Sixpenny Gabriel Sofa Review

posted on : July 28, 2022

We ordered our Sixpenny Gabriel sofa in January of 2021, just a month after moving in to our new home. Lead times on furniture were extraordinary and, since we did not have much furniture in the house, we were very excited to find a custom sofa that we didn’t have to wait a year for!

Sofa specs:

We chose the 84″ Gabriel Sofa, with Feather Down fill. The cover is Light Weight Linen in Cracked Pepper.

Photo taken shortly after we received the sofa

Ordering & Delivery

The ordering process was very straightforward. Fabric swatches were free and quick to arrive, so I was easily able to test different fabrics and make a final decision. Within a few days of placing the order, I received an email that outlined the timeline of our sofa production and delivery. I also heard from a customer support agent who checked in to see if I had any questions. This is what I love about purchasing from small companies.

Our sofa was delivered about three months later which is relatively quick for a semi-custom sofa at the height of a pandemic. At the time, I believe it was an additional $100 for White Glove delivery, so we just opted to have it delivered at our door instead. As soon as I saw the box, I was shocked at the dimensions even though I measured many times. The sofa is very small and lightweight. We had no trouble bringing it inside ourselves.

First Impressions

Let’s start with the dimensions. The sofa is 84″ in length, 30″ in height and 33″ inches deep, with an actual seat depth of 23″. The Gabriel is more of an upright sit than our Maiden Home Dune, which is exactly what I wanted. It matches the aesthetic of our Dune while offering a less reclined option. The shallower seat depth allows your feet to touch the floor and the straighter back and back cushions keep you more upright. (You can read my review of our Maiden Home Dune here.)

At 84 inches wide, this is a three person sofa. It’s not unusual to find 4 or 5 adults sharing it when we have big gatherings, but it’s not really a family movie night kind of sofa.

While the aesthetics were nice, I quickly noticed that the sofa did not feel nearly as soft and casual as it looked. The seat cushion is very thin – just a few inches in height – and seems under-stuffed. The back cushions are rather stiff and perhaps over-stuffed. When you sit down, there really is no bounce and no squish to it. You’re just plopping on to a fairly unforgiving surface.

There was also a very noticeable crinkly sound when you moved around on it. I asked the Sixpenny team about this and this was their response:

Thank you for reaching out. The sound comes from our cotton anti-poke inner fabric that covers the cushions. We have chosen an anti-poke cover that is slightly on the thicker & tougher side to ensure the best anti-poke results, however the trade-off is that there is this slight sound. The sound is a lot less prevalent after a few week’s usage. Keep us posted on what your personal experience is and we will go from there.

The team also told me that the cushions would soften up over time. Ultimately, we decided to give the sofa a chance especially since our alternative options had 8-14 month lead times.

After One Year

We’ve had the sofa for over a year now so here’s how things are holding up:

The fabric has held up nicely. It is resistant to moisture and stains and looks as new as it did on day one. It does not pill at all. It is linen, though, so you will have to be ok with that wrinkled, lived-in look. The covers are a lot looser than the covers of our Maiden Home sofa, so they are more prone to being bunched and wrinkled with use. Ultimately, this requires more upkeep than I’d like.

Sofa is sitting here temporarily while figure out how we’d like to arrange our formal sitting area

The back cushions hold their shape pretty well. Much better than our Maiden Home Dune. I very rarely have to reshape them. I mentioned before that they are stuffed quite a bit, so I’m sure this helps. The seat cushion, however, does not. It is nearly flat in the spot that gets the most use and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to fix this. You can see how sloppy it looks.

The interior lining that causes the crinkle has softened up over time, but I can still hear it. Of course, this isn’t a big deal, but it makes the sofa sound cheap.

I also noticed that the frame is quite flimsy in places. The arms of the sofa are very narrow and seem to be nothing more than a piece of plywood wrapped in a thin layer foam. They have some give to them when you lean on them which doesn’t give me confidence in the long-term integrity of the sofa.

I mentioned, too, that the seat cushion cover and the slip cover are pretty loose. This means that they do not stay in place and it’s very difficult to adjust them. The seams are all over the place.

Overall, I think it’s a pretty piece of furniture that, unfortunately, does not feel as laid-back as it looks.

Pros:

Beautiful fabric that has held up over time with absolutely no pilling
Relaxed look, great for Coastal or California Cool styling
Made to order, by hand in the USA and by a small company with responsive customer service
Good for an upright sit – perhaps in a conversational space rather than a lounge area

Cons

Very small in scale. This is not a sofa that the whole family can curl up on. Better for an apartment or used as an occasional in a Primary Suite
Firm seat and back cushions with no bounce and no “sinking in” feeling
Plastic interior liner that is crinkly and sounds cheap
Flimsy frame that doesn’t seem like it would hold up to heavy use over time
Perhaps a little too relaxed in look that it ends up looking sloppy most of the time

So, now what?

This furniture was in our living room, a space that we use every day. It’s not ideal to have two sofas that we don’t love in a space that we use every day. We have formal sitting room that is still unfurnished, so we’ve decided to move these sofas in to that space and have ordered an RH Cloud Sofa for our living room. We spent a year mulling over the decision and looking for alternatives, but ultimately, the Cloud was more comfortable than anything else we tested. I will definitely write my full review on it after we have it!