Snug sofa review: the Rebel sofa-in-a-box tried and tested

This Snug sofa review aims to help you decide whether Snug's Rebel sofa – or indeed any of the brand's other models, be it the Cloud Sundae, Big Chill, or Little Biggie – could be the seating for you.

We've navigated the delivery process, unboxed, self-assembled, and done some all-important sitting down on the job to bring you the nitty-gritty of Snug sofa ownership, as well as comparing how a Snug sofa rates compared to some of the best sofas on the Real Homes team's radar. 

And what might be the real music to your ears is that Snug sofas and sofa beds can still be delivered in time for Christmas, as long as you order before the 21st December 2021.

*Spoiler alert* if you're looking for a quick delivery sofa without long lead times, need a stress-free sofa that can be easily be delivered to a home (or room) with awkward access, or want a sofa that is easy to pack up, pick up, and take with you when you move onto your next home, then we think this could be the seating for you.

BUY NOW:
The Rebel 1.5 Seater Snuggler, £899 at Snug
The Rebel 2 Seater Sofa, £1099 at Snug
The Rebel 3 Seater Sofa, £1299 at Snug
The Rebel 3 Seater Sofa Bed, £1839 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Small, from £2349 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Medium, from £2749 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Large, from £3149 at Snug

Snug sofa review: what is a sofa in a box?

First up, if Snug is a new name to you then it's worth a little background on what the brand is all about. 

One of the first sofa manufacturers to coin the term 'sofa-in-a-box', Snug is a predominantly online retailer (although there are some London-based showrooms for those in the South, and a Snug van is about to launch that will bring the showroom to your doorstep, wherever you are in the UK) that specialises in flat-packed sofas and sofa beds. 

Why is a sofa in a box a big deal you may be thinking? Well, in this case that means three key selling points:

• Super quick delivery. The majority of sofas come with long lead times, with many only being built when you place your order which means average waits of between 6–12 weeks from payment to delivery. Whilst there's nothing wrong with being patient, if you want to furnish your living room fast, then a sofa-in-a-box is likely to be your best bet for speedy delivery. Snug offers next-day delivery on all of its sofa and sofa bed models, making it one of the fastest sofas with quick delivery you can shop.

• Easy delivery to spaces with tricky access. A sofa in a box means the components needed to build the sofa are delivered in boxes that can easily fit through tight spaces. This is good news if you live in an apartment – or any home with awkward access – as delivery could be far simpler than trying to squeeze a ready-built sofa into your house. After all, it's not just about getting a new sofa through the front door; internal hallways, stairs, and awkward angles can all make for tricky delivery. 

• Easy assembly and disassembly if you move house. An easy to build self-assembly sofa means it's just as easy to disassemble if you want to switch up the sofa's location in your house, or to transport it to a new home, making a sofa-in-a-box a useful solution for renters and those who know a house move could be on the horizon.

However, convenience isn't everything, and style and comfort are just as important when it comes to investing in a new sofa. So does a Snug sofa deliver here too? Read on to find out!

Snug Rebel sofa review: tried and tested

The Rebel sofa is one of Snug's bestselling designs for a reason. The brand's original sofa-in-a-box design, the Rebel offers a mix of contemporary and classic design, with elegantly curved arms that give a nod to traditional period detail paired with clean lines, high legs, and a modern shape.

But, is the Snug Rebel sofa comfortable? Is it really delivered that quickly? And, can you really assemble it in only 3 minutes as the brand claim?! We put it to the test to find out.

Snug Rebel sofa: is delivery really that quick?

Snug offers free weekday daytime delivery to most mainland GB postcodes and makes life far simpler by allowing you to select your chosen delivery date from a calendar when you check out. If you're only free at weekends then it offers Saturday delivery too, although there is then a £40 delivery fee payable.

The brand also offers Next Day delivery from Tuesday to Saturday on orders placed between 8am and 1pm Monday-Friday with the same £40 delivery fee – a comparatively small price to pay if you need a sofa fast.

In our experience, the delivery process was just as hassle-free as Snug suggests, with plenty of free delivery dates to choose from within just 7 days of ordering, and great communication once our order was booked in; a 2 hour delivery time slot was confirmed the night before our delivery was due, and an exact ETA was communicated on the morning of the delivery itself, plus a courtesy call when the delivery was just a few minutes away. 

The three-seater Rebel sofa was delivered in three recyclable cardboard boxes of various sizes and weights, with the dimensions of the largest box listed on the Snug website so you can check it will fit. 

Thankfully all squeezed up the awkward stairs to my first floor apartment and into the room of my choice with no problem, although it is worth noting that although the boxes are of a manageable size for two people, they definitely aren't light, with the heaviest box containing the sofa seat frame and backrest weighing in at 36kg. The cushions came in a separate box weighing 22kg, and the armrests in the third box weighing in at 17kg. 

All of the boxes are emblazoned with Snug's tongue-in-cheek marketing, but more importantly, they are also labelled clearly with what's within each of them, and numbered to show you which box to open first when you get set to build your new sofa.

Snug Rebel sofa: how easy is it to self-assemble?

As an IKEA lover I like to think I've honed my skills in the semi-professional handling of an allen key, and I quite enjoy the odd bit of flat-pack furniture building. But, I have to admit I was pretty doubtful when I unpacked the Snug Rebel sofa assembly instructions to see that once you've unpacked the component pieces, Snug predict assembly to take just 3 minutes?! What? Surely not!

Also, there isn't an allen key in sight, as this sofa is ingeniously designed to be built entirely without tools.

Snug advises it's best to have two people on hand to build the three-seater sofa, but, as I didn't want to wait, I decided to see if I could put the sofa together myself – a handicap I think should be factored into the slightly competitive self-assembly time-trial I then entered into.

Overall, you have twelve components to assemble to build your Rebel sofa; the seat frame, backrest, two armrests, two seat cushions, two back cushions, and four legs, and it genuinely could not be simpler to slot them all into place.

First, it's a case of twisting the four legs onto the base of the seat frame, then the armrests slot into the metal brackets at the sides of the seat frame. Next, you slot the backrest into the additional slots on the back of the armrests (this part would have been easier with two as you might need to push the arms towards each other a little to line things up correctly), then its simply throwing your seat and back cushions into place. 

All in all, it took me 8 minutes to build the sofa from scratch, (which I'm blaming on the fact I made an aesthetic decision to swap two of the legs halfway through as I preferred the wood grain on one at the back and wanted it to be more visible at the front), and was genuinely one of the easiest furniture builds I've encountered. 

What's more the lack of tools and fixings means that it's super simple to disassemble and then reassemble your Snug seating again if and when you come to move house. 

Plus, the simple slot design makes it easy to swap and change your sofa configuration if you wish. The Rebel seat frame, base, and upholstery options, are the same as Snug's The Big Chill sofa, so you can switch up the arms of the sofa for a different look, or you can extend your sofa as your home, family, or bank balance expands, adding in a corner section to make it into as spacious a seat as you desire.

Are Snug sofas comfortable?

So far the Snug Rebel sofa has proved itself quick to arrive, easy to assemble, and definitely hassle-free in all aspects of delivery, but, as we all know, the most important aspect of a sofa has to be whether its comfortable or not, and I'm pleased to report the Rebel delivers on this front too. 

Despite the flat-pack build and how easy it is to slot together without tools, the sofa feels robust and sturdy, and it had plenty of testing as we carried it from one end of the apartment to the other to find the best place for it to sit. 

The seat frame itself has some bounce, and the seat cushions are crafted with pocket springs enveloped in a fibre and foam outer, so sitting on it feels like sitting on a fairly firm mattress, with plenty of spring in the seat as you sit down, and a deep enough seat that it suits both those who prefer to sit upright and those (like me) who prefer to curl up with their feet tucked onto the seat. Plus, there's enough seat depth for plenty of cushions; always a bonus in my book.

The back cushions are a softer pure foam construction, and a good height, making it a comfortable sofa to sit back against, and the armrests are high enough to rest your arm on, but low enough not to restrict your movement as you reach for a drink or snacks on a side table.

If I was being picky then I'd say that, ideally, I would like a little more squish to the sofa seat cushions as I prefer a sofa that you can really sink into, but the likelihood is that things will soften up further as the sofa gets more use (we'll keep you posted), and I have to admit my back is quite grateful for a slightly more upright posture.

We opted for the taupe velvet upholstery, and this potentially adds an extra layer of cushioning – certainly if the fabric samples are anything to go by – with the velvet options backed with a dense felt that gives an extra-plump and sumptuous feel. 

Snug Rebel sofa: which upholstery should you choose?

As already mentioned, I opted for the taupe velvet upholstery for our three-seater Rebel sofa, but you can also choose from a golden 'Turmeric' mustard yellow, a 'Warm' grey, navy blue, a warm 'Olive' green or dark 'Forest' green velvet, alongside stain-resistant teal, 'Blush' coral or mid-grey polyester weaves that have a chenille finish. 

The Cloud Sundae and Little Biggie sofas also come in a fun and colourful soft teal velvet that's great for contemporary family homes. 

Snug sends out a box of fabric samples for free, so it's well worth ordering a pack to be able to feel the softness of those velvets for yourself. 

Initially, I wasn't too sure how I would feel about the taupe colourway once it arrived, wondering if it would have too many brown or pink tones for my liking, but it is a true neutral, and although the colour will be influenced by the aspect of your room – south-facing rooms encountering more yellow-toned light than north-facing rooms – in our opinion, this is a great option to complement the moment's on-trend beige living room ideas.

In fact, style-wise, we only have two minor niggles with this sofa. One, we would like to see a few more grey upholstery options on offer, as the popularity of this versatile shade shows no signs of waning. And two, we're not huge fans of the fairly conspicuous Snug branding on the outside of each sofa arm. It makes sense that Snug wants to make its sofas readily identifiable to give your guests an insight into your good taste, but we would have preferred a more subtle means, as the branded silver metal disc does interrupt the furniture's aesthetics a little, especially if you tend to gravitate towards copper, brass, or gold tones in your decor. 

The final verdict

Overall, if you're looking for a sofa without a long lead time, and one that you can rest assured can be packed up, picked up, and easily manoeuvered into any future property, then it's hard to beat the quick, easy and hassle-free solution a Snug sofa offers. 

The Rebel sofa also offers the benefit of super simple assembly, and the versatility of being able to add (or subtract) from your sofa as your home life changes, with the option to add extra seating, and convert it into a corner sofa, or even a corner sofa bed, as and when the need arises. 

Plus, you get a comfortable and stylish sofa to boot. That makes it a win-win option for us. 

BUY NOW:
The Rebel 1.5 Seater Snuggler, £899 at Snug
The Rebel 2 Seater Sofa, £1099 at Snug
The Rebel 3 Seater Sofa, £1299 at Snug
The Rebel 3 Seater Sofa Bed, £1839 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Small, from £2349 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Medium, from £2749 at Snug
The Rebel Corner Sofa - Large, from £3149 at Snug