Searching for a couch cup holder that doesn't look like a gadget
What the category looks like in 2018
I spent a month looking at every couch cup holder on Amazon, Etsy, Wayfair, and several specialty furniture sites. The category sorts into four groups, all of them wrong in the same way.
- Clamp-on plastic. Looks like an accessory for a folding chair. Scratches leather.
- Wooden trays with felt. Look better. Felt soaks up spills, becomes the problem.
- Weighted side caddies. Look like a footstool with a hole in it. Take up floor space.
- Bean-bag cup holders. Soft, look acceptable, hold drinks badly. Tip on any cushion shift.
Why nothing looks like furniture
Every product in the category was made by an accessories company, not a furniture company. The brief was ‘something that holds a cup near a couch.’ The brief was not ‘something that belongs on a couch you like.’
Those are different briefs. The second one is harder. It requires the designer to look at the couch first and the cup second. Almost nobody does that.
What I would want
- Heavy enough to stay put without clamps.
- Material that looks like a real material, not like a craft store.
- Cup well deep enough for a 16-ounce can.
- Flat tray for the remote and the phone.
- Color options that do not include neon.
What I am going to do about it
Order samples. We have a list of silicone factories from earlier this year and have already received two sample sheets. The next step is to find a factory that can mold heavy silicone in the shape and durometer we need.
The shape is the easy part. The durometer, which is silicone’s firmness, is the hard part. Too soft and the cup falls through. Too firm and it does not grip. We will spend the rest of 2018 on samples.
Why it is worth the time
Most product categories on Amazon are crowded. The couch cup holder category is crowded with bad answers. There is room for one quiet, well-made answer that looks like it belongs on a real couch.
That is the brief. The next year is about whether we can actually make the thing.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the material matter so much?
Material is the difference between an object that looks like furniture and an object that looks like a gadget. Silicone, done right, looks like rubber, which reads as serious and quiet. Plastic, done wrong, looks like toys.
What is silicone durometer?
Durometer is a measurement of how firm or soft a silicone is, on a Shore A scale from 0 to 100. Most kitchen silicone is around Shore A 50. A couch tray needs to be in the Shore A 60 to 75 range to grip and hold without distorting.
Why not just use a side table?
Side tables work, but most American living rooms either do not have room for one in the right place or are arranged so the side table is on the wrong side of the couch. The armrest is always next to the seated body.