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 furniture do you need on move-in day, and what can wait?

Summary

On the first night you need a bed. In the first week you need something to eat or work at and somewhere to put clothes. A sofa, bookshelves and a coffee table can be ordered after you move in, and it usually pays to wait on anything you are unsure about, or to buy it from a store with a long return window.

Night one needs a mattress

You can sit on the floor for a week. You cannot sleep well on it, which is why the mattress is the first order, and the terms for sending one back vary a lot. Casper gives 100 nights, but returns only open after a 30-night adjustment period; after that they are free. Saatva gives 365 nights and charges a $99 processing fee for the pickup. Nectar also gives 365 nights, and shipping is free both ways within the contiguous United States. IKEA takes most unopened items back for 365 days, but its mattresses follow a different rule: one exchange for another mattress within 90 days.

The frame has its own catch. IKEA's MALM bed ships with the LURÖY slatted base and the SKORVA center beam packed separately from the frame, so one box on the doorstep does not mean a bed that night.

Lead times decide the order

Stock items and made-to-order items live on different calendars.

Best Choice Products ships US orders within 2 to 5 business days, with free shipping in the contiguous 48 states.
Burrow lists its Range sofa, in the configuration shown, as shipping in 10 to 12 weeks, and sells a separate Ready to Ship range that arrives within four weeks.
IKEA delivery needs a $35 merchandise minimum, and someone 18 or older has to be home for large items.

Something that ships in days can be ordered the week before the move. A sofa with a ten-week lead time was never going to arrive on move-in day, and a folding chair covers the gap.

The dresser that will not open yet

Clothing storage may arrive and still not be usable. IKEA's KILBERGET three-drawer dresser lets only one drawer open at a time until it is anchored to the wall, and the product page tells buyers to use screws and plugs suited to their own walls. Dressers made after September 1, 2023 that meet the federal size thresholds must come with an anti-tip device, but the right screws for your wall are a separate question, and so is whether the lease lets you drill. Delivery day for the dresser is best set for a day when the anchoring can happen too.

What can wait a month

Coffee tables, a second nightstand, a TV stand and extra shelving can all wait. The 21-item checklist on this site puts the dryer, the coffee maker and the TV last for the same reason: none of them stops the apartment working. For pieces you want to try in the room first, IKEA accepts opened items back for 180 days.

A month of living there tends to rearrange the list. The dining table becomes the desk, a narrow dresser turns out to matter more than the second nightstand, and the empty corner stays empty because nothing ever needed it.