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A Grown-Up Bed, a Tidy Hallway and a Sofa That Fits, All From Wayfair

Furnishing a first apartment on a budget? These are the four pieces I would buy first, one from each of four Wayfair brands.

By Franco N.·Updated September 25, 2026

The short answer

Start with the four picks below. Together they furnish the bedroom, the living room, the hallway and the bathroom of a first apartment, and all four are good for the money.

The picks

Best bed for a first grown-up bedroomMercury Row Hegg Platform BedView at Wayfair
Best for an entryway with shoes all over the floorLark Manor Aleatha Shoe CabinetView at Wayfair
Best for finishing a small bathroom in an afternoonEbern Designs Leaderville MirrorView at Wayfair
Best sofa for a small apartment, if you like a firm seatWade Logan Azriah Sofa, now listed as the Croley,View at Wayfair

Where to buy: all four come from Wayfair, and Wayfair handles the delivery and any return.

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The numbers

  • Mercury Row Hegg Platform Bed 4.6 over 15,188 reviews
  • Lark Manor Aleatha Shoe Cabinet 4.7 over 1,649 reviews
  • Ebern Designs Leaderville Mirror 4.8 over 1,565 reviews
  • Wade Logan Azriah Sofa 4.5 over 1,568 reviews

The Mercury Row Hegg bed that makes a bedroom look finished

One owner swapped an old wrought iron bed for the tufted Hegg, changed nothing else, and says “it looks like I redecorated the entire room.”

It is the first thing I would buy from Mercury Row, and an easy one to build. The slats and the headboard come in the box, and it needs no box spring, so your mattress goes straight on.

The fabric comes out a little duller than the photos. The legs can work loose, so give them a turn with a wrench after the first month.

Lark Manor for the shoes by the front door

The Aleatha shoe cabinet gets the shoes off the floor by the front door and behind doors, and the hallway looks tidy.

It is my pick from Lark Manor, a label that is good at affordable pieces that look like they cost more. Measure the biggest shoe in the house before you order, since a men’s 11.5 barely fits.

Then give the build a whole evening. The written instructions are hard to follow, and the doors can end up crooked if you hurry.

An Ebern Designs mirror for a small bathroom

A small bathroom looks finished the day the black-framed Leaderville goes up over the sink, and it looks just like its listing photo.

The hanging brackets are narrow and fiddly, so mark and level them on the wall before you drill.

Ebern Designs is at its best on mirrors, curtains and rugs, and this mirror is where I would start.

A Wade Logan sofa, if you like to sit up

If you sit up on a sofa, with a laptop, a book or friends over, the Wade Logan Azriah is the one I would point a friend to for a first apartment.

It is firm. If you nap on your sofa most nights, buy a softer one.

Some people get pilling on the seat within a few months, so order a fabric shaver with it.

Who makes Mercury Row, Lark Manor and Wade Logan?

Mercury Row, Lark Manor and Wade Logan are Wayfair’s own labels. Whichever you buy, Wayfair handles the delivery and any return.

What to check on any Wayfair listing before you buy

Open every box the day it arrives, before you build anything. If you build a piece, you have to take it apart again to send it back, so look for a chipped panel or a bent frame while everything is still in its wrapping.

For the first 30 days after delivery, keep the boxes flat behind a door, because a return has to go back in the original box or one the same size. Clearance and Open Box pieces cannot go back at all, so look for either label on the listing.

On a bed, find the Box Spring Required line in the listing’s Specifications before you order. The Hegg says no. The Lark Manor Ameire says yes, and without one it feels flimsy.

Check the item number too (the SKU, the code at the end of the listing’s web address). Wayfair renames listings, so the Azriah sofa now shows up as the Croley on the same SKU.

Names get reused as well, so match the SKU and you know the reviews you are reading belong to the thing you are buying.

When something goes wrong, it is usually a panel damaged in the box, a color that comes out different from the photo, or legs and screws that work loose after a few months. Open every box the day it arrives, and tighten everything again a month in.

Where else to look

  • For a sofa the whole family sits on every night, if your budget stretches a long way further, read the Castlery review. The Jonathan is the sofa I would buy there.

Questions people ask

Is Mercury Row a Wayfair brand?

Yes. Wayfair owns the Mercury Row name and sells the furniture on its site.

Who makes Lark Manor furniture?

Wayfair. Lark Manor is one of Wayfair’s own brands.

Is Wade Logan good quality?

Good for the money, judged on the Azriah sofa. It looks more expensive than it is, and the complaints are firmness, pilling and, for a few people, a broken leg.

Is Ebern Designs a good brand?

Yes for the money, on mirrors, curtains and rugs, like the Leaderville mirror and the Bantam curtains. The bed and the tall dresser are fine too, as long as you keep the bed’s bolts tight and strap the dresser to the wall.

Which Wayfair brand is best?

It depends on the room. Of these four, I would buy a bed from Mercury Row, a shoe cabinet from Lark Manor, a sofa from Wade Logan and a bathroom mirror from Ebern Designs.

Where can you buy these brands?

At Wayfair. A few Mercury Row and Lark Manor pieces also turn up on AllModern, another Wayfair site.

Sources (9)

How these numbers get checked: How Corner Nook researches these pages.