For me, the challenge is finding an affordable, not-generic sofa that is ALSO of decent quality/comfort. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know about quality/comfort if you can’t physically sit on it before buying. I’d love to see one of these posts in which all the sofas listed can be vouched for, though I understand that would require the EHD team to do lots of napping (Best. Problem. Ever.).

This list is GOLD! Thank you, thank you. I would love to see a post as such about leather sofas and sectionals (specifically sectionals).

Just throwing this out there, but have any readers seen/sat on the Article Swen sofa/sectional in leather?

Is there anything you suggest we look for in descriptions of these more affordable sofas that might suggest greater durability, comfort, etc?

#1 looks gorgeous but the link is incorrect. I’d love to check it out!

Unrelated, buy do you have any idea of the source of the striped rug in the first photo? Thanks! 🙂

Hard to find a sofa that is comfortable and blends in with antiques pkus dog friendly. Leather is a great choice.

but Emily, if it’s not comfortable it doesn’t matter what the style is. that is why I dread shopping online.

Dang, EHD. Awesome list! I wonder how comfortable the sleepers are at this price point? Not a huge concern, but something I’ve wondered in my search for affordably priced sleeper couches.

Thanks for the “I’m a sleeper” dot! My daughter would love a small sleeper sofa in her room and some of these are great (and affordable!) options.

We have #17 from Living Spaces in my husband’s office and really like it. We didn’t want to spend a ton of money in there because it’s mostly for when he wants to play video games on his older model X-Box. So mostly the cats sleep on it. It’s actually pretty comfy. The cushions are a bit firm but they’ll probably soften up over time. The cats have no complaints though! They like the style and it’s neutral enough that it doesn’t clash with their fur.

I have the Article Anton sofa (#13 in the last category) in blue. I LOVE IT. Very comfortable – not super soft but has done the trick for a few naps already. Nice quality fabric that is holding up to a 45 lb dog and a toddler that is usually covered in yogurt. We have had it for about 2 months now so I cant vouch for longevity but so far I am very impressed. Plus they have $49 shipping and a 30 day return policy where you are only on the hook for the shipping.

Be very careful about buying a sofa from West Elm. I bought one that was way more than a thousand dollars and within eight months the leg broke off. They did nothing to help me out and it now has a stack of books for a leg. What a disaster. It seemed comfortable in the store, but the cushions became very “smooshy” within a short time.

I’m in love with #1 and can’t believe the price on it!

I have #26, the West Elm Finn Sofa and I don’t know if I recommend it. We have the loveseat version and it kind of wobbles on the legs so I assume the sofa version is even more wobbly. Also we went with the performance velvet so it would be easy to clean up after our kids but it looks and feels more like microfiber so you get all the butt prints and everything. It is easy to clean and we’ve gotten everything out of it but it’s just not as nice looking as I’d want for our living room. I still like the style of the couch and it’s comfortable enough but I think I’d go in another direction next time 🙂 Sorry for the long review, I just know it’s hard to find reviews on West Elm furniture so I wanted to put this out there for anyone considering it!

We have an Ikea Karlstad sectional we bought over 8 years ago, and it’s seriously amazing! It’s not the cushiest sofa in the world, and it’s definitely not the star of the room, but the style is so neutral that you can decorate around it really easily. The dark gray fabric has held up fantastically to 3 dogs and a toddler, and is machine washable. Tragically, they don’t make the sectional anymore.

I don’t care how good something looks, if it is not also comfortable, it will not get into our home.
Life is too short to be uncomfortable, especially if it is only to impress other people. I absolutely will not buy a chair or sofa without first sitting in it myself. I’ve also found you get what you pay for in terms of quality and that cheap is sometimes good value but most times not. i.e., I’d rather pay a little more and have something last a lot longer.

I can vouch for the Ikea Kivik (#5). I have had mine for about 5 years now and still looks brand new. This couch is comfortable and has washable covers. It has survived 2 cats, one dogs, and two people who love their evening TV couch time. I would recommend it for the price, comfort, and durability. There are a few online stores that now carry replacement covers that completely change the look of the sofa for a few hundred bucks as well. I am considering getting a new cover just to change the look because it has held up so well I dont really NEED to buy a new sofa yet. Emily, I definitely recommend keeping the Kivik in your affordable sofa lists.

This is an awesome round up! We’ve been wanting new couches in our living room for ages!

Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com

This is GREAT. I’m not in the market for a sofa at the moment, but I’m saving this for future reference – its just good to have a list of affordable retailers to check out when you’ve looked at your typical three places and feel stumped! Who knew Urban Outfitters had so much furniture?? I’ve been using them exclusively for ironic coffee table books and overpriced temporary tattoos! Thanks for the eye-opener.

Was reading the comments and it sounds like a lot of people want to know if the couches are comfortable aka having you test them all out. It sparked an idea since I really like the variety of the EH Teams style, I would love to hear from each of them on Tried and True. A place for non-sponsored (though don’t get me wrong, I have zero issue with sponsored posts) of random stuff that you buy for your home time and again. A range in price point and functionality would be really fun to see. Hope you like the idea!

Ikea is discontinuing their largest version of the Stocksund and it’s currently under $500 in store! It’s a steal for a 98″ wide sofa and I can vouch for comfort and durability–ours has been great so far!

Where is that first blue sofa from that is in the very first blog picture? I don’t think it’s included in the three different round ups.
Thanks!

My sofa/chair shopping process is usually this: drag husband to our local furniture superstore (Nebraska Furniture Mart in KC), give him a quick list of specifications (budget, leather or cloth, size, color). Then, I spend 30-45 minutes wandering around the showroom, analyzing all of the options and sitting in many of them, before finding him sprawled across one that generally meets all of my requirements, messing with his phone. I suggest 3-4 other sofas – he says no, none of them are as comfy as the one he’s spent the last half an hour creating a butt-print on. We buy the one he found in the first 5 minutes of our shopping trip.

I’m thinking online shopping is out of the question for us haha. Anyone else in this boat?

I’d love to hear if anyone has tried number 1 in the first group from Amazon. That looks special.
I’ve seen number 11 in the first set and I’m sorry yo say, it was not good. THe person had it about 6 months and it already looked awful. (They thought so too. I’m not talking smack)

I will put in another comment to warn people about West Elm couches. I owned the Bliss, down filled sofa from West Elm. The legs became loose/wobbly, the seat cushion was never comfortable, always too stiff. The couch did look nice but it just wasn’t what I wanted comfort and quality wise. Last year I decided to buy couches from somewhere in person and I ended up with the Crate and Barrel Lounge 2 Petite. Its fantastic, so well built, down wrapped foam cushions. You sink in just the right amount but still feel supported, it just feels like a high quality couch. Style wise its definitely not the most modern/trendy but its really the best thing ever. It is however, closer to 1500-2000 than the options listed above…

Well, I can personally vouch for #14 on the first list (ikea love seat). One thing I noticed: many sofas on list one are actually love seats, thus the lower price–so check dimensions before purchasing.
A few years ago there was a super cute sofa I was interested in–I think it was for sale at Macy’s. I sat on it in person and liked it–however, after reading reviews of it online I learned that its nubby fabric pilled in no time. So even if you do test a sofa out in the showroom, be sure to read the online reviews of the item.

I appreciate the time and effort you put into these lists; however, the options from Living Spaces cannot be shipped. You have to live in a city where a store is located; so those options aren’t available for those of us in the 47 states without a Living Spaces store. I really hate this because they appear to have great looking furniture at a terrific price. But thanks for the other options.

These are all quiet lovely. I have not purchased any of them but wanted to put in a plug for Ethan Allen based on my personal experience. 15 years ago we were looking for a couch. At time time I loved one from Pottery Barn but was checking prices. We had two small children and wanted a leather couch as it would be easy to keep clean with two toddler. We ended up finding one at Ethan Allen. We were able to see it in person and it was $200 less than PB. We later became a family of 5 (with three dogs) and it is used daily. It has held up all these years. We have a few spots where the leather has faded but the actual structure of the couch is just the same as day one. I loved it so much that after years of buying inexpensive side chairs from Target and World Market I went back to EA. I liked the style of my other chairs and certainly got some use of them but my hope is these will last just as long as my couch. I have watched friends buy 2-3 couches since we have… Read more »

I will definitely be referencing this post, extremely redundant title be damned.

For anyone in the Midwest I strongly encourage online sofa shopping at Nebraska Furniture Mart, www. NFM.com. I have purchased 2 sofas there in the last 5 years and am not disappointed. Since I was ordering online I was sure to order well known/respected name brands and read all the reviews. They occasionally have value buys that are more mast produced and for that reason you cannot select your fabric option – you either decide you like the one option they have chosen or you buy something else. I chose the value option both times. The first is a nice mid-century inspired, tufted back, track arm Rowe sofa that was about $700. The second is a clean lined Ashley sectional which was I think $650. And delivery from Omaha to Eastern Iowa was $87.00. Done! Many naps are taken on both of them all the time as well as tv/movie viewing etc. For sure it was a gamble and you have to pay close attention to all the measurements and consider how you want to use the sofa and if those measurements are deep enough/long enough/short enough whatever for you but for me it worked perfectly!

Most of these are actually closer to loveseats and with shipping are at least $100 more.

This is a great post IF you are willing to buy a sofa in the exact color that the sofa is being offered – and the size. Too compartmentalized of a post -although might be good for youngsters.

I love the look of the Farlov sofa but I tried it at the weekend and it’s much too deep for me! Great if you want something to curl up in, but it wasn’t at all comfortable to sit on. Definitely, definitely try before you buy.

I liked # 10 at $849. It is so versatile. Almost maintenance free.
And easy to update. The design can even be changed. That’s
my pick

I love these roundups!

But I would love a more detailed roundup – maybe your top 10 couches of the year? With analysis that took comfort, online ratings, other quality assessments into account. I probably wouldn’t buy a couch from this list since it is missing all those elements.

Thanks!

Great roundup Emily & team. I rarely weigh in on the comments but some of the negativity is really starting to rankle me! In your sectional roundup, so many people were complaining about the high price of the sectionals (even though, speaking from experience, it isn’t cheap to get a comfortable, durable and attractive sectional or sofa). I’ve also seen other posts where people complain about the furniture in Emily’s house being too aspirational even though there are lots of posts on this site featuring vintage & stuff from mass retailers like Target. Now, in this very budget friendly post, there are commenters complaining that shipping might be expensive, the size of these sofas isn’t big enough or the fabric isn’t nice enough and that maybe it is better to spend more money for a better quality couch. The title says it all folks – 88 budget and affordable sofas $1000. After all, it isn’t called “the most comfortable and most durable and huge unicorn sofas that are also magically less than $1000. Lets just appreciate that Emily and her team take the time to do so many different types of round ups at so many different price points, giving… Read more »

I love these round-ups! Thanks for doing them! Would love to see one for affordable area rugs. I check places like Wayfair and am just completely overwhelmed by the 5000 pages of options. Would love your input on the subject. Thanks!

We are definitely in the market for a new sofa and this list is great. My main problem is I have no idea how to figure out what, size or shape would fit best. Style wise is the easiest part for me! I know I want lower arms (to increase view of the tv) and a higher back (we’re a tall family) but that’s all I got. How do you figure out size and shape!?! My living room is rectangular, one long wall is open to kitchen and hall, one short wall is all windows, the other long wall is mostly windows with a fireplace, that’s hearth is raised and sticks out into the room, and the last short wall has the TV. I sit in this room everyday mentally rearranging furniture and I still can’t figure it out. Are there any rule of thumbs for sofa size and shape?

Where are the two rattan round coffee tables from in the first photo (the photo with the blue couch and the blue and white stripe rug)? Love those.