I Found My Dream Sofa for Less Than $1,000, Here's How You Can Too

Confession time: Finding a great couch is really hard. When I lived in my studio apartment in New York City, I bought a mid-century loveseat that looked great but wasn’t that comfortable. If I’m being totally honest, I would often ditch my couch and watch TV, eat, and work on my laptop from the comfort of my mattress. (I know, I know, but don’t judge, okay?)

So when it came time to move across the country with my boyfriend, I knew I had to up my furniture game. The only problem was, we had a pretty long wishlist for our future sofa.

You see, my boyfriend and I love to have friends over—and veg in front of the television—so we needed a couch that could seat several people, was big enough for us both to stretch out, and felt ridiculously comfortable at the same time. To thicken the plot, we also wanted to find an option that wouldn’t cost us thousands of dollars.

It took some trial and error—and way more time searching than I’d like to admit—but we finally found the couch of our dreams with Charlton Home’s Althea Left Hand Facing Modular Sectional. 

Made with a foam interior and polyester upholstery, this couch ticks all our boxes. The sectional silhouette seats five people comfortably—and allows us to stretch out if it’s just the two of us. The light gray hue is versatile and neutral, so we're not likely to get tired of it. Clocking in at 21 inches, the seats are deep enough to sit cross-legged or truly kick back and relax. Oh, and did I mention this couch is seriously comfortable? We’ve only owned this couch for a few weeks and I’ve already fallen asleep on it several times. 

But perhaps the best part about this couch is the price. Though the price does fluctuate depending on sales, we were able to snag this couch for under $1,000. Now that’s a deal. The list price itself is $1,100, but we monitored a few sites until we saw the price dip down to three figures.

While Charlton Home’s sectional might be the couch of my dreams, it may not fit your style, space, or budget. But if you are looking for a new sofa, check out some lessons I learned during the shopping process. With any luck, these tips will help you find the couch of your dreams. 

Measure Up

Sure, measuring the room you choose to place your couch is a no-brainer, but it’s also important to measure the path your couch will need to take to get there. You see, our apartment has a gate, a tight flight and a half of stairs, and then our front door. Before our couch arrived, we mapped out the route to confirm that not only our couch would fit through all entryways, but also that our couch could get around those sharp turns on our stairwell. That way, the delivery process was easy and stress-free.

Read the Reviews

Let’s be honest: Finding your dream couch without the ever-so-useful sit test is easier said than done, but it is possible.When we were searching for our dream, we wanted to prioritize comfort. Though our couch certainly looked comfortable, I checked out the reviews section for reassurance. Sure enough, a lot of people noted that this model was particularly comfortable.

Admittedly, everyone’s idea of comfortable varies; however, seeing that perk pop up in a handful of reviews gave us the confidence we needed to add this particular style to our cart.

Shop Around

So how do you find a great deal on an equally great couch? Well, it’s incredibly important to shop around. While we first spotted this couch on Wayfair for four digits, I wanted to see just how good of a deal we could find. I did some digging and found the same model on Wayfair’s sister site, Birch Lane, for just under $1,000. Just goes to show you doing your research does pay off.