IKEA Vs. Ashley Sofas (Reviews & Ratings For Sofas in 2021)

To anyone who's been shopping for furniture in recent years, the names IKEA and Ashley Furniture will no doubt be familiar.The two brands have become household names in the furniture industry and each is committed to providing affordable stylish furniture to the consumer.

But how do the two brands compare to each other? What are the pros and cons that each furniture brand brings to the table? Are the two brands at the same level of quality and pricing or is one superior to the other?

Here at Furniture Fair, we want the customer to get the best deal possible and that means we needed to compare the two popular brands and see which one is best for the customer. We’ve sold furniture for over 50 years and we know how to properly compare quality and pricing.

For this article, we will be reviewing the sofas available from each brand in 2021. We will be looking at a brief overview of each company’s history as well as a look at the quality and price comparisons of their sofa selections.

We should point out before starting that Furniture Fair does sell Ashley products, but this article is not intended to sell Ashley products but rather to review both brands and find out the strengths and weaknesses of each.

After reading this article you will have a better understanding of the history of each company as well as an overview of the sofa pricing and quality you can expect from each brand.

Once you have a better understanding of what each company offers, you will be better equipped to shop for a sofa with confidence.

IKEA is a real powerhouse in the furniture industry. From humble beginnings in the early 40s, the Swedish company founded by Ingvar Kamprad has managed to build itself into a global brand that offers trendy furniture at affordable prices.

IKEA is known for cost-efficient modern designs that are also designed to be as eco-friendly as possible. There are over 433 IKEA stores operating in 52 countries and the company serves 2.1 billion visitors a year on their website alone.

IKEA is a one-stop-shop for affordable home furnishings, and everything from kitchen utensils to couches can be found within the blue and yellow superstore locations. IKEA even has an in-store cafeteria and features fun novelty Swedish-themed foods and lingonberry juice!

People of all ages and financial means mill into the supersized home furnishing store, looking for deals on furniture with names and vowels most people will never be able to pronounce correctly.

The options available at IKEA are vast and varied. IKEA is known by most as the place to go and get a great deal on furniture. IKEA is popular with college students, young adults furnishing their first apartment, and anyone looking to furnish a home on a budget.

With a rich history dating back to 1970, Ashley Furniture is arguably the USA's most well-known furniture brand. Ashley has gone from small beginnings as a Wisconsin-based furniture manufacturer to a global powerhouse for furniture retail.

The company that is now a worldwide furniture provider has origins dating back to the early 1970s when two companies, Arcadia Furniture and a cabinet making company known as Ashley, merged.

The result of the merger eventually became Ashley furniture. While initially a minimal operation compared to other retailers at the time, Ashley began making moves that would quickly bring the business straight to the top of the furniture industry.

Now, Ashley Furniture is one of the leading brands in the furniture industry. Furniture Stores across the United States, Canada, and many other countries proudly carry Ashley Furniture in their stores.

To date, Ashley Furniture is the largest furniture manufacturer in the world. There are 685 Ashley Homestores in the United States alone, with the first Homestore opening in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1997.

Today, Ashley now operates in 6,000 retail outlets located in 123 countries across the globe. Ashley Furniture is one of the most recognizable brands in the furniture industry and has one of the widest selections of furniture available to shop.

Now that you know a little bit about each company, let’s compare the two brands on their sofas. For this comparison article, we will be looking at four major topics which are the following: Style, Availability, Quality, and Price.

We will look at the strengths and weaknesses of each brand in the categories mentioned, and then finding out where each brand excels. After reading this section, you will have a better idea of which brand might be better for your sofa needs.

First, let’s compare the most apparent aspects of the sofas available from IKEA and Ashley. The style of the sofa is easily the first thing that people notice about furniture, and many people are interested in specific styles.

Let’s look at the styles available from both brands, see if there are any overlapping styles, and find out which brand excels at which style. This should help you determine which brand you would be more likely to prefer style-wise.

The IKEA design style is primarily influenced by European, specifically Scandinavian furniture designs. IKEA uses what they call the “Democratic Design Process” which uses the expertise of designers, suppliers, and retailers to create a well-designed product for the most affordable price.

IKEA sofa designs are primarily focused on providing practical furniture with a primary focus on functionality over form. Sofas from IKEA use clean lines, simple shapes, and minimal design features to create pieces that are useful, simple, and modern.

IKEA sofas work best in simple contemporary modern interior designs. Minimalist, Scandinavian, Swiss, Mid Century Modern, and Contemporary Chic are interior design styles that can incorporate IKEA’s linear look products relatively easily.

IKEA constantly releases new sofa collections that keep up with modern contemporary interior designs. A major goal of IKEA is to provide furniture that is on the cutting edge of trends in design and functionality, while also maintaining a dedication to function over form.

Styles that would be more difficult to incorporate IKEA sofas into would be Farmhouse, Bohemian, Shabby Chic, Eclectic, Art Deco, and Victorian.

While these styles do not go with IKEA sofas normally, there are often exceptions to the rule, and you may be surprised what can be made to work with your design preferences.

If your design style is modern, clean, and minimal, then IKEA is the better option for you. The entire IKEA collection will speak to your design sensibilities and you will have a much greater selection of products that fit into your aesthetic.

When it comes to design styles, Ashley has a full spectrum of styles designed to appeal to the largest amount of interior design concepts. Due to a large number of stores and the wide variety of regional styles in each store location, Ashley furniture maintains many style collections that are constantly being updated.

Here are the styles available to shop at Ashley’s website:
Farmhouse
Midcentury
Glam
Bohemian
Traditional
Urban
Industrial
French
Modern
Coastal

Ashley furniture is constantly adding to, and updating its inventory, to better serve the needs and wants of people furnishing their living spaces. The Ashley design team is constantly keeping up with interior design trends and styles in an effort to keep their collections relevant to the customer’s aesthetic.

If your style falls into any of the previously mentioned categories, a trip to an Ashley retailer or a visit to their website is worth the effort. Ashley furniture has options for almost every design style and offers collections that can complete any room.

The style might be the first thing that people look for when choosing furniture brands, but availability is sometimes a bit more important to a furniture purchase.

If two products are competing and one can be brought home immediately while the other needs shipping time, the first product often ends up winning the purchase decision.

Let’s compare the availability of Ashley furniture and IKEA and find out how the brands compare to each other with regard to shipping, store locations, and product availability.

Keep in mind that shipping and product availability can change, especially considering the state of current world events.

IKEA furniture sells its inventory from large retail locations around the world, and their locations feature giant showrooms and massive warehouses filled to the brim with flat-packed KNISLINGES and KIVIKS ready to be transported to their new homes.

IKEA has 50 stores located throughout 27 states in the US, and also features online ordering that can ship directly to your home. If you live in an area that has an IKEA nearby, the convenience of the location plus the ability to purchase and immediately take home your new furniture is a great option.

If you do not live near an IKEA shipping is still an option, but the convenience of in-store pickup is not available, and that can deter many people from shopping the brand.

Many people want to view and experience their sofa before committing to the purchase, and the lack of a conveniently located showroom can dissuade many from a purchase.

Ashley sofas are sold in Ashley HomeStores across the United States, but also within many major and regional furniture retailers, including here at Furniture Fair. Ashley has over 600 stores across the country and also features online ordering.

For availability, Ashley is the clear winner, with a superior amount of locations across the country. If you live in the USA, chances are that there is either an Ashley HomeStore or an Ashley retailer selling sofas near you.

However, some retailers may not have every sofa available from Ashley and if you aren’t shopping at the Ashley HomeStore, you may not have access to every sofa that Ashley sells.

If you are looking for maximum location convenience near you, then Ashley is the superior brand.

Now that we’ve looked at the style and availability of sofas from IKEA and Ashley, let’s briefly look at the quality represented by each manufacturer.

We will be giving a brief overview of the material quality and construction features, as well as some of the upholstery quality.

The average IKEA sofa frame contains a mix of solid pine, fiberboard, particleboard, plywood, steel springs, and an epoxy/polyester powder coating. One obvious difference between Ashley and IKEA is that the IKEA frame is assembled after purchase by the buyer.

IKEA sofa cushions feature high-resilience foam and polyester designed to be affordable and stylish while also being practical. The upholstery materials usually feature a limited color option of fabrics or a blend of polypropylene and polyester materials.

One interesting fact about IKEA is that they offer a 10-year limited warranty on sofa purchases, which does show that they have confidence in their own product. Check out their website for more information on the details and limitations of the warranty.

While IKEA sofas are a great product for someone who is just starting out and has a low budget, the IKEA sofa is a bit lower in quality than a standard Ashley sofa. The materials used to make an IKEA frame are a bit less sturdy than the ones used to make an Ashley sofa.

Most Ashley sofas are constructed from a mixture of materials designed to maximize both durability and cost-effectiveness. Ashley sofa frames are constructed from a combination of hardwoods, plywoods, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), and metal spring systems.

The wood textures used in Ashley sofas are wood veneers, a type of composite material designed to look like real wood. Wood veneers are less durable than solid wood and are also less expensive to manufacture.

Ashley springs carry a five-year limited warranty and are made from galvanized steel, with about four or five springs per seat. The springs are coated with Teflon, in an effort to help prevent squeaking.

Ashley primarily uses foam padding for their cushions and arms, as opposed to the fiber padding that some manufacturers use in their sofas. Foam padding is more resilient and less likely to wear down in a short amount of time.

The fabric selection of Ashley sofas is usually limited to one to three colors to help reduce costs. Ashley furniture is mass-produced in bulk, meaning there are no customization options, so what you see on the website or in-store is what you get.

The last thing that we will be comparing between Ashley Sofas and IKEA sofas is the price range. While quality and availability are important factors to consider, sometimes budget is the ultimate decision maker.

We will compare prices of each brand and the features available at the price ranges. This will be a general comparison and if you want to compare specific model prices, we recommend comparing models on the IKEA and Ashley website.

The price range for an IKEA sofa is between $140 and $2,500 with the features becoming increasingly better the more you are willing to pay. IKEA sofas are designed to sell as cheap as possible, making their price range a bit wider than Ashley’s.

The low end of the price range will get you a basic sleeper sofa that can convert into a bed if needed with a basic metal frame and a mattress cushion. If you spend another $100 you will be able to get a basic sofa with no bells and whistles.

The medium price range will get you chaise features and some better style options. The higher end prices will get you quality materials like aniline leather and better frame construction.

One interesting side note is that IKEA only offers one reclining sofa, the TOMBÄCK sofa. The reason that IKEA reclining furniture is so limited is because in order to ship flat-packed, the mechanical features need to be as small as possible, which makes reclining furniture much harder to make.

If budget restrictions are your major concern when shopping for a new couch, then IKEA is the better option. IKEA features lower price points for couches and lets you pay less for your couch with the drawback of lower quality and DIY assembly.

Ashley sofas range in price from $350 to $2,500 and the features available become more unique the higher the price. A sofa on the lower end will have limited features and low-cost materials to provide the cheapest option while still maintaining Ashley level quality.

Medium level pricing will get you some additions like chaise sofas and manual reclining features which can elevate your sofa from a base model to a bit more of a unique experience. The highest price tier will get you features like power reclining, power headrest, USB, and better quality materials such as real leather.

If you want the best quality for your money, higher priced Ashley will get you the most for your money. Ashley higher tier products have all the bells and whistles that many modern sofas feature, but at a lower price than most competitors.

If you are shopping Ashley or IKEA for your next furniture purchase, we hope that this article has helped you learn the benefits and drawbacks that each brand provides. Keep in mind that both brands are in the good category of the Good, Better, Best rating system.

If you need the lowest price for your sofa or the easiest purchase, then IKEA is the place to shop. IKEA also has great clean modern stylings that will look great in a new apartment or starter home.

If you want a sofa that has better quality and more features while also having more convenient locations to shop at, consider Ashley sofas. Ashley styles are vast and varied and will go with just about any look that you are typing to achieve.

We hope that this article has helped you on your journey to find the perfect sofa. If you are in the Cincinnati, Dayton, or Louisville area, consider making a visit to Furniture Fair.

We have over 11 locations, and we feature a wide range of sofa brands, including Ashley sofas.