Sofas, beds, mattresses, dining tables, rugs and dressers carry real prices read at the shop that sells them, with the date on every row. Every other category is still sample data.

Which sofa fits an apartment best, a loveseat, a three-seater or a sectional?

Summary

Depth decides it more often than width. Going from IKEA's KLIPPAN loveseat to the three-seat KIVIK adds about 19 inches of width but less than 3 inches of depth, while adding KIVIK's chaise pushes that corner out to 64 1/8 inches. If a corner of the room is free, a sectional fits; if the room is short from wall to wall, stay with a straight sofa.

Where each shape costs you floor

All of these are on this site's sofa list, measured from the shops' own pages.

Burrow Range 2-Piece: 62 in wide, 31 in deep.
IKEA KLIPPAN loveseat: 70 7/8 in wide, 34 5/8 in deep.
IKEA KIVIK three-seat: 89 3/4 in wide, 37 3/8 in deep.
IKEA KIVIK with chaise: 110 1/4 in wide, 37 3/8 in deep along the sofa and 64 1/8 in at the chaise.

IKEA says KIVIK's chaise can stand alone or be added onto the sofa. The page does not say whether it can move from one end to the other later. Burrow sells Range as a set you can add seats to or swap sides on, without tools, which matters if the next apartment's living room is laid out the other way round.

Seat height and seat depth are what you feel

Seat heights on those four run from 16 inches (Range) to 17 3/4 (KIVIK). Article's Vati sofa bed sits at 21 inches, a good 4 inches higher than KLIPPAN. Seat depth goes from 21 inches on Range to 23 5/8 on KIVIK, and much further on sofas sold as deep: Crate & Barrel's Lounge comes 41 inches deep overall, or 46 inches in the Deep version, which the shop describes as having "extra-deep, low seats." Measure the seat height of a chair you already like and the listings start to mean something.

A sleeper opens to less than a queen

Vati is 80 inches wide and 39.5 deep as a sofa. Pulled out, its 4-inch memory foam mattress is 60 by 70 inches. A queen mattress is 60 by 80, so the width matches and the length is 10 inches short. The sofa weighs 165.5 pounds, and Article says the sleeping area was tested to 600 pounds. It ships in one box 82 inches long; the measuring and delivery article covers how to check that against your doors and stairs.

The flammability label

Upholstered furniture made, imported or reupholstered in the US on or after June 25, 2021 has to meet California's TB 117-2013 flammability standard under federal rule 16 CFR 1640. Since June 25, 2022 it has also had to carry a permanent label that reads "Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability." Mattresses are outside the rule. KLIPPAN's page states that it complies with TB117-2013. What to make of a secondhand sofa with no label is in the used furniture article.