This interview is with Marissa Burrett, Lead Designer, Dreamsofa.
Marissa, as the Lead Designer at a digitally native custom furniture brand, how do you describe your design philosophy and the kind of custom work you lead day-to-day for clients?
As Lead Designer at DreamSofa, my philosophy is simple: furniture should be built around how people actually live, not the other way around. A sofa is often the anchor of the room, so every design decision has to balance comfort, proportion, and personality. When a piece fits the scale of the room and the rhythm of daily life, the whole space instantly feels more intentional.
Day to day, I work closely with clients to translate their vision into something truly custom. That might mean:
- Adjusting seat depth for a taller homeowner,
- Refining arm profiles to suit a modern interior, or
- Selecting fabrics that can stand up to pets and real family life.
The beauty of custom furniture is that small design decisions add up to a piece that feels completely personal and impossible to replicate off the shelf.
At a digitally native brand like DreamSofa, the goal is to give clients the freedom of a designer showroom without the intimidation or the wait times. My job is to guide people through that process so their sofa doesn’t just look beautiful in photos but also becomes the piece everyone gravitates toward in the room.
What pivotal experiences shaped your path to leading design in an internet-first furniture company, and how did they influence how you approach custom projects and client consultations?
A big turning point for me was seeing how often people struggled to find a sofa that actually fit their home. They would visit multiple showrooms, fall in love with a design, and then realize it was too deep, too large, or offered only one fabric. That disconnect between what people want and what traditional furniture retail offers pushed me toward custom design.
Working closely with homeowners over the years also shaped my approach. When you spend time understanding how someone lives in their space, whether they host frequently, have pets, or need a family-friendly layout, you start designing very differently. A sofa stops being just a product and becomes a solution tailored to their lifestyle.
That experience is what I bring to DreamSofa. In an internet-first brand, the consultation process becomes even more important. My role is to translate a client’s ideas into clear design choices such as proportions, cushion firmness, and fabrics so the finished piece feels thoughtful and personal, not generic.
When a client approaches DreamSofa for a custom piece, how do you translate their lifestyle and inspiration into a precise spec sheet that engineers and upholsterers can confidently build from?
When a client comes to DreamSofa with an idea, the first thing I try to understand is how the sofa will actually be used. Are they hosting friends every weekend, stretching out for movie nights, or designing a formal living room that’s more about aesthetics than lounging? Those lifestyle cues immediately influence decisions like seat depth, cushion density, arm style, and overall scale.
From there, inspiration gets translated into measurable details. A client might say they want something “modern but cozy,” which in design terms could mean a lower profile, slightly deeper seats, softer edges, and a textured performance fabric. I turn those preferences into clear specifications such as dimensions, frame structure, cushion construction, and fabric selections so our engineers and upholsterers know exactly what they’re building.
The key is precision. Custom furniture only works when creativity is paired with technical clarity. By the time the spec sheet leaves my desk, every detail from seat height to seam placement is defined so the finished sofa looks exactly like the vision the client started with.
In the first 30 minutes of a virtual design consultation, what do you do to align a client’s aesthetic goals with ergonomics and room constraints so decisions feel clear and informed?
In the first few minutes, I focus on how the room actually functions. I ask clients how they use the space day-to-day. Do they lounge for movie nights, host often, or need something more formal? That immediately guides decisions around seat depth, cushion firmness, and sofa scale.
Next, we look at the room itself. I review measurements, traffic flow, and surrounding furniture so the piece fits naturally without crowding the space. A beautiful sofa can still fail if it blocks pathways or overwhelms the room.
Once lifestyle and layout are clear, the aesthetic choices become much easier. I can recommend the right proportions, arm profile, and fabric palette so the sofa feels intentional in the space while still delivering real comfort. In about 30 minutes, the goal is to turn a vague idea into a clear direction that clients feel confident moving forward with.
Which digital tools or workflows have most reduced revisions and decision fatigue in your custom sofa process, and why do they work so well for online clients?
The biggest revision-killers are visual clarity, guided choices, and tight specifications. For us, that means detailed configurators, curated fabric swatches, room-based sizing guidance, and structured consultation notes that turn taste into buildable decisions quickly.
Digital tools work best when they reduce open-ended choices. Most clients do not want fifty versions of the same sofa; they want someone to narrow the field intelligently. When we guide them through scale, seat depth, arm style, and fabric in the right order, decision fatigue drops immediately.
What really helps online clients is that every choice becomes easier to picture and easier to approve. If a client can see the silhouette, understand the dimensions, compare swatches, and connect each option back to how they live, revisions become far less likely. Good digital workflow is not about giving people more options; it is about giving them more confidence.
How do you design for luxury and child-safety at the same time when selecting frames, fabrics, and finishes for family homes without sacrificing elegance?
Luxury and child-friendly design start with the frame. I usually specify kiln-dried hardwood frames with reinforced joints because stability is the foundation of both durability and safety. From there, I soften the silhouette slightly with padded arms or rounded edges so the piece feels refined but avoids hard impact points.
Fabric is where elegance and practicality really meet. Performance velvets, tightly woven linens, and stain-resistant textiles look luxurious but can handle spills and everyday family life.
The goal is subtlety. A well-designed family sofa should look elegant first and simply happen to be durable and safe enough for real life.
What construction standards or material choices give you the confidence to offer a lifetime warranty on custom sofas, and how might smaller studios adopt similar practices?
Confidence in a lifetime warranty starts with the frame. If the internal structure is right, the sofa will outlast trends and upholstery. I rely on kiln-dried hardwood frames with reinforced joinery because they resist warping, loosening, and long-term structural fatigue.
Suspension and cushions matter just as much. High-gauge steel springs, durable webbing, and high-resilience foam cores keep the sofa supportive even after years of daily use. When those internal components are engineered properly, the comfort holds up as well as the structure.
For smaller studios, the lesson is simple: invest in fewer but better materials and standardize construction methods. A strong frame, reliable suspension, and quality foam will do more for longevity than any decorative detail ever could.
What advice would you give design leaders on structuring a 100-day return policy for custom furniture that maintains client trust without eroding margins or sustainability?
A 100-day return policy only works if the design process minimizes surprises. The real strategy is front-loading clarity. Detailed consultations, accurate sizing guidance, and physical fabric swatches dramatically reduce the chances that a client receives something that feels different from what they imagined.
I also believe returns should focus on genuine fit issues rather than indecision. If the scale or comfort doesn’t work in the space, a thoughtful exchange or reconfiguration keeps trust intact while preventing unnecessary waste.
For design leaders, the balance is transparency and precision. When clients clearly understand dimensions, materials, and comfort before the sofa is built, returns become rare. The policy then becomes a trust signal rather than a cost center.
Looking ahead, how will insights from consultations, returns, and warranty claims shape the next generation of custom design and interior services at an online-first brand?
For an online-first brand, consultations, returns, and warranty claims are incredibly valuable design feedback. They show exactly where expectations and real-life use don’t align. If we repeatedly see clients asking for deeper seating or reporting that a sofa feels firmer than expected, that insight quickly shapes future design standards.
Returns and warranty data also improve how we guide clients during consultations. Patterns around sizing, comfort, or fabric durability help us refine recommendations and prevent the same issues before they happen.
The future of custom furniture will be driven by this feedback loop. Real client behavior will continue shaping better designs, clearer guidance, and a smoother online buying experience.