Crafting Sustainable Furniture With None of the Sacrifice

The brand's journey started as its founders were setting up their first apartment after finishing college and struggling to find furniture that was sustainable, and suitable for their budget.

To understand more about Sabai's mission and it's journey from idea to reality, we spoke with the brand's co-founder Phantila Phataraprasit.

Q&A with Phantila Phataraprasit, Co-Founder of Sabai

On getting started...

While we were finishing up college, we lived in a communal house and became increasingly interested in sustainable life practices. What started with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box and regular composting soon expanded to a real interest in living according to our values. When we were shopping for furniture for our first apartment, we couldn't find a first-hand option that felt sustainable in our price range. So we decided to make it ourselves.

What started with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box and regular composting soon expanded to a real interest in living according to our values.

On crafting sustainable furniture...

The big balancing act with Sabai was creating affordable offerings while still managing to utilize sustainable materials. Over the 18 months that we developed the product, there was quite a learning curve to become knowledgeable about the best practices and materials in the industry. Ultimately, it was just about putting in the time and committing to research to find the best possible materials at our price point. We want to be at the forefront of sustainability, and I think we've succeeded so far - but it is certainly a long game, and at times it takes a lot of convincing to move suppliers in the right direction. The journey is never quite over. It's important to remain up to date and continue to audit our materials and the industry to remain informed about best practices.

Ultimately, it was just about putting in the time and committing to research to find the best possible materials at our price point.

On researching the market...

To be honest, nothing really surprised us. That's one of the nice parts about furniture. Despite not being experienced in the industry - we were quite well versed as consumers. I think that knowledge that everyone is imbued with as a furniture customer allows for the furniture industry to really be quite intuitive, so despite doing comprehensive market research, there were no big surprises about customer preferences and thoughts on existing brands.

On making furniture that can move and grow with you...

This has absolutely informed our goals with our product and has been a big part of the conversation when we discuss how we can be more sustainable. We understand that life can be unpredictable, and have built a product that speaks to it. Though it has been tested (and approved) for 10 years of use, our flat pack assembly allows for parts to be switched out with ease as they have regular wear and tear. Beyond that - we have continued to iterate on the design in order to improve how much of the piece can be recycled, if it comes to that. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure no Sabai sofa ends up in a landfill.

We understand that life can be unpredictable, and have built a product that speaks to it.

On Sabai's mission...

Sabai's mission is to offer sustainable furniture with none of the sacrifice.