clicks together with a satisfying snap and feels reassuringly sturdy once in situ. The trickiest bit was the arms, which we found a little challenging to get at the right angle for the clips they needed to be snapped into, but after a few goes we’d cracked it and were sitting on our sofa in just over 10 minutes.

With its retro pipe detailing and deep buttoning – not to mention those round bolster cushions, which really help to elevate the finished product – model 02 earned us plenty of coos from admiring visitors, all of whom complimented its vintage-inspired look. The velvet upholstery is so buttery soft we’d often find ourselves sitting watching TV and absent-mindedly stroking it. Yet despite its delicate appearance, it’s surprisingly hardy – rogue flakes of dried chocolate from a late-night snack slipped off in seconds and left no trace, and when an even worse offence – a heart-stopping stripe of white Dulux paint across the back during a DIY disaster – took place, even this wiped off easily with a damp cloth.

Our only very slight criticism is that it isn’t the deepest sofa we’ve ever sat on; while we can tuck our feet up comfortably, this won’t be right for those who really love to sink into their seat. That said, it’s this cleverly compact design that makes it just right for small spaces, so it would be unfair to count this as too much of a minus. Plus, Swyft also offers models with more generous capacity – check out model 03 for something with more squish.

Read the full Swyft model 02 review

Best: For comfort

• Sizes: 2 seater, 3 seater
• Colours available: Light grey, dark grey, midnight blue velvet, forest green velvet
• Trial: 100 days
• Guarantee: 15 years
• Delivery: 14 days
• Number of boxes: 1
• Time to build: 25 minutes
• Rating: 8/10

This is the largest of the sofas in a box we tested in this round-up – and it arrives all in one box, so if you are living in a particularly tiny flat, or up several flights of stairs, it may not be the best option for you. (Lifting said box is no joke.) If you do have space to build it, however, you’ll be rewarded with an ultra-plump, comfortable sofa that really is a joy to sit on – you can feel DFS’s decades of experience in these supportive springs.

When it comes to assembly, don’t panic if you don’t immediately see legs in the box – these are actually tucked up inside the sofa base, attached to a red ribbon to draw your attention to them (this took us longer to realise than we’d care to admit). These legs also require four screws each, whereas comparable models simply twisted into an existing hole by hand – it’s not a deal-breaker, but did bump up the minutes on our build time fairly substantially. On the other hand, the back of this sofa was the easiest to slot in of all of the models we tested, and we still came in at under 30 minutes for a sofa we’d be more than happy to keep in our living room for years; at a price this low, we still feel it represents excellent value. The blue velvet option we tested is even more vibrant in person, so would be a great pick for anyone who loves bright, eye-catching colours rather than muted tones in their homes.

Best: Value

• Sizes: 2 seater
• Colours available: Charcoal, natural
• Trial: 100 days
• Guarantee: 10 years for the frame
• Delivery: Same day or click and collect
• Number of boxes: 2
• Time to build: 12 minutes
• Rating: 7.5/10

It would be unfair to directly compare every aspect of the £250 Evie to some of its £1,200 rivals, but if you’re shopping for a sofa in a box on a budget, there’s lots to like about this one. For starters, it’s available to click and collect, and fits in a standard size car – we got it into a VW Golf, but if your back seats go all the way down, you could probably squeeze it into something even smaller. Same day delivery is also available if the Evie is available in your local store, but we found stock levels to be fluctuating, so ultimately you may end up needing a vehicle to get your hands on it, which could be a barrier for some.

This is a compact, lightweight piece of furniture – so much so that even the weaker member of our two-person team could carry various components up a set of stairs, and building it was equally amenable. All of the elements you need are cleverly stored inside the base, including the cushions, and the back slipped into place without too much force. We won’t lie and say that this feels like an incredibly luxurious addition to a room, but there are details that do make it look more expensive than it is – the wooden legs, sculpted arms and studded back add style to its substance and mean you’ll be proud to have it on display, while its slimline silhouette makes it one of the best options we’ve found for truly tight spaces. It’s definitely on the firmer side of seating, but you can still put your feet up and relax into it. For the price tag, it really is quite hard to fault.