Diorama’s Modular Sofa vs. Maiden Home’s Dune Sofa: A Side-By-Side Comparison

We tested these two luxury sofas to see which is better.

The Modular 3-Seat Sofa + Ottoman by Diorama vs. The Dune by Maiden Home

We recently noticed that home furnishing aficionados have been hyping up the brand Diorama as a great alternative to Maiden Home. That’s why we tested both brands side-by-side to find the true winner. Both met all the basic marks, but Diorama’s Modular 3-Seat Sofa + Ottoman ultimately proved superior to Maiden Home’s Dune sofa. Below, we’ve broken down our comparison and detailed why we’ll choose Diorama over Maiden Home every time.

How they compare

Cushion filling and exterior

Diorama fills its sofa cushions with advanced-technology foam to ensure a luxurious lounging experience every time. We could tell when testing this sofa that the quality would last a lifetime — everything felt equally well-constructed and comfortable. We also appreciated that the opulent boucle fabric is pet-friendly, liquid-repellent, and highly stain-resistant to boot.

The cushions in Maiden Home’s Dune sofa combine fibers, feathers, and down with a high-resiliency core. The back cushions are individually channeled in a scatter back shape. Though comfortable, we enjoyed the feel of the Diorama cushions more overall.

Cushion covers

Diorama includes and subtly hides zippers on its cushion and couch covers so you can easily remove and wash your fabric. Since the fabric is stain- and liquid-resistant, we weren’t worried about any damage upon running them through laundry machines. 
This was one of few areas in which Diorama tied with Maiden Home rather than exceeding it. Maiden Home’s Dune sofa also comes with fully removable, fully machine washable fabrics.

Configurations

Diorama’s Modular collection is designed with limitless sofa configurations in mind. The Modular 3-Seat Sofa + Ottoman comes with fasteners under each corner, and this made connecting the individual parts pretty much painless. We were impressed that we didn’t need a frame or bolts to make this happen. We also appreciated the existence of modular options at all compared to the Dune, which lacks any modularity.

Dimensions

The dimensions for the Modular 3-Seater Sofa + Ottoman from Diorama are as follows:

• Seat depth: 36”

• Sofa depth: 48.75”

• Seat height: 15”

• Back height: 32”

For the Dune Sofa by Maiden Home, these are the dimensions:

• Seat depth: 27”

• Sofa depth: 38”

• Seat height: 19”

• Back height: 34”

Diorama’s sofa is larger in three of these four dimensions, which made for a more cloud-like relaxation experience. The Modular 3-Seater Sofa + Ottoman felt significantly more opulent than the already-resplendent Dune sofa.

Fabrics

The boucle fabric in Diorama’s Modular 3-Seater Sofa + Ottoman is a looped, high-pile, high-performance yarn with excellent liquid repellence and stain resistance. These top-notch qualities don’t come at the cost of comfort — the boucle felt lush on our testers’ skin. An additional 17 sofa fabrics are available from Diorama, for a total of 18. Quality so high that your sofa lasts a lifetime is a priority across all Diorama’s fabric options.

Maiden Home offers 15 fabrics, with three leather options as well. For the Dune, though, you can only choose four fabric options, with no leather options available. You can order complimentary swatches for either The Dune or the Diorama sofa.

Sofa frame

Diorama doesn’t use any wood in its sofa frames since wood can crack, creak, or cut. Instead, Diorama uses tensile-grade threading, high-quality foam, and airmesh casings. These materials lack any potential for the damage common with wood. 

Maiden Home, by contrast, uses kiln-dried hardwood in its Dune frame. Although we appreciated that Maiden Home double-dowels, corner-blocks, and glues the joints in the Dune’s frame, we still found the Diorama frame better for durability.

Sustainability

Unlike most sofa brands, Diorama’s production doesn’t involve any trees given the lack of wood parts. This makes Diorama uniquely sustainable within the home furnishings space. Additionally, Diorama uses eco-compression to bring its transportation and shipping carbon emissions down to 300% below the average. Plus, since Diorama’s operations are entirely U.S.-based, there’s no importing sofas from overseas, eliminating the associated pollution.

We were also happy with Maiden Home’s sustainability efforts, though a bit less so than with Diorama. Maiden Home adheres to Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards in its wood sourcing, and it uses recycled steel in its sofa springs. In some cushions, Maiden Home uses soy where most brands use petroleum. The brand also uses eco-friendly glues and stains. While these are all commendable steps, they come short of Diorama’s reduced transportation emissions and complete non-use of trees.

Price

Diorama sells the Modular 3-Seater Sofa + Ottoman, in Boucle in Aspen, for $5,850. The Dune by Maiden Home costs $4,350. However, we felt that Diorama’s superior quality justifies the price difference. Diorama’s sofa is exceptionally modular, with a wider variety of fabrics and stronger, more durable construction. It’s a lifelong, one-time sofa purchase, which we can’t as confidently say about the Dune.

Warranty and delivery

Maiden Home and Diorama both provide white glove delivery services, as is standard for modular sofas. Only Diorama, though, also provides a 365-day in-home trial, though Maiden Home’s limited lifetime warranty nevertheless impressed us. We felt reassured that, were we to buy a Diorama sofa and become unhappy with it, we could return it anytime within the first year. 

We also liked that the Diorama sofa would come quickly enough to start seeing how it feels in our homes. Given Diorama’s U.S.-based operations, delivery is possible within one to four weeks, whereas Maiden Home requires six to eight weeks.

Takeaway

There are things we can say about Diorama that have never been true of Maiden Home’s Dune sofa. The high back, deep seat, and advanced cushion filling and fabric of the Modular 3-Seater Sofa + Ottoman are one of a kind. On top of that, the construction is uniquely sustainable and durable, and we’re convinced it’s a sofa purchase that truly lasts a lifetime. You get a forever dream sofa with Diorama — shop below!

For a limited time, Diorama is offering up to 15% off sitewide with code SPRING. A sofa that fits your home for life, in any shape you need, is now within reach.