Best Time to Buy Furniture: A Month-by-Month Guide

For indoor furniture, the best times to buy are late winter (January and February) and late summer (August and September). Retailers discount older stock in those windows to make room for new styles, according to NerdWallet’s furniture timing guide. Holiday weekends add shorter promotions, and made-to-order furniture works on a calendar of its own. Below, we walk through the full year, explain why prices move, and share how we think about timing at our Plano showroom.

TL;DR

• Indoor furniture is usually discounted most in January and February and again in August and September, when stores clear old styles.
• Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Black Friday are the holiday weekends most often tied to furniture promotions.
• Outdoor furniture is cheapest late in the season, with the steepest markdowns after Labor Day.
• Custom-ordered furniture is built on demand, so it generally does not follow the standard retail sale cycle. The right time is when the room is ready.
• A sale price only matters if the “original” price was real, so compare before buying.

Table of Contents

• Why furniture prices rise and fall during the year
• The furniture buying calendar, month by month
• Holiday sales: which ones are worth watching
• Outdoor and office furniture follow different calendars
• Custom furniture runs on a different schedule
• Our perspective on timing
• See what fits before the next sale season
• How to tell whether a sale is a real deal
• Floor models, clearance, and last-minute buying
• Choosing where to shop matters as much as when
• A simple plan for the year
• FAQ
• Sources

Why furniture prices rise and fall during the year

Most furniture retailers work on a twice-a-year rhythm. New indoor styles arrive in spring and again in fall, and older stock is marked down to make space. That is the main reason NerdWallet points to the end of winter and the end of summer as the strongest windows for indoor pieces.

The practical effect is simple. A sofa that sits on a showroom floor in January is often a sofa the store would like to move before the new collection lands. In August, the same logic applies ahead of fall arrivals. The discount is less about the sofa itself and more about the floor space it occupies.

There is a second effect worth knowing about. If one sale window is missed, the next one is typically six to eight weeks away, per the same NerdWallet guide. That makes timing less stressful than it looks. A missed sale is rarely the last chance of the year.

The furniture buying calendar, month by month

The table below pulls together the timing patterns published by national sources. Exact discounts differ by store and by product, so treat it as a planning aid rather than a promise.

The January through February and August through September windows come straight from NerdWallet. Holiday weekends and outdoor timing are covered in the sections that follow.

Late winter: January and February

This is the window most guides agree on. Stores are clearing holiday-season stock and preparing for spring lines, so living room and bedroom pieces are commonly marked down. Presidents’ Day falls inside it, which adds a promotional weekend on top of the clearance.

For anyone replacing a sofa, a bed, or a dining set, this is a good time to start looking even if the final purchase comes later. Seeing what is on sale also shows what the going price is for a given size and style.

Late summer: August and September

The second window comes when fall collections are about to arrive. NerdWallet notes that summer sales in August and September can bring good discounts on indoor furniture. Labor Day sits at the end of it and often carries the headline offers.

Families tend to like this window because it comes before the fall hosting season. A new dining table or sectional bought in September is in place well before Thanksgiving.

The months in between

March through July and October through December are not bad times to buy, but the deepest indoor discounts are less common. That is especially true right after new styles arrive. Buying then can still make sense when a piece fits a specific room, a move-in date, or a family event.

Holiday sales: which ones are worth watching

Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Black Friday are the holiday weekends most reliably linked to furniture promotions, according to NerdWallet. The Spruce reports discounts in the range of 20 to 60 percent across these holiday periods, which is wide enough to show how much depends on the store and the item.

Fourth of July weekend is a smaller story. Retailers use it to bring in traffic and clear inventory, but it is often described as less significant than Memorial Day or Labor Day, as Furniture Today has reported.

A few habits make holiday shopping easier:

1. Measure first. Know the width, depth, and doorway clearances before the sale weekend, not during it.
2. Shortlist two or three pieces. Sale weekends are busy, and a shortlist keeps decisions calm.
3. Ask what the sale price includes. Delivery, assembly, and fabric protection can change the real cost.
4. Confirm the return or change policy. Some sale items are final.

Online mega-sales deserve extra care. Consumer Reports advises researching prices before a large online retailer’s furniture event, noting that real savings may be closer to 5 to 20 percent off regular prices than the headline numbers suggest.

Outdoor and office furniture follow different calendars

Outdoor furniture is the exception to the winter-and-summer rule. Sales run from the Fourth of July through the end of September, with the steepest markdowns after Labor Day, per NerdWallet. The Spruce adds that stores offer steep discounts on outdoor pieces from August into October as the weather turns colder.

In North Texas the patio season is long, so a late-season purchase still gets used. Buying outdoor seating in the fall means the pieces are ready for the next spring, and the price is often better than in April.

Office furniture follows the school and tax calendars. A buying guide from Lugg points to April and August as stronger months for desks and chairs. For anyone setting up a home office, that makes late summer a useful overlap, since indoor furniture is also on sale.

Custom furniture runs on a different schedule

Here is where the standard advice stops applying. Custom-ordered furniture generally does not follow the usual retail sale cycle, because it is produced on demand rather than pulled from existing floor stock, as NerdWallet explains. There is no clearance of old styles, since nothing was built ahead of time.

For custom buyers, the better questions are practical ones:

• When is the room ready? A new sectional is best ordered once paint, flooring, and layout are settled.
• When is the furniture needed? Made-to-order pieces are built after the order, so planning around a move-in date, a holiday, or a family visit helps.
• What is the total budget? Our guide to custom furniture cost walks through how size, fabric, and configuration shape a realistic budget.

If the choice is between a custom sofa and a stock one, our comparison of a custom sofa versus a stock sofa lays out how each fits different rooms and households.

Our perspective on timing

We hear the timing question at the showroom often, and we think the calendar is only part of the answer. Sale seasons are real, and they reward shoppers who plan ahead. But a discount on a piece that does not fit the room or the household is not a good deal.

That is why we build around the space. Our pieces are made to order in American workshops, with more than 700 fabric and leather options, so the size, depth, arm style, and configuration are chosen for the home. A family with young children can pick a durable fabric. A first-time homeowner can size a sectional to the actual living room, not to what a warehouse floor happened to stock.

Because made-to-order furniture is built after the order, it does not depend on clearance windows. We would rather a customer take time to choose well in late winter or late summer, when they can visit, sit on the pieces, compare fabrics, and talk through the layout with our staff. The best time to order is when the room is ready and the decisions are made with care.

We also offer curated ready-to-ship pieces for those who need furniture sooner. Whichever route fits, the goal is the same: a piece that works in the home for years, not just on sale day.

Dean P.

See what fits before the next sale season

Sale calendars help, but furniture that fits the room helps more. At cozyhome in Plano, our staff guide shoppers through fabric selection, sizing, and configuration, and our made-to-order custom furniture covers customizable sofas and sectionals along with solid wood bedroom and dining pieces. We also offer free local delivery and flexible financing for DFW homeowners.

Shoppers who want to browse first can start with our living, dining, bedroom, and outdoor collections. Visiting the showroom before a sale weekend is a good way to know exactly what to look for.

How to tell whether a sale is a real deal

Timing matters less when the discount itself is shaky. Consumer Reports notes that some advertised savings are calculated against an inflated “original” price, so the advice is to compare prices across several retailers before a sale starts. For furniture, the same source recommends a reverse image search to find the identical item under different names elsewhere and see its real price.

A simple routine helps:

1. Record prices a few weeks ahead. Note the regular price of two or three shortlisted pieces.
2. Compare like with like. Frame material, cushion construction, and fabric grade matter more than the photo.
3. Check what is included. Delivery and setup can add real cost.
4. Look at the build, not the percentage. A smaller discount on better construction often costs less over time.

For a closer look at what separates well-built pieces, our guide to common furniture shopping mistakes covers the traps that catch buyers on sale weekends.

Floor models, clearance, and last-minute buying

Floor models can carry some of the best prices of the year. The trade-off is logistics: stores usually want the piece off the floor within a short window, so delivery or pickup has to be arranged quickly, a point raised in the Lugg guide. Measuring doorways and stairwells beforehand makes that practical.

Some situations do not wait for a sale. A move-in date, a new baby, a job relocation, or a first apartment-to-house transition can set the schedule. In those cases, the better strategy is to pick the right piece first and use sale timing only as a tiebreaker. Our home redesign checklist helps sequence a room-by-room purchase so the most urgent pieces come first.

Choosing where to shop matters as much as when

The type of store shapes how timing works. Warehouse-style retailers lean on volume and seasonal clearance. Showrooms that offer made-to-order pieces lean on fit and service. Our overview of furniture store types explains the differences, and the showroom versus warehouse store guide for DFW buyers covers the trade-offs locally.

For homeowners in Plano, what to check before walking into a furniture store is a quick read, and a practical checklist for evaluating showrooms helps compare what each one offers beyond the price tag.

A simple plan for the year

Here is a straightforward way to use the calendar:

• November to December: Measure rooms, set a budget, and note what needs replacing first.
• January to February: Shop indoor clearance and Presidents’ Day promotions for sofas, beds, and living room pieces.
• Spring: Visit showrooms and look at fabrics. Order custom pieces for summer delivery.
• July to September: Watch outdoor furniture sales and the late-summer indoor window, including Labor Day.
• October to November: Pick up outdoor clearance, then check Black Friday promotions for anything left on the list.

This plan works for first-time buyers, growing families, and designers sourcing for clients alike. The point is to arrive at each sale window already knowing what the room needs.

FAQ

What month is the cheapest to buy furniture?

For indoor furniture, January and February and August and September are the strongest windows, according to NerdWallet. Outdoor furniture is usually cheapest late in the season, with the steepest markdowns after Labor Day. Individual stores vary, so comparing a few before buying is wise.

When is the best time to buy a sofa?

Late winter is the most commonly cited time for sofas and living room furniture, since stores clear stock for spring styles. Late summer is a second good window. A custom sofa is built on demand, so it does not depend on those windows, and the best time to order is when the room and layout are settled.

Is it worth waiting for a holiday sale?

Often yes, if the purchase is not urgent. Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Black Friday are the weekends most associated with furniture promotions. If one is missed, the next deal is typically six to eight weeks away, per NerdWallet. A missing piece that the household needs now is a good reason not to wait.

Does custom furniture go on sale?

Custom-ordered furniture generally does not follow the standard retail sale cycle because it is made on demand rather than taken from floor stock. For current promotions, financing options, and ready-to-ship pieces, the best step is to visit our Plano showroom or check our website.

Sources

• When Is the Best Time to Buy Furniture? (NerdWallet)
• This Is The Best Time of Year To Buy Furniture (The Spruce)
• What to Know About an Online Furniture Retailer’s Annual Sale (Consumer Reports)
• Fourth of July retail sales report (Furniture Today)
• Best time to buy furniture: month-by-month sale guide (Lugg)

Recommended

• Common Furniture Shopping Mistakes to Avoid in 2026
• Custom Furniture Cost: A Homeowner’s Realistic Budget Guide
• How to Choose the Right Furniture for the Way You Actually Live
• How to Evaluate Furniture Showrooms: A Practical Checklist