This Is How an $8,000 Rescued Blue Couch Reached TikTok Infamy

After being picked up off the NYC sidewalk, the notorious "TikTok Blue Couch" has gained over 11 million likes.

Anything is possible—especially in New York City. That's where this now-infamous blue couch posted to TikTok by @yafaav.mandaa (with 11.2 million likes and over 42,000 comments in just a week) was rescued off the sidewalk, and it's supposedly an $8,000 piece from Roche Bobois, a furniture brand loved by A-listers and secondhand shoppers alike. Stooping (taking home discarded items from the street) is a common practice in the city—in fact, many sofas have been shared to Instagram accounts dedicated to posting the most impressive stooped finds.

As strange as this may sound to people who don’t live in the Big Apple, sidewalks are filled with stooped items on the daily. It's like finding pieces on Facebook's Free Marketplace or Craiglist's free listings—except they're left on the street, not posted online.

Related: The Best Places to Shop Secondhand Furniture and Decor Online

The blue couch in question needed a lot of TLC when it was picked up, as it had been sitting in the rain. (In a follow-up video, the creator said it had been there less than a day.) After multiple deep cleans, vacuuming, and allowing it to dry for two weeks, she welcomed the couch home. Many users in the comments were concerned about bed bugs, mold, and other unappealing things potentially hidden inside, but other than a few small rips and stains, its newfound owner assured everyone that the couch is in great shape.

The authenticity of the couch is also up for debate: Is it a genuine Roche Bobois Bubble sofa? In a retail market flooded with dupes of popular high-end furniture, it may seem unlikely that @yafaav.mandaa stumbled upon an $8,000 couch casually disposed of on a sidewalk, but apparently, she did. A statement from an Architectural Digest representative confirms her claim.

“The video showcasing our iconic sofa has the Roche Bobois tag and [other signature characteristics that] testify to the authenticity of the sofa,” Cindy Susilo, Roche Bobois’s marketing director for North America, told the outlet. Susilo added that there should be a signature lining that proves it's the real deal.

The couch is currently spotlighted on the furniture site's homepage, and since the video went viral, traffic on the sofa’s product page is up 40 times compared to the average.

Like all notorious viral social media posts, plenty of memes, tweets, and videos have been generated in response to this Cinderella-couch story. In one TikTok video that featured people giving their opinions on the situation, most interviewees made the point that, "If it's an $8,000 couch, why would someone throw it away?", insinuating something had to be wrong with it. But others were pretty blasé. As one person responded, “Even clothes get a second life, so why not furniture?”

If it’s a genuine Bubble sofa, it’s quite a find. And if it isn’t, it’s still impressive. The curved shape, cerulean blue fabric, and substantial size make it a great addition to any space—and you can’t beat the price.

Related: The 6 Best Couches of 2023, According to Testing

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