Furniture shopping sounds exciting, but if you aren’t sure what you’re looking for, it can be overwhelming, too. There are so many varieties of sofas to choose from that narrowing down your options isn’t always easy.

Like anything new and big, it helps to have a plan before you start looking around. Whether you’re going to buy online or hit up some furniture stores, a list of must-have features will point you in the right direction.

You could schedule a social distancing day with friends that start with furniture shopping and leads into other fun activities. You don’t want it to take all day and dozens of stores to find your sofa!

So how do you know what you want when you’re not sure what’s out there? Use these five tips to get you started on your new sofa hunt!

1. Start With Your Budget

Buying furniture shouldn’t break your bank, but it’s also not something to do on a whim. If you’re limited on funds, consider waiting until you’ve saved up enough to get a quality sofa.

There are inexpensive options out there, but the cheapest sofas are still between $100 – $200. The problem with these bargain couches is that they can break easily and you end up investing more money replacing them.

Go over your budget and see how much time you need to wait until you can afford a high-quality couch you can keep for years.

2. Size Up the Location

Where are you going to put your sofa? That’s an essential piece of information that will guide you as to the size limits you have.

When you decide where you want your new furniture, measure the area. The height probably doesn’t matter too much unless it’s a tight squeeze. But you definitely need to know how wide and how deep your sofa needs to be.

3. Choose Your Material

Deciding on what you want your couch to be made from is an individual decision. Some people prefer leather and others want fabric.

There are pros and cons to each type of material. Leather, of course, is easier to clean. It’s durable and can handle the constant wear and tear that comes from kids and animals.

Fabric is popular because it’s softer. Certain fabrics, like microfiber, are easy to clean up, too. But if your goal is comfort, you might want to opt for cotton or linen sofas.

As you’re deciding on the type of material you want for your new couch, think about how often it’s going to be used.

Do you need something that can hold up to young children, big animals, or cats with claws? Will you be eating on it or otherwise exposing it to spills? Does anyone in your home have allergies that need to be considered?

These answers will let you decide if you can choose a sofa purely for comfort and aesthetics, or if you need to think about practical factors, too.

4. Pick a Color

Choosing your sofa’s color can be simple if you already have other furniture to match it to. If not, you can use the color palette of the room and match your new couch to those hues.

First, decide if you want to go light or dark with your furniture. The best way to answer that is to look at your floors. Dark floors pair better with light furniture, and light floors with dark furniture. That way, you have some brightness in the room, but not too much.

Most sofas come in neutral colors, like gray, cream, or taupe. A neutral shade blends in with just about any color palette. It’s easily spruced up with some accessories in the room for more style.

When you’ve decided on the material and the color, it’s much easier to pick a sofa!

5. Choose the Style You Love

You have your budget. You know how big a sofa your room can handle, the material you need, and the color you want. It’s time to make your final selection.

As you’re narrowing down the styles, you’ll see choices like:

  • Sectionals
  • Loveseats
  • Divans
  • Camelbacks
  • Chaises
  • Chesterfields
  • Daybeds

Unless you have a specific style in mind, whatever fits with your room’s theme and meets your other criteria is fine! Chances are, you’ll fall in love with at least one sofa you come across.

If you’re checking it out in person, make sure it’s comfortable before you buy it. It’s harder to know online, but you can always look at the ratings and customer feedback first.

Conclusion

Comfort, style, and budget are all factors that go into choosing your apartment’s sofa. With these tips, you can avoid the black hole that comes with random furniture shopping and focus on exactly what you want instead!