How We Test Sofas at Livingetc
Buying a new sofa is never an impulse decision. It requires extensive research, budgeting, and real-life vetting from design-savvy experts we trust.
When we set out to curate the best sofas to buy from retailers across the U.S., one thing became abundantly clear, there’s no single “best sofa,” because styles, budgets, and lifestyle needs vary—what’s best for you may not be the same for someone else reading our guide. That means we had to look at the sofa-buying process from a range of perspectives, examining the factors influencing your choices the most when shopping online. At the top of the list: buying from a trusted brand and how things like frame construction, upholstery, and cushion filling hold up over time. The longevity and comfort of a piece were equally important as its aesthetic qualities like style, shape, and color—attributes you can live with (and hopefully love) for at least the next decade.
Livingetc editors spend hours researching and testing the latest sofa models on the U.S. market. This involved 10 hours of interviews with 17 interior designers and sofa experts at leading brands, six hours touring a couch factory, and 12+ hours sitting on 48 (and counting) sofas across Pittsburgh and Manhattan, to be exact. In that time, we’ve analyzed product details, trends, and dozens of customer reviews to identify the best sofas to buy right now.
Our reviews feature in-depth details on the specifics of the style of sofas you’re looking for (how flexible sectional configurations are and how leather sofas soften and patina over time, for example), but our top picks overall have been vetted against the same four criteria:
- Style
- Comfort
- Durability
- Price
How we test style
Everything we do here at Livingetc is filtered through a design lens, and choosing the best sofas is no exception. While style can be subjective, our goal was to assess whether our top picks would suit a variety of tastes; how timely and on-trend they are; and how adaptable they could be among different decor styles.
If a sofa was good enough to pass the Livingetc style test, meaning our editors would buy it for their own home, we proceeded with further review.
How we test comfort
(Image credit: Brigid Kennedy | Pottery Barn)
In our hunt for the best sofas, comfort came down to one thing, first and foremost: how each sofa felt to sit on. Seat depth, cushion support, and armrest height were all considered in as much of a real-life context as possible. That meant visiting sofa showrooms and retail stores like Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Anthropologie; taking notes about the sofas we sat (and occasionally napped) on at friends’ and family members’ homes; and digging through hundreds of reviews on specific models for insight on what we referred to throughout our reviews as the “sit” of a specific sofa model.
Our sofa expert, Brigid Kennedy, rated the plushness of each couch on a scale of 1 to 5—5 being the most firm—and used these criteria to contextualize which rooms or scenarios would be a good fit for a sofa with that plushness range. The more plush a sofa, the more you sink into it when you sit. Firmer or less plush sofas (those closer to a 1 on the scale) have more bounce and tend to be preferable for short sits or spaces designed for entertaining a rotation of guests. Though the sofas we reviewed have different plushness scores (including both retailer scores and our own rating), we’ve deemed them comfortable for anyone.
How we test durability
To balance our look at form, the function of each piece was a key consideration in our sofa testing, with research focusing on stain resistance, how well-constructed the frames are, and how they held up over time—years, in some cases. These factors rolled into what we describe in our review as “durability.”
Our top-performing picks scored high for durability if they didn’t creak when we sat on them or felt rickety when we shook their frames. Unless otherwise stated, all of the sofas included held up under that stress test.
The sofas’ construction materials were analyzed closely, ensuring each of our selections was built according to expert-backed quality benchmarks, specifically hardwood/engineered wood frames, mortise-and-tenon or corner block joinery, sinuous seat suspensions, and industry-standard filling selections.
Finally, Brigid combed through online customer reviews, ensuring the selections featured had only positive feedback, especially around durability. Sofas with longevity (meaning reviewers owned them for 5 years or more) were bumped up on our list.
(Image credit: Ikea | Brigid Kennedy)
How we test price
Good style exists at all price points, but in our pursuit of the best sofas among hundreds of options, we found that price does generally correlate with quality.
Less expensive sofas tend to have poorer construction quality, even if their outer appearance says otherwise. That said, we put a premium on accessibility and chose a range of sofas at varied prices—most well under $5,000. At each price point, we’ve ensured the sofa chosen meets the criteria mentioned above.
