Sabai Design

Sabai Design is a direct-to-consumer furniture company that makes sofas, sectionals, sleepers, loveseats, chairs and ottomans from recycled and natural materials, positioned at a price point below existing high-end sustainable furniture brands. The company was founded in 2019 by Phantila Phataraprasit (CEO) and Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen after the two, who met as undergraduates at Columbia University, found no affordable and sustainable options when furnishing their first post-college apartments.

Products are made to order, use recycled and upcycled fabrics such as recycled velvet, upcycled poly and hemp blends, and ship without plastic packaging. Materials and manufacturing are sourced locally, which the company credits for shorter lead times — roughly four weeks to delivery versus three to four months typical of the category — and for reduced supply-chain disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two circularity programs sit alongside the core catalog: Repair Don't Replace, which lets customers disassemble a piece and buy replacement components rather than discarding the whole item, and Sabai Revive, a guaranteed buy-back under which the company takes back furniture, resells it, and returns a share of the proceeds to the customer. Refurbished pieces are offered as a lower-priced line.