One of the most innovative companies to enter the furniture market in the past several years is Burrow. The brand made waves when it launched in 2017 for its direct-to-consumer model and highly modular couches and seating. We’re big fans of the brand, naming it a pick in our guide to the best couch.
As we detail in our Burrow furniture review, each Burrow piece is made to grow, shrink, or rearrange to fit your current lifestyle and living space. For example, if you currently live in a home that has room for a four-seat sectional, but then move to an apartment with much less room, you can take out the center pieces of your Burrow sectional and make a smaller love seat. Or, if you move to a bigger place, you can buy additional sections to make your couch larger. It’s a great option for people like me who move around a lot and haven’t yet settled into their “forever home.”
I already own and love a Burrow Nomad sofa, so when the brand reached out to me about its outdoor collection, I knew I had to give it a try. Read on to learn more about my experience testing the Burrow Relay 4-Piece Outdoor Sofa Set.
Burrow Relay Outdoor 4-Piece Sofa
This modular outdoor sofa set can be arranged in numerous ways to fit in your backyard space. It’s incredibly comfortable and has a strong, durable frame.
Specs and price
Lauren Savoie/Insider
Burrow’s Relay collection features the same modularity as the brand’s other seating. At the time I tested, Burrow was offering the Relay in a set with a coffee table and five sections that can be mixed and matched. Now, it looks like there’s no ottoman option and you have to buy the coffee table separately. All the sets work the same way, however: For each piece, you use the included metal clamps to either link the sections as one large couch, or you can arrange them as several smaller seating pieces.
All the pieces in the collection are made from galvanized, powder coated steel with porous foam cushions encased in all-weather fabric. Each seat measures 28 inches wide, 32 inches deep, and 33 inches tall.
In terms of price, Burrow’s outdoor furniture falls in the middle of the range. You can expect to pay $2,000 to $4,000 for a full Burrow patio set and about $500 and up for individual pieces. This is certainly more than you’ll find at budget retailers like Amazon, Ikea, or Target, but less expensive than other premium outdoor furniture retailers like Outer and Ballard Designs. I’d say it comes closest in price to Yardbird. (You can read our Yardbird review for more info on what we think of that brand.)
Setup
Lauren Savoie/Insider
My Relay set arrived in two shipments: the first contained only the coffee table, which assembled in just two minutes. A few weeks later, I arrived home from the grocery store to find a comically large pile of boxes in front of my garage. For each section of the couch, Burrow sent two boxes: one for the seat and one for the backing, for a grand total of nine large boxes, including the ottoman.
Honestly, the hardest part was wrangling and breaking down all the boxes. Otherwise each section took about five minutes to put together with the included tools. Each section can stand alone as a singular chair or be linked together with the included clips to create one or even multiple couches.
My husband and I moved around the sections into numerous formats before ultimately settling on making one large sectional couch.
Comfort and durability
Lauren Savoie/Insider
We live in New York City now where we don’t have an outdoor space, but for the two years we lived in Kansas, our Burrow sectional was the centerpiece of our patio. It was one of my absolute favorite places in our house, and my husband and I would spend whole days lounging on the set in the nicer weather. The cushions are both comfortable and supportive; it’s easy to lounge, but the pillows don’t sink or require any fluffing. We got to many compliments on the sectional every time we’ve had guests over. In a true testament to how much I love this outdoor furniture, I packed it up and moved it across the country to my dad’s house on Cape Cod, where it now lives for my family to enjoy.
I like that the frame is made of durable metal. We lived on the Kansas prairie, where the summer storms are intense and tornadoes are a regular threat. It now lives on Cape Cod, where its exposed to New England winters and salty air that’s strong enough to rust the metal on a car. Despite multiple snowstorms, hail, and high winds, the frame has always stayed put and never rusted. I have noticed that water tends to pool on the frame’s mesh seats, but that hasn’t impacted durability yet. Still, I wonder if it will weaken the seat base over time.
Cons to consider
Lauren Savoie/Insider
After a few years of use, I’ve definitely noticed some stains on our couch cushions. While the cushion covers are removable, Burrow’s website advises that they are not meant to be machine-washed or dried. I tried using a stain remover on a spot of tomato sauce and ended up just making a permanent water stain. This is a bit of a bummer; I would have expected the fabric would be designed to hold up better to water stains, considering outdoor furniture is likely to be exposed to the elements.
As a result, we’ve opted to be extra careful with our Burrow couch cushions, carting them in and out each time there’s forecasted rain. Burrow does make rain covers, but at $599 for the one sized to cover my set, they’re inexplicably and egregiously expensive. (That’s more than the cost of a whole outdoor chair or ottoman from Burrow.) You’re better off buying a cover on Amazon for $30.
What are your alternatives?
If Burrow is out of your budget or you just want other options, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to the best outdoor furniture. Some of our favorite budget retailers are Target, Amazon, and Wayfair, and our favorite high-end brands are Ballard Designs, Serena & Lily, and Outer. Burrow falls in between those two categories, price-wise.
The bottom line
If you’re looking for a mid-range outdoor furniture set, I highly recommend checking out Burrow’s Relay collection. It’s durable, comfortable, and features the brand’s signature modularity. I particularly recommend the set for anyone who regularly moves homes. I love that when our time in Kansas was up, our Burrow set moved easily and could be arranged to fit into a completely different outdoor space.
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