Couch in Fremont creates custom sofas for you to curl up on -- at surprising prices

Buying a couch seems like a simple thing, but it's really not. At least, it's not for me. I'm slightly commitment-phobic when it comes to choosing a couch. It's the focal point of the room, and it's got to be comfortable and cool at the same time. That's a lot of pressure.

Most of the modern styles that I like are usually way outside my price range. Or so I thought until I stumbled upon Couch, a shop in Fremont that will custom make more than 200 models of couches at affordable prices.

Open since June, Couch is the result of owner Ameer Radwan's discovery of his interest in furniture and interior design after he helped his parents decorate their flat in Cairo, Egypt. Radwan works with a small factory in Los Angeles that is able to recreate any design that he sends them -- at any size the customer specifies.

On the day that I visited the store, Radwan was supervising the delivery a double-sided tufted Chesterfield-style "Cassandra" sofa. He informed me that this sofa would have cost more than $6,000 elsewhere, and he was able to have it made for $3,200. A classic single-sided Cassandra runs about $1,335.

Many of Couch's sofas are derivations of styles found at other stores. Radwan modifies the designs slightly to make them his own and offers them at a fraction of the price. His $1,190 Roberto model is similar to a sofa made by an Italian company that goes for more than $10,000.

My favorite is the "je ne sais quoi" in a nubby tweed. The one at the showroom is "condo-sized" (more like a love seat), and goes for $1,000. Radwan points out that all of his couches can be created in whatever size or fabric the customer desires. They can even be made into sectionals or chairs.

Radwan is proud to be able to provide eco-friendly couches as well. He tells me that to be considered eco-friendly, a couch must be made with Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood, organic latex instead of standard polyurethane foam, and water-based glues and stains on any exposed wood, as well as sustainable, non-chemically treated fabrics. An eco-friendly sofa from Couch will run you about $2,000, much less than the $5,000 $7,000 his competitors ask.

Turnaround time for a sofa is about a month, and delivery charges are extra -- around $45 per seat for delivery from the factory in California. Pickup at the store in Fremont is free, but Couch can deliver a sofa to your house for an additional $30, if you live in the city of Seattle.

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