Russet is Reimagining Furniture Shopping

Last month, my co-founders and I moved into a new house – an emotional step for me given my past personal experience with housing instability and living nomadically for the last few years. We’re all in our senior year of college, so we were gearing up for living, working, eating, and studying together, indefinitely. When we walked into the house, it was completely empty, and it was on us to furnish it. My best friend took lead on finding furniture deals, and one month later…we had spent more than we could have ever imagined on purchases from bigger brands like West Elm, Wayfair, and Crate & Barrel. 

With so many people having to move during the global pandemic (especially students now doing school virtually), I was angered at the inaccessibility of most furniture companies. Shouldn’t cultivating a cozy home be more affordable? Are there brands that make furniture that we love and are values-aligned with the home we are trying to create? These questions guided me through a late-night internet search and ultimately led me to Russet, a female-founded DTC furniture brand (a rarity in the industry) passionate about mental health.

Needing some inspiration in my life for my own mental health and entrepreneurial journey, I knew I had to talk to the founders, Stephanie Rales and Sophia Lavet:

What is Russet? 

Russet is a DTC, affordable furniture brand with a strong emphasis on design, durability, and ease of assemblage. Our goal is to reimagine furniture shopping.

What makes Russet different? 

At Russet we believe that everyone deserves to create the home of their dreams regardless of their background or budget. While we continued to see market disruption in other industries, we noticed quickly that furniture for Gen Z and Millennials needed a shakeup. Big box, fast furniture that was poorly designed and even more poorly made, had dominated the affordable furniture space for too long. We’re here to tell a new story. This means elevated design, sustainable materials, and an overall superior customer experience; all while remaining price accessible -- so that we can all make a home in the modern world. 

What is the mental health/wellness link with your company? 

Mental health is a particularly important topic for us. While we didn’t initially know how we would incorporate mental health into the brand, COVID quickly posed an opportunity. We’ve had one campaign so far emphasizing the importance of staying home to slow the spread of the virus; we intend on launching something within the same vein for the holidays. And with that, reminding people that it’s not only important to stay home because of COVID but also okay to be with oneself, sit with oneself, and reflect. It’s also equally important to know that it is okay to feel anxious about having to sit with your own thoughts and feelings. The majority of us have yet to experience anything like this! It is incredibly important for people to understand that these unfamiliar feelings and emotions are normal. Knowing that and therefore being able to talk about it, we hope we will help slowly erase the stigma around mental health and mental illness. 

Tease upcoming campaign?

Did we mention, we’re not looking to be furniture only-- we want to do it all!! For us, Russet is an all-encompassing home/lifestyle brand that appreciates the subtle nuances, the difficulties, and most importantly the joys of trying to create the home we all dream of (whatever that looks like). In this wild, crazy climate we’re living in, we want to encourage everyone we can to stay home and stay safe (let’s slow the spread)! And of course, take some time for self-care! So in the spirit of our last campaign “Staying in with Russet,” we’ll be dropping holiday merch, Home Alone themed…but we’re afraid that is all we can tell you! 

Founding story? 

Two women walk into a bar…just kidding! Half kidding really. We actually had our first “official” meet up at a restaurant called Jeffrey’s Grocery in New York City. We had been introduced to one another via mutual friends, both of whom knew of our ongoing obsession and frustration with the furniture industry. Neither of us was able to pinpoint a single brand that offered what we perceived to be truly affordable furniture, without sacrificing quality or design. We entered that dinner barely knowing one another. We left that dinner determined to start our own furniture company that would ultimately reimagine furniture shopping today.  

(more below pic)

What was your inspiration for starting this?

It was really quite simple actually. We both had moved many times from apartment to apartment and found that it was nearly impossible to find anything resembling what we really wanted-- we were always sacrificing one thing for another. And as more and more furniture startups popped up, all claiming to offer affordable options, we grew even more frustrated! Everyone knew these so called “affordable options” were no more affordable than what was already out there. So we decided if it didn’t exist, we’d just have to make it ourselves! But we didn’t want to stop there. We wanted to reimagine the entire furniture shopping experience from the ground up. Meaning, not only different products but also an entirely different experience to what people are accustomed to today. Unfortunately COVID has temporarily delayed our plans for a brick and mortar; however, when we are able to open ours, you will find a very different shopping experience than what you are accustomed to today.    

Did you ever think you’d be running a furniture DTC brand?

We’re both dreamers and creators who appreciate the beauty of bringing something to life that others can enjoy. If you had asked us two years ago if we would be where we are now, I don’t think we could have imagined creating something we love so much. With that said, we’re so excited and inspired every day to continue to iterate, learn, and evolve as a company and business owners. Stay tuned for so much more.

I heard you’re the first female-founded DTC furniture startup, can you verify / tell us a little more about what this means to you?

Before even designing our initial pieces, or naming the business, we spent months doing market research to ensure that one, there was space for us in the market and two, that we could create what was missing. Along the way, we realized that of all the well-known furniture startups that claim affordability, very few, if any, had female founders. In the broader landscape of furniture, this continues to ring true. Most furniture companies that we know are male founded. 

How can people support Russet, and where can they find out more information on you!  

You can visit us at our website, www.russet.com and follow us on Instagram, @liverusset. We are constantly posting and sharing new information regarding upcoming drops, campaigns, and collabs. Stay tuned-- we are just getting started :)