2 days ago
Can you trust social media to sell you a couch? I tried the viral Albany Park Kova sofa to find out
Your couch is arguably the most important piece of furniture and decor in your home, where you and your family will spend countless hours each day interacting, unwinding, entertaining and more. And with so many direct-to-consumer furniture brands operating solely online these days, there's a strong chance that you might never actually sit on your couch until its already purchased and set up in your living room. So social media comes in handy, then, when it comes to gaining a better sense of what you're actually getting yourself into as you make this major purchase.
But can TikTok and Instagram be trusted with such a big decision? That's the question I've been grappling with specifically in relation to the Albany Park Kova collection. A mainstay of my FYP, the Kova couch looks extremely comfortable and seems to be priced well, but is it all the influencers and creators out there say it's cracked up to be? Here's what I found out.
Albany Park Kova Sofa and Ottoman
The Albany Park Kova sofa has gone viral on social media for its pillow cushions and ease of assembly. It's available in a wide range of sizes and configurations, and you can choose from 33 fabric options. It started with the Restoration Hardware Cloud Sofa, aka the viral Cloud Couch. That ultra relaxed, sink-in feel of this couch's pillow-like cushions captivated the internet — and celebrities, who could actually afford the starting price tag of over $1,700 for a single armless section and more than $2,200 for a corner — back when it launched in 2015. But now, a decade later, that comfy, cushy vibe has been adapted by many furniture brands into sofas that are far more accessible in terms of price, but no less cozy and sought after.
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The Albany Park Kova collection is one of the most popular pillow-cushioned options available today. I've personally seen dozens of videos on TikTok of creators putting the couch together with ease (at least according to their picture-perfect edited videos) before flopping onto the finished product and singing its praises.
You'd be hard pressed to find a couch, especially for a smaller space, that's absolutely perfect, but there's a lot to love about the Albany Park Kova. My experience is based on the 86-inch sofa with a storage ottoman, and for the upholstery, I opted for the performance boucle fabric in mocha, a pinkish brown hue.
First, delivery was relatively seamless. The couch arrived in five large, very heavy boxes. My delivery guys were able to drop them off inside my apartment building, and because I'm on the ground floor, I was able to push them into my living room myself. But if you live on a high floor of an apartment building or you're planning to put this couch upstairs in your home, just know that you'll need some help to actually get the boxes there.
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Assembly was intuitive and straightforward, though again, I do recommend having a second pair of hands around to help. All the pieces of the couch are packaged securely, but not so securely that unwrapping them is much of a challenge, and once you remove the plastic wrap from around the cushions, they puff up pretty much instantly.
There are no tools required to put the couch together; the feet simply screw into the base, so that process is a total breeze. Meanwhile, the bases attach to the arms and backs via metal brackets that nest together by sliding one into the other. In a YouTube assembly tutorial video, it looks like these brackets fit together without too much effort; in reality, they don't — this was by far the most challenging aspect of assembly and the reason I recommend having at least one other person around to help, and preferably someone with some muscle. Lucky for me, my mom happened to be staying with me, and we only got the pieces to fit completely together when one of us was bracing the base while the other threw their entire body weight against the arm/back. It wasn't the most difficult furniture assembly task we've ever encountered, but we did break a sweat.
If you got a sectional (and you probably did), the sections have a gator clamp that pivots out from under the base and easily clicks into its counterpart. Initially, I actually forgot this step, but it's vital. You'll notice that the sections move around quite easily if you forgo it, which actually speaks to one of the brand's selling points: The ability to easily reconfigure the couch if you opt for one of the bigger sectionals.
Finally, you're ready to put the cushions into place. For the actual couch, they're simply placed on top (the seat cushions have a textured side that faces down to prevent slipping and sliding), with the cushion for the ottoman is zipped into a cushion cover that's sewn on. Speaking of the ottoman, I highly recommend opting for the version that includes storage! I've been able to fit two regular and one large bolster pillow inside with room to spare, and this piece actually arrives fully assembled, so you don't have to mess around with assembling any hinge systems.
I've been living with the sofa for over a month now, even sleeping on it for over a week, and I've been impressed with its level of comfort and durability. I expected to need to fluff up the pillow cushions rather often, but I've actually only needed to do that a couple times, as they hold their shape nicely. The performance boucle fabric has also surpassed my expectations: Despite my best attempts to deter her, my cat loves to scratch at the fabric, but so far there's no evidence of damage (this was not the case with my previous couch). It's also spillproof; liquids just roll off the fabric, rather than soaking in.
For me, the Albany Park Kova lives up to the hype it's received on social media. It's priced well; comes in a variety of sizes, configurations and fabrics; assembly was more than manageable; the upholstery is impressively durable; and most importantly, it's really, really comfortable. If you're looking for a sofa you can really sink into, it turns out social media hasn't steered you wrong — this time.
How deep is the Albany Park Kova couch?
How deep is the Albany Park Kova couch?
The Albany Park Kova's seat depth measures 29 inches for each section.
Here at CNN Underscored, we rigorously test products from hundreds of brands to make sure everything we recommend is worthy of your money. In addition to hands-on testing products, we also consult top experts to understand what features, benefits and possible downsides each item offers. We also seek out important considerations and advice from our experts to help give you the information you need to make smarter shopping decisions. For this article, editorial director Chelsea Stone tried the viral Albany Park Kova sofa to see if it lived up to the hype it's received online.
