How Does the Nugget Couch Hold Up to Four Kids? One Mom Weighs In

In a nutshell:

The Nugget play couch is a bit pricey, but worth the investment. It delivers a durable and fun toy that’s as chic as it is functional. After testing this out with my four kids, I was impressed to discover that a wide range of ages enjoy playing on the couch, so owners are sure to get plenty of future use.

There are certain toys that are hard to miss as a parent. The Nugget couch is a big one. This functional toy has a cult following and heavy social media presence, making most parents at least aware that it exists. As a mom of four young kids, the Nugget play couch has been on my radar for years. While the concept of a couch-slash-toy is genius, I’ve been wary of the price tag—and of adding another large kids’ plaything to my home, which is already crowded with toys. Is the Nugget worth it? Will my kids actually play with it? As someone who is admittedly cheap, I debated this for years before actually trying the Nugget couch out. My very active kids and I put this hyped-up product to the test to see what it’s all about. It’s been through multiple rounds of fort building, pillow fights, jumping contests and more. Here’s my honest take.

Overview of the Nugget Couch

How We Tested the Nugget Couch

To see how the Nugget Couch performed with a real family:

• I set the Nugget Couch up in my living room (a high-traffic area in my home) and let my 3-year-old, 6-year-old, 8-year-old, and 12-year-old use it however they wanted. We used the Nugget Couch to build forts, create obstacles courses, play “the floor is lava” and more. The couch was also used as a traditional seat during story time.
• I let my children eat on the Nugget couch, tackling the inevitable spills with Nugget’s directions—I washed the Nugget couch according to the brand’s instructions to see how well it held up to a thorough cleaning.
• I rated the Nugget couch across several categories, including ease of use, size, entertainment, style and value. The toy was evaluated on a scale of 1 to 10 for each category, with 1 being the worst rating and 10 being the best.

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Nugget Couch Review

Ease of use

There are no tools required to put together the Nugget couch, and that’s something I can get behind. I’ve put together some incredibly complicated kids’ toys in the past, and this is by far one of the easiest I’ve assembled. You just open the box, pull out the couch, unwrap the plastic, and your couch is ready to go. My kids were climbing all over it within a minute after I pulled the pieces out of the box. (The box is large enough to double as a temporary toy, by the way.) There weren’t obvious assembly instructions, and I would have liked to see them. I don’t have the best imagination and, while I’m aware that you can put this couch together however you want, I was hoping to see options of what it could look like for ideas. Nugget does give you a QR code to scan to see building options, though—that was helpful when I discovered it.

While a lot of products smell a little funky when they arrive shrink-wrapped and compressed, that wasn’t an issue here. There was no noticeable smell out of the package. The couch arrived in great condition and is still holding strong despite being repeatedly played with, reconfigured, smacked into siblings and jumped on by my crew.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Size

With four kids and two adults living in my house, we have to be aware of floorspace. Everyone wants their toys out all the time, but we still need to be able to walk around. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Nugget couch provides space to lounge on without having a massive footprint.

The couch offers plenty of seating, although I would call it a medium size, just because of the triangle shaped pillows that are used in the back. These only provide back support across a portion of the couch, which means there’s plenty of extra space where kids could end up leaning against the wall when you’re in couch mode vs. having a cushioned back. But I’m a fan of the size overall. It neatly fits into a space in my living room, and provides enough room for my two younger kids to sprawl out at the same time.

I can technically fit all four of my kids on the couch. We just needed to put some throw pillows in the back so some of my children aren’t stuck leaning against the wall. While the couch is designed for kids, it’s comfortable and roomy enough for adults. My husband and I hang out on it while watching our kids play on the floor and there is plenty of space for us to sit without being on top of each other. My husband has also caught a few naps on the couch and I’ve lounged on it while reading. Since it can hold two full-sized adults with no issue, I don’t anticipate my kids outgrowing this couch.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Style and design

The original plan with this couch was to try it out in the living room before relocating it to the basement, which is our play room for the kids. But it’s still in the living room and we have no plans to move it. Why? We always need more seating for family members and guests, and this couch looks good. My husband is picky about decor and he even suggested that we keep the Nugget in our living room due to how nice it looks.

You can choose a Nugget couch in a range of colors, but there are also shades and textures that look nice with “adult” decor. I chose a tan corduroy that goes with everything, but you can also pick up a bright blue couch if that’s more your speed. The couch has zippers and, while they’re not concealed, they are a very similar color to the fabric. You’ll notice them when they’re facing out, but it’s not an eyesore.

The couch comes with four pieces—a base, cushion, and two triangle pillows. In a perfect world, I’d like to see one more triangle pillow, just because we always put it back together as a couch when play time is over. Having that extra support would be great for fitting more kids on the couch at once. While Nugget sells all kinds of accessories and even new covers, you unfortunately can’t pick up an extra cushion or two to round things out.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Materials

There are a lot of play couches out there that kids can have fun with, but Nugget really stands out with its quality. I’ve sat and used some other play couches, and they don’t have the same caliber materials as this.

The couch is made from open-cell polyurethane foam and your choice of fabric. It’s also packed with certifications you want in stuff your kid will play with: It’s GREENGUARD Gold certified to have low chemical emissions and low volatile organic compounds, it uses Certi-Pur-US foam (meaning it’s free of certain chemicals) and it passes California’s TB-117, which means the foam has to meet certain flammability requirements (which it achieves without using flame-retardant chemicals).

The fabric looks and feels high quality. I don’t think it will rip or tear easily, even in the hands of my rough and tumble kids who have already used the pieces as weapons against each other. The pieces also nail that perfect mix of being supportive yet soft. Meaning, your butt won’t sink to the floor when you sit or hang out on it, but it also doesn’t feel like you’re lounging on a rock. Overall, this couch is really well constructed.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Ease of cleaning

My kids have a funny way of “forgetting” the rules around where food and art supplies can go in my house, which means these things inevitably end up on our furniture. Chocolate ended up smudged on the couch, along with some peanut butter from little hands that wandered over after lunch, so there was plenty to clean up. Both food smudges came out great.

The textured exterior of the corduroy meant that a little scrubbing was required, but that’s not the couch’s fault. The lining is waterproof, which is handy given that my kids spill on everything. The covers are machine washable, too—a nice feature. Just be aware that they’re line-dry only (putting them in the dryer will probably warp the cover) and that you’ll have to remember which cover goes where when you put them back together. My kids have also stepped all over this with their shoes and the couch has done a great job resisting dirt and stains.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Play and entertainment

The couch doesn’t look that exciting as an adult, but it opens up a slew of adventures for kids. Mine play with the couch multiple times a day. It’s a convenient spot for flipping through books and for pretend play while I make meals or when we’re just hanging at home. My younger kids are really into the couch, but it’s a little heavy for them to move into different configurations. So they recruit their big siblings to move things around and supervise the construction.

The couch has a definite wow factor when it’s first unboxed. My toddler immediately hopped on it and loved stroking the fabric. She was even more excited when I showed her that it can be moved into different configurations. The novelty hasn’t worn off for my kids, even after weeks of the couch hanging in my living room. They still play with it daily, with and without other toys, and I’m impressed with how many new games and ideas they come up with to keep the novelty going.

While the couch is rated for ages one and up, you really need someone older and stronger to be able to move the pieces around. The cushion and base have built-in handles, which are helpful, but these larger pieces are too heavy for younger children like my petite 3-year-old to try to move. That’s not a bad thing, though—it just involves the whole family in interactive play.

Worth noting: I like that this is low to the ground and easy for little ones to get on and off of. It’s also handy for lounging and keeping your little one from accidentally rolling off: Just put a triangle cushion on the ground next to them and you’re good to go.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Value for money

Let’s be real: The Nugget Play Couch is not cheap, and it’s why I’ve held off on getting one for ages. But after experiencing it in person, I think the price tag makes sense. This is an actual piece of furniture that seems like it will hold up for a long time. If you opt for a grown-up style fabric, this could pass for Scandinavian furniture.

The ability to configure and reconfigure it is an extra bonus. Unless it’s going in a play room, just keep in mind that you’ll likely want to match this to your decor for longevity. A Neptune bright blue microsuede option isn’t going to blend in as much as something in a more neutral color, but you do you. Based on my experience, kids don’t seem to care about the color or fabric—they just want to play on it and were thrilled that they could do whatever they wanted with the pieces.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Summary

I adore the Nugget Play Couch and wish I had gotten one sooner. I get it: I’ve been eyeballing this for years and hesitated to get it because of the price tag. But after seeing how much mileage my kids repeatedly get out of it, I’m sold.

This is more than a toy. It’s a piece of furniture your entire family will use. When they’re not building forts, creating trails on the floor, or chucking pieces of the couch at each other, it’s a nice spot for my children to hang out. My younger kids curl up on it to look at books, while my older kids will lounge on it while they watch TV or do homework. It’s also my husband’s new favorite napping spot, and I really enjoy sitting on it with my kids to read to them or for a comfortable spot to sit when they’re playing on the floor.

Yes, this is a $249 toy. But when you compare it to what you’d spend on an actual couch, it’s well worth the cost.

Average rating: 9.86 out of 10

About the writer:
Korin Miller is a journalist who has written several health and shopping features for The Bump. Korin specializes in commerce, wellness and lifestyle trends. Her work appears in Women’s Health, Prevention, Yahoo News and more. Korin is a mom to four young kids, and likes to think of herself as a semi-professional fort builder. When she’s not working, she’s busy playing with her kids. Korin has a master’s degree from American University.