Trying to Secure a Stylish Nugget Sofa for the Kids? We've Found Some Great Alternatives

While the original Nugget Sofa isn't available on Amazon or Walmart, I found a few similar modular sofas to try instead

modular kid friendly sofas on a colorful background
(Image credit: Amazon)

As an interior design- or DIY-loving parent, you might be sick of your kids tearing up your living room couch with spills, stains — or worse — fort-building. Indeed, nothing wears down a $3,000 sectional faster than a couple of sleepovers and some imaginative children with nothing to do on a rainy day.

Enter Nugget, the company behind the first so-called "play couch" on the market. In an attempt at creating a better futon, one that was easy to set up and move around, the geniuses behind this beloved brand inadvertently created a modular sofa that worked amazingly for curious toddlers, eager to climb, play, and lay on their parents' seating. The foam triangle pillows, base, and cushion, all of which are wrapped in a washable corduroy, microsuede, or double-brushed microsuede (your choice), are lightweight, soft, and infinitely reconfigurable — so your little adventurer can dream big (and build forts) all day long. If the reviews are any indication, it's one of the best sofas when it comes to young kids.

Now, you still might not display the Nugget (or a similar child-friendly modular sofa) front and center in your living room, but it would work excellently in a nursery, playroom, or basement, where function tends to dominate form when it comes to children's furniture. As a sofa expert myself, I wanted to take a dive into the specs to learn just how kid-friendly the Nugget really is. Spoiler alert: These people thought of everything.

There obviously isn't a traditional frame or seating suspension here, so to be honest, my spec deep dive wasn't all that deep. But what I was really curious about was the fabric and foam, considering this is a sofa meant for young kids. Surely parents will be concerned about flame retardants and off-gassing (for more on both, visit the "Sustainability and Wellness" and "Flame Retardants" sections of my best sofas guide). Well, Nugget got ahead of it all.

This sofa does not use flame-retardant chemicals, and it is filled with Certi-Pur-US-approved foam, a voluntary certification that ensures the foam in your sofa is made without formaldehyde, emits less than 0.5 parts per million of Volatile Organic Compounds, and has been screened for relevant chemicals believed potentially harmful to human health. The upholstery, meanwhile, is certified Greenguard Gold, which means it was also certified for low chemical emissions. While it is not necessary to purchase a sofa that is flame retardant-free or one with low VOC emissions (you won't grow a third arm), many families with young children choose this option.

Kid-Friendly Modular Sofas On Sale from Amazon and Walmart

If you like the modular look and value of the Nugget and are after something similar, now is a great time to strike. If you didn't already know, there is both an Amazon sale (Amazon's Big Deal Days) and a Walmart sale (the October Deals Event) to shop right now — the former running from October 8 to 9, and the latter running from October 8 to October 13. You can expect markdowns on things like home decor, home tech, and furniture, which is where we'll be focusing our efforts for the next 300 words.

Both retailers stock their own range of modular foam kids' couches. While Walmart's range of Nugget-inspired sofas aren't all on sale, we've found one that is (listed below — we'll try to update if more become available). But where you should really focus your efforts, though, is on Amazon's modular kids couch range, where a number of styles have already been heavily discounted for Prime Day.

We've pulled out some of our favorites below, noting the markdown (which, of course, will be subject to change throughout the sale) and the selling points of each. These sales will be the last big home deals at either retailer until Black Friday, so be sure to shop while you can!

Brigid Kennedy
Style Editor

Brigid Kennedy is a Style Editor at Livingetc.com, where she scours the internet for the best and most stylish deals on home decor and more. After earning a degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, she spent the first 2.5 years of her journalism career covering U.S. politics and culture at TheWeek.com. She describes her design style as colorful and clean, and in her free time enjoys reading, watching movies, and curating impossibly niche playlists on Spotify. She recently relocated from Manhattan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she's decorating and DIYing a new home downtown.