Coleman Furniture is an online-only retailer focused on delivering affordable, modern furniture with maximum convenience, making it a go-to for budget-conscious shoppers. In contrast, Ashley Furniture is one of the largest and most recognized furniture brands in the country, offering a wider range of styles and a hybrid shopping experience with both physical showrooms and a robust online store.
Let's break down everything you need to know to choose the right home decor retailer for your space.
Coleman Furniture: The Online Value Retailer
Coleman Furniture operates exclusively online, eliminating the overhead of physical stores to offer highly competitive pricing. The brand caters to first-time homeowners, renters, and students who prioritize value and convenience. Their website is designed for an easy shopping experience, featuring an extensive catalog of stylish, functional pieces perfect for those looking to furnish a space without breaking the bank.
- Product mix: Specializes in complete bedroom sets, but also offers a wide selection of living room furniture (sofas, sectionals), dining sets, and home accents.
- Style/vibe: Predominantly modern, transitional, and contemporary. The aesthetic is clean, simple, and versatile, making it easy to fit into various decor schemes, especially in smaller urban spaces.
- Price point: Very budget-friendly. Sofas often range from $300–$600, while complete five-piece bedroom sets can be found for under $1,000. Frequent sales and bundle deals offer additional savings.
- Quality: Focuses on cost-effective materials like engineered wood, durable laminates, and practical fabric blends. The quality is a solid value for the price point, suitable for everyday use.
- Shopping Experience: Entirely online, with a user-friendly website that includes detailed product descriptions, customer photos, and helpful product filters.
- Delivery & Assembly: Offers free shipping on many of its items directly to your home. Assembly is typically required for most furniture pieces.
Coleman Furniture's online-only model makes it an excellent choice for shoppers who want stylish, affordable furnishings delivered directly to their door.
Shop Coleman Furniture: colemanfurniture.com
Ashley Furniture: The Trusted All-Rounder
As one of the biggest names in the furniture industry, Ashley Furniture has built a strong reputation for offering a vast selection that balances affordability, style, and durability. With an extensive network of physical "Ashley HomeStores" and a comprehensive online platform, the brand allows customers to shop however they prefer. Ashley's broad catalog serves a wide demographic, from families looking for durable pieces to homeowners wanting to achieve a specific design aesthetic.
- Product mix: A complete home furnisher, offering everything from sofas, sectionals, and recliners to dining tables, beds, dressers, mattresses, and home office setups.
- Style/vibe: Extremely diverse. Ashley Furniture carries styles ranging from traditional and classic to modern farmhouse, industrial, and contemporary, ensuring there's something for nearly every taste.
- Price point: Competitively priced within the low-to-mid range. Sofas typically start around $500–$800, and bedroom sets often fall between $1,000–$2,000 for mid-range collections. They also offer frequent promotional sales and flexible financing options.
- Quality: Designed for durability and everyday family life. Construction often involves engineered wood, some solid wood accents, durable metals, and resilient upholstery fabrics. It's generally considered a step up in longevity compared to strictly budget brands.
- Fit & Sizing: Offers a wide variety of furniture scales, from apartment-friendly pieces to large, family-sized sectionals and substantial bedroom sets suitable for spacious rooms.
- Shopping Experience: A major advantage is the ability to see, touch, and test products in their physical showrooms before buying. Their website also provides a full online shopping experience with options for home delivery or in-store pickup.
Ashley Furniture's combination of variety, in-person and online shopping options, and trusted brand recognition makes it a reliable choice for furnishing any home.
Shop Ashley Furniture: ashleyfurniture.com
Coleman Furniture vs. Ashley Furniture Comparison
Price Comparison
Price is a primary differentiator. Coleman Furniture is consistently the more budget-friendly option. By operating exclusively online, they cut brick-and-mortar costs and pass those savings to consumers. Expect lower entry prices on almost every category, especially on bundled sets.
Ashley is still very affordable but targets a slightly higher price point, especially in its mid-tier collections. While you can find entry-level pieces at comparable prices during major sales events, its baseline prices are often a bit higher. Ashley’s frequent sales and financing options make it accessible, but for sheer upfront savings, Coleman usually wins.
Style & Aesthetic
Coleman focuses on a specific aesthetic lane: modern, contemporary, and transitional. Its designs are often minimalist and space-conscious, ideal for apartments, guest rooms, or anyone who prefers a clean, uncluttered look. The selection is stylish but not overly trend-driven, ensuring versatility.
Ashley Furniture offers a far broader style library. Whether you're decorating a traditional home, a rustic farmhouse, or a sleek modern loft, Ashley likely has a collection to match. This variety is a huge advantage for homeowners with specific design ideas or those looking to mix and match different styles.
Quality & Construction
Both brands utilize engineered wood and other cost-effective materials to keep prices down. However, Ashley Furniture has a reputation for offering slightly better durability and construction, particularly in its mid-range product lines. Their furniture is often built to withstand the rigors of family life and may feature more robust frames and longer-lasting fabrics.
Coleman's furniture provides excellent value for its price and is perfectly adequate for daily use, but it may not offer the same longevity as Ashley's more substantial pieces. Think of Coleman as a great choice for a few years, while Ashley is often seen as a longer-term investment.
Product Selection
Both retailers offer an impressive range of products to furnish an entire home. Coleman shines in its extensive online catalog, especially with its easy-to-shop bedroom sets that make coordinating furniture simple. Their focus remains squarely on core furniture categories.
Ashley's selection is massive, covering not only furniture but also mattresses, rugs, lighting, and a wide array of home decor. Their in-store and online inventories are vast, providing more options within each category, from different recliner mechanisms to various dining table sizes.
Shopping Experience
This is a major point of contrast. Coleman Furniture provides a streamlined, convenient online-only experience. It's perfect for decisive shoppers who know what they want and value having furniture delivered directly to them without visiting a store. The lack of showrooms means you can't test comfort or see finishes in person.
Ashley offers the best of both worlds. You can browse online to narrow your choices, then visit an Ashley HomeStore to sit on a sofa, open dresser drawers, and see colors in person. This hands-on experience is invaluable for many shoppers, especially when making a large purchase like a sectional or a bed.
Which One Should You Choose?
These are both excellent brands, but they serve different shopping priorities and lifestyles.
Choose Coleman Furniture if:
- Your primary concern is finding the lowest possible price.
- You're furnishing a first apartment, college dorm, or starter home.
- You prefer a simple and convenient online shopping process and don't feel the need to see items in person.
- You favor clean, modern, and transitional styles over traditional or ornate designs.
Choose Ashley Furniture if:
- You want to see, sit on, and touch furniture in a physical store before you commit.
- You are looking for a trusted, well-established brand with a track record for quality and customer service.
- You need a wider variety of styles to choose from, including classic, farmhouse, or traditional looks.
- You value durability and are looking for furniture that will hold up well to active family life for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coleman Furniture or Ashley Furniture cheaper?
Coleman Furniture is generally cheaper across the board. Its online-only business model allows it to offer lower prices and frequent promotions.
Which brand has better quality furniture?
Ashley Furniture is typically regarded as having slightly better quality and more durable construction. While both use cost-effective materials, Ashley's pieces are often designed to offer greater longevity. Ashley's physical stores also allow customers to assess quality in person.
Can you buy Coleman Furniture in stores?
No, Coleman Furniture is an online-only retailer. All purchases are made through its website.
Which is better for small apartments?
Coleman Furniture often excels here, as many of its collections are designed with smaller-scale living in mind. Their minimalist and modern designs are well-suited for apartments and condos where space is a premium.
Does Ashley Furniture have sales?
Yes, Ashley Furniture runs frequent sales and promotional events throughout the year, especially around major holidays like Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, and Black Friday. They also offer a variety of financing options to make purchases more manageable.
Can you return furniture to both stores?
Yes, both brands have return policies, but the terms differ. Coleman has a straightforward online return process, though return shipping fees may apply. Ashley allows returns for both online and in-store purchases, but restocking fees can be a factor, so it's important to read the policy before buying.
What styles does Ashley Furniture offer?
Ashley Furniture offers one of the most diverse style selections in the market, including traditional, contemporary, modern farmhouse, rustic, industrial, and mid-century modern designs. This breadth of choice is one of their biggest strengths.
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