Why renters are obsessed with these $300 'boneless couches'

By Aditi Shrikant

Black Friday could be the perfect time to buy one

"You shouldn't expect these to last more than five or so years."

When Kate O'Neil's roommate moved out, she took the couch with her. O'Neil needed a replacement that didn't cost ton of money.

"I didn't want my new roommate to have to pitch in for a couch after all of her other expenses from moving in," said O'Neil, 34, who lives with two roommates in Brooklyn, N.Y. "We all broke as hell."

That's when a friend suggested she get a boneless couch. Sometimes called a cloud couch, couch-in-a-box or modular floor sofa, this is a frameless, legless foam compression couch that sits directly on the floor and can open up into a bed. They've gone viral on Amazon and TikTok - the hashtag #bonelesscouch has 1.2 billion views on TikTok - for being cheap and convenient, as well as cute and cozy.

This has made them especially attractive to renters at a time when more Americans are renting than ever before - and for longer - as rising housing prices put homeownership out of reach for many. The median age of renters is now 41. And investing in expensive pieces to furnish a home that you don't own and don't plan to stay in over the long term just doesn't seem worth it to many people, including O'Neil.

The boneless couch turned out to be a perfect fit for her. "I decided to purchase a more affordable option with the mindset that it would be mine to keep when I eventually move out," she said.

Affordability and convenience are key

The average price of a sofa is $2,200, according to Angi. But boneless couches start around $300 on sites like Wayfair and Amazon. O'Neill's was even cheaper: She found one on Amazon for $250.

In the last year, searches for "boneless couches" have risen by 300%, according to Google Trends, while searches for "cloud couches" were up 90%. All five of the top-selling couches on Amazon as of Monday were boneless couches. Good Housekeeping's editorial commerce director, Brie Schwartz, has noticed interest in these couches spiking "in the last week alone," she said, with many readers bringing up affordability - especially as Black Friday sales approach.

"Readers are especially interested in knowing if the designer options are worth the price, and what the best affordable alternatives are on Amazon and Wayfair, as well as which dupes actually maintain their shape," she said, referring to cheaper duplicates of higher-end items.

Many of the couches now being sold on Amazon or Wayfair are actually copies of Danish brand OMHU's Teddy sofa, which is priced at just under $2,000. But the style isn't a new one: Ikea, for one, was already selling its own version of the boneless couch as early as the 1990s.

These couches ship in compressed packages, making them easy to carry up or down stairs. They are also relatively light, and there's no assembly required: You simply pull each section out of its box and let it expand. O'Neil said that "easy delivery and setup" was the second biggest selling point for her, after price.

Black Friday could be a prime time to buy

With Black Friday approaching, interest in boneless couches has spiked, said Mackenzie Shand, executive editor at BlackFriday.com and RetailMeNot.

"We've seen growing interest in the term 'boneless couch,' with search volume reaching approximately 165,000 monthly searches, significantly outpacing related terms like 'foam couch' and 'memory-foam couch,'" she said.

Other affordable rental upgrades such as battery-operated wall sconces, quirky light-switch covers and peel-and-stick wallpaper have also risen in popularity lately, as renters look to customize their homes without investing in decor that might add up to more than their monthly rent - or cost them their security deposit.

Consumers who are on the fence about a boneless couch could find that Black Friday is an ideal time to purchase one at a discount, Shand added.

"Furniture is one of the categories worth watching during the holiday sales season, as retailers typically offer promotions on big-ticket home purchases, including sofas, sectionals and living room furniture," she said. "In fact, historical Black Friday deal analysis has found average furniture discounts of around 35% across major retailers."

But prospective buyers should also be aware of some drawbacks of boneless couches, said Lexie Sachs, the executive director of strategy and operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

"You shouldn't expect these to last more than five or so years, especially if they're regularly used," Sachs said. "Foam eventually sags under pressure, and these lack the traditional support of sofas. They seem better suited for temporary living situations or homes where you want the flexibility to change up the lounging layout for things like movie nights."

Like your apartment.

-Aditi Shrikant

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11-09-26 1126ET