Monarch Sofas

I do think this is the best place around to head for sofas and couches, even though we weren’t 100% happy with our experience.
The negative part of our experience here was with the delivery time frame. Both my husband and I recalled being told a delivery date that was half the length of the actual waiting time. When we called to follow up, they were adamant that they hadn’t told us the date that we were remembering… Which I’m willing to believe, but obviously there was a miscommunication if BOTH my husband and I remembered it the same way, and they offered no way of making up for the communication breakdown.
I still would recommend this place to anyone couch-​shopping and looking for a deal. We tried consignment stores but were looking for sleeper sofas, which as it turns out are not as readily available as we were hoping. We tried retail stores like Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and Macy’s… but we ran into problems like super-​high costs, no floor models, long waiting times, and discontinued fabrics. We had none of that here.
The small showroom was no turnoff to us… We wanted something simple, just like one of the couches on the floor, and found the ordering process clear and fast. There is a big room with hundreds of fabric samples so that you’re guaranteed to find just the one you like. Then you can modify the couch dimensions almost as much as you want, so for rooms with tough dimensions or small apartments you’re still golden.
Another minor complaint was that the delivery service cannot be scheduled more than a few days in advance, and since we needed our neighbors’ cooperation to coordinate the delivery, this was a bit of an issue for us. But the delivery guys were friendly, fast, polite, and good problem-​solvers. And in the end, we are really happy with our couches! We’ve recommended this place to friends and will continue to do so… with the caveat that you should get all the details, especially the estimated delivery date, in writing!

My husband and I could not be happier! Monarch Sofa has the best customer service and the best variety of fabrics for your custom sofa. We needed a 15 foot sofa and they were able to help us do that. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. In addition, their prices are very reasonable. Again thank you Brad and Lorina!

After shopping for over a year, Monarch Sofas provided the perfect solution to our long list of sectional requirements.
The Good:
–Brad was very friendly and seamlessly handled multiple customers at the same time.
–There were thousands of fabrics to choose from.
–We were able to create a custom size that perfectly fit our living room.
–The sectional was delivered well within the promised date.
–The delivery guys were professional and on time. They also set up the sectional.
–Most importantly, they don’t use cancer causing flame retardants in their furniture!
see
for many buying tips.
The Bad:
–Brad’s personal skills were top notch. However, do not be surprised if you leave a message and don’t get a call back.
–Don’t be fooled by their «warehouse» atmosphere when walking in the door. They do this to keep their overhead costs low to pass the savings on to the customer.

Worth the wait. Make sure to ask for Brad. His professionalism and customer service is top notch.
We had ordered our sectional with all the bells and whistles during the holiday season and it took a bit longer than expected. Despite that Brad updated us every step of the way and made sure we were happy customers in the end. The sectional we ordered was not cheap but cheaper than other ‘brand’ name designer sectionals. They are designed and made in California with amazing workmanship and attention to detail. I highly recommend Monarch to those who are looking for high end sectionals/​sofas with quality and value in mind.

I needed a custom sofa made, and this place seemed reasonable while up-​and-​coming so I decided to give it a try. Customer service is really good and friendly; you feel like you’re talking to real people. Although there were a couple of issues with the fabric choices (every time I chose one, they’d say it was discontinued) they tried to make up for it by expediting my order. And when I got my sofa I was really pleased. It’s comfy, it’s stylish, and it fits really well in my space.

If you’re tired of sofa shopping from furniture stores, look no further — come customize your own to your style at Monarch! Yes, I can sell Monarch because I’m a very happy customer.
I found Monarch Sofas after a bad experience here:
Brad was super helpful. Actually, the entire staff was wonderful — Denise, Lorina, and Tyler the delivery guy. When Brad was out of office, others stepped in seamlessly. This is how a business should operate!
The showroom in Menlo Park is small, but you can find all the baseline couches on the website. You can customize everything else from there — firmness of cushions, back height, arm rest height, seat length, angle, you name it! They have tons of fabrics, different colors and textures.
We knew exactly what we wanted as my wife took tons of pictures from couches we saw at model homes. We even took measurements thanks the aforementioned bad review. I am so happy I purchased 3 items from Monarch — two sofas and an L shaped sectional. We went with the extra firm cushions for all 3 and they came out beautiful! Delivery took about 6 weeks. Each piece came out better than expected and I can’t stop raving about Monarch Sofas.
My buddy and his wife came over this week and sat on the L-​shape. They love it so much they will be calling Brad to order the exact same one!

Update! Read my first review before reading my update please so you are in the loop with the full scoop.
My new custom couch came today and I could not be happier! The waiting period took a bit longer than expected but the outcome was worth it. Let me elaborate for you because we all love life lessons. Maybe some Couch Classroom 101?
When you are creating your couch — you are the one in control. When you are waiting for your couch to be made and delivered — it’s beyond your control. There were many times this summer where I eyeballed the calender trying to figure out how long 6 – 8 weeks would be for my delivery. Okay so maybe a little compulsive calender count down action going on but I’m young and eager. The good news is I sharpened my mathematics skills through calenders and calculations ;)
May turned to June and June to July and July to August… Let’s look at the bright side.
Patience is virtue, without it you crack and crumble. You must come to a place of inner peace and contentment knowing that whoever is working on your masterpiece is doing the best they can and the fastest they can and that needs appreciation not pushiness. So, I found myself sitting Indian style on a hardwood floor in a bare living room singing crazy camp songs and patiently waiting this summer.
God works things out at the perfect timing. Consider Philippians 4:11 as a good example of how to be and look at things in life. «I am not saying this because I am in any need, for I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in»
First lesson learned: BE CONTENT!
The camp out crashed on Thursday night when I got a call from Tyler, the owner for the delivery company Monarch uses, saying my delivery was here and they had a NEXT DAY opening in the morning! His phone call lit my spirits! Next day delivery? It doesn’t get better than that! Tyler totally hooked me up with 11am delivery for Friday. He was very polite and accommodating.
Friday arrived and around 10:45 two delivery guys showed up with my couch! The man I interacted with was very friendly, calm in nature and helpful to explain the couch parts/​connector to me. Set up was QUICK — 15 minutes MAX!
Delivery team points: on time! courteous! cleaned up! helpful! quick set up! gentle with furniture!
The couch came in boxes and was carefully wrapped in layers of love. I watched as they undressed it — unraveling it’s hiding safety shell — like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon — there before my eyes was my monarch.
The moment was magical like the first fall of snow on Christmas morning — the kind you can’t take your eyes off of. Sadly though, I need to include how the green Grinch accidentally stole Christmas…
There was NO cash in the house to leave the delivery men a tip. I know tips are not mandatory but it’s polite. I do not keep cash on me and my Mom was not home so I was unable to tip them. It completely slipped my mind due to all the excitement of the couch arriving and I was unable to leave the house to go get money. I felt really bad after they left! Think of it like this, when your in hungry hippo mode and want to get your grub on but too lazy to get your butt up then you may resort to ordering take out. When the delivery person comes it’s respectful to tip them, yes? YES. The same goes for movers, delivery services and like wise. However, the story does not end with a sarcastic shout or penny-​less pout. They left at ease as they aimed to please.
Second lesson learned: BE PREPARED!
I hope that Tyler and his crew know they are deeply appreciated and heartfelt words speak volumes that gift the greatest rewards.
In closing, you best believe I took a nose dive deep into my new couch and got lost in cloud cushions as my monarch flew me to dreamland. This is what happiness feels like…
Third lesson: BE HAPPY!
You score an A if you read all that. You score an A+ if you smiled at some point while reading all that. You score extra credit if you are smiling right now! I sure am because I am enjoying life and my brand new fabulous couch. Thanks again Monarch, Tyler and his crew!
Ps. see my couch in the photo section

We ordered a sectional from Monarch Sofas and it turned out great. The fabric is a great color and the couch is comfortable. It fits perfectly in our space and we’re glad we had it custom made to fit just right. Everyone there was very helpful and had great ideas.

We looked around a lot and finally decided on Monarch because:
We liked that we could fully customize our sofa.
The price was fairly reasonable.
Quality was good.
The people that worked there were very nice and easy to work with. Contrary to some other reviews, I felt that there was a great fabric selection.
We’ve only had our sectional for a week, but we are very happy with it. The fabric looks good and it seems to be good quality. We are looking forward to enjoying our sofa for a long time!

First, we got a sofa from them and then a chair to match. Everything was great, they spend a long time explaning our options and working within our budget and needs. The sofa is great, really high quality, could not be more happy. So, we went ahead and got a chair to match, which was great too. All was on time, delivery guys did a great job getting it through the doors and setting it all up. Will be sure to get my next couch here.

Moving to a much smaller home than what I was used to meant that I had to get furniture that was the right size, style and it had to be functional. I realized that trying to get something off the shelf, or on-​line did not suit me.
My living room became a challenge. I was lucky to find small sized mid century furniture but the sofa and chairs, that were in that style either came in fabrics that I did not like, had arms that were too boxy for my small living room, sofas too wide, or was not comfortable.
I needed to find a custom sofa company to take all my requirements into consideration, and wanted to stay within budget. I first went to a custom sofa store in San Jose, their styles were very limited, and the changes I needed would cost a lot more that I anticipated, as those styles were not part of their portfolio. I then moved on to another «custom» sofa store in San Mateo, to my surprise they were more of a regular sofa store, and dabbled a little in custom that they outsourced to others. The prices were extremely out of this world, and the options were not plentiful, all this was enough to make me lose hope that I was ever going to find the right sofa.
I was persistent in my search and found Monarch Sofa. I went into the showroom on a Saturday afternoon, and did not anticipate a crowd, but to my surprise, there were quite a few people who had the same idea I had. I waited patiently to be helped by Paula. She was amazing, and knew exactly what I was talking about. She introduced me to so many fabrics choices that I became overwhelmed, however, she was such an expert, and was able to help me narrow it down to a few. I had so many great sofa options so I decided to mix it up. I wanted a tufted (diamond) sofa, that needed to be 76 inches wide, 31 inches in height (it needs to be in front of a window), sloping arms, on tapered legs etc. She was amazing! I had a few ideas about the chairs, and later she had me discuss them with Brad, and we came up with an amazing design that was all custom. I was allowed to take a few swatches home to figure out the fabric.
The process was painless and exciting. I was very impressed and was shocked at how much my total bill came up to (with so many different customizations). It was extremely reasonable, and made me feel great that I made the right decision. I was further taken a back by their amazing service: my mother was terminally ill, and I had to travel back and forth from CA to Canada. The staff at Monarch Sofa was so understanding, and so sympathetic to my needs. A few weeks after my mom passed away, I took possession of my sofa and chairs, and was so pleased with the way they turned out. They are extremely comfy, extremely great quality and perfect for our family of 5. We are very tall people and they all work great for us. Our living room is our favorite place in the house to hang out. Thanks Monarch Sofa!

Who knew that buying a sofa (as a long time married couple) would be such challenging terrain to navigate? Between Feng Shui, two wall openings, a window seat and other limitations — my husband and I went to pretty much every sofa place in SF and couldn’t find what we wanted/​needed for our living room. I found Monarch — the custom option — and they saved the day. We needed professionals of Monarch’s caliber. They helped us sift through and narrow down options and design the perfect size shape and fabric. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Monarch sofa and tho we had to make 2 trips down to Menlo Park from SF — it was well worth the effort. They’re total pros and if you can’t get what you want here it probably doesn’t exist.

I’ve worked with Monarch Sofas for a few years now, and just wanted to give anyone who visits Unilocal for business advice some of my own opinions about this company. They really are a great company, and you get so much for your money! As an Interior Designer, I have spent a fair amount of time with Tony, and other’s at the Menlo Park location, coordinating couch details, customizing specs, and coordinating the install. They are extremely accommodating to my demands, and the demands of the clients. Not only that, but their product quality is fabulous and inexpensive!
They have so many samples and different grade fabrics there. If you weren’t happy with their selection, it would have been perfectly within reason to order your own material from the Design Center since it’s not even manufactured until you order — hence «custom.»
I have to say that some of the reviews seem a little off to me, but then again, it’s probably because the reviewers had little experience ordering furniture or working to customize a sofa. Probably more used to walking into a Macy’s and ordering what’s on the floor and overpaying for it. Monarch doesn’t even compare to other companies offering the same service!
In conclusion, I highly recommend Monarch Sofas for anyone looking for a great product!
Ashley
Interior Designer @ ArcSon Design

There is nothing glitzy or glamorous about Monarch sofa. It’s just a warehouse with several sofas; however, that is why they are able to sell customize sofas at a very low price. They have a very nice selection of sofas and a wide selection of fabrics. I went to several customize sofa stores and by far they have the best prices due to their low overhead cost. When you walk-​in ask for Tony because he seems to be the most knowledgeable about the products on the floor and how to go about measuring customize sofas. Initially when I ordered the sofa there was a miscommunication with the sales rep I was dealing with and Tony jumped right into fix the issue. I am very pleased with his professionalism and how much he went out of his way to make me satisfied with the couch that I purchased. Thanks Tony for being very patient with me and providing me with excellent customer service. =) Keep up the good work!

Monarch Sofa made a beautiful sectional for us.
Tony at the Menlo Park showroom was extremely helpful.
Yes you must know how to order but with some guidance
from Tony we were able to make all the right choices.
This place is not for the person that has to see it made up to order.
It is for the customer that is savvy to ordering furniture from fabric swatches and sitting in their sample sofas for the right softness and filling.
Yes there are not a lot of fabrics but with a good eye and a little fabric experience we picked a good one. Just stick to the highest rated fabrics and look at it in the outdoor light for true coloring.
The sectional was made in USA and finished in 5 weeks!
Now that is a far cry from the furniture that is coming from China.
To top it off it was 60% less than what Restoration Hardware was offering and the style looked «exactly the same» but better quality and workmanship.
We loved the place and will never go anywhere else.
Come on people, patronize our businesses in the USA!

I don’t think these guys are as bad as folks are saying, but yes, there are some cons.
PROS
— Price comparison as other has mentioned — far more reasonable. «Warehouse» experience means, less markup from a design store. I walked in knowing what I wish I could have from Crate and Barrel, pointed to it, discussed its measurements and pricing, and we came to more couch (sleeper), to my spec colors and tweaks, for less money.
— Direct, hands-​on customization with less of a middleman. You aren’t in a mall with a sales rep who has to follow a stricter script and who can’t wiggle on anything, the price is fixed, you get to pick from a template of sizes or fabric, and that’s it, you sit back and wait. And you pay a lot of money to upgrade the fabric or change anything. You still get a middleman as long as you aren’t going to the furniture shop yourself to talk to the manufacturers but, I think this is a better experience overall because …
— You can modify fabric, upgrade and add warranties for staining, change thefeet, style, sizes of elements like arms and pillow height/​style (tufted), and upgrade the filler down, or add a sleeper. I’m sure there’s more.
CONS
— The whole thing goes down like buying a car. There is a piece of paper. Lots of phrases for the type of pillow stuffing or fabric adjustments and process on their end are thrown out, with no brochure, price sheet, etc., that is shared with you. It is only itemized on the paper if you specifically insist that it be itemized on the paper, which I did.
— Fabric selection: As others have said, they have some realllly crappy fabric selection. I disagree the swatches are too small, but I do agree they are very limited in color and texture. Also there is pricing related to the numbers but the pricing isn’t posted.
Also on the design floor they have, as others have noted, a limited selection so the fabric examples are pretty tame.
— Options you can modify are very specific, but very limited. You can modify the measurements of existing templates. But you cannot mix and match templates, and you have limits on how much you can change. There are only a handful of chair leg options, and only a handful of design styles, so it doesn’t really leave you much to work with. You pretty much get «basic couch customization» for what feels like «wholesale» pricing with a bit of markup for their trouble. For the real deal, you’d probably hire an interior designer who would have a better relationship and a rolodex of people they work with who will give you something far more unique and customizable. But that would cost you bank.
I do wonder if the LA location has a much more varied selection of fabrics and styles. Probably.
— I too got no sense of when delivery would happen, only a general time frame. However, this happens at Crate and Barrel, too, the sales rep says a range of weeks. The thing is I got emails and phone calls from the ordering system and the shipper well in advance to schedule things since they have so many deliveries to make and want to put me on a schedule, which also allowed me to plan to be home at the ideal time.
For Monarch, I paid, waited several weeks, and had to call them to warn them I’d be going out of town and which days I wouldn’t be around to receive the sofa. They then rushed to make sure they finalized the couch and got it delivered to me the day before I left, which I really appreciated, so this is definitely in their favor.
— Delivery: Like Crate and Barrel came with separate delivery fee. This is fine, only, as others mentioned, you get a call to schedule that ends with the tip hint. I would have tipped any way. Personally I felt he handled the statement professionally and nicely, so I wasn’t put off. The guy, Tyler, was very friendly and professional.
Here’s the tricky thing — Tyler shows up with a contract/​waiver. It specifically says you need to sign off on the quality of the couch BEFORE they bring it in the house. Once they unwrap it, and once they bring it in the house — the text is very clear they are not liable for it. So technically, you should unwrap the couch on the truck, look at it, and if you see issues, refuse delivery. If you see no issues, they would have to bring the couch in — unprotected — and potentially damage it or your home on the way in.
Tyler asks you to sign the sheet before he can bring in the couch. Catch 22. I called him on it. He said, sign it, they’ll bring it in, if there are issues with the couch, «we’ll deal with it then.» An issue for his company, TK Delivery Systems, and Monarch, to think about, and for you, the customer, to beware of.
Luckily there were no issues with the couch, but what if there were? They wouldn’t be liable. And, their contract is very clear that if they ding your walls or break things — they aren’t liable for the damage. So, heads up.
The delivery guys themselves were nice, they got the couch in fine, with care.

When you first drive to this location and walk in the store you can’t help but wonder if this is some fly-​by-​night operation. Put your fears to rest — these guys really know sofas and all the glitz that is missing from the show room means you get a better price. I spent several days checking out other custom built sofa shops and settled on Monarch because they were willing to work with me to get the exact sofa I wanted.
I modified the sofa length, the sitting cushions, the back rest cushions, the legs and had a matching ottoman made. I got it all for a great price. The ottoman in particular I wanted to have very specific length and width and all the other sofa places were going to charge a bundle for that modification (almost as much as the sofa itself) but Monarch worked with me and it was not problem.
The reason I knocked off 1 star is the limited models they have in their show room. I ended up ordering a model off the website and wasn’t able to see it in the show room first. This turned out to be a bit of a bad idea because the sofa is just a couple of inches higher than I would have liked and the back rest cushions are a bit more poofey than I’d like. Nevertheless I love my sofa!

The sales people are pleasant and I received (mostly) what I ordered, but this place sells some seriously awful fabric.
I ordered a sectional and a chair and asked for help in selecting fabric from the big selection of tiny squares they have. I said I wanted a nice soft woven fabric — no leather, no big prints — and was directed to one line of fabric. In fact, one of the guys just handed me a book and said, you’ll want one of these. When the fabric squares are that small, all you can judge is the color.
When the furniture finally arrived, the color was nice, but the fabric was stiff and scratchy and there was a lot of static cling. Within a day it was clear that this berry-​colored sectional was going to grab every shred of lint and dog hair from a 3-​block radius and hang on to it like a lifeline. It was the worst kind of polyester. Not soft. Not comfy. Impossible to keep nice looking, no matter how much one vacuums or uses a lint roller. About $ 3k later, I absolutely hate my furniture.
Beware the fabric choice. That’s all I’m saying.
Jan. 2013 UPDATE: The store manager, Tony, called to ask how he could help me fix the situation with my couch and chair. After reviewing my order, he didn’t think slipcovers would work, but offered to split the cost of new furniture with me. Since I still seriously hate the fabric, I’m going to take him up on it.
So, two more stars for Tony reaching out and looking for a solution. When I get new furniture, I’ll re-​post.

Great place to get a custom sofa. Knocking off 1 star because we had some issues hammering out the final price from the initial quote, and ended up paying more than we had planned. The couch we received was exactly as we had ordered though, and great quality.
Of note, we have gone through a few couch places prior to Monarch, so we definitely have a feel for the process and price. What I really liked about Monarch was that the build customization was very specific, and there wasn’t any doubt that something would be messed up, or that we didn’t know what we were getting. Every inch of customization was documented and signed, and that’s the way it should be.
The pricing is pretty reasonable (there are some really expensive couch places in San Mateo!) but it can go up quick depending on your customization. Be wary of depth changes, as they can be most costly.
The couch arrived on time and we are happy customers.