Furnishing an Apartment: Planning for Space and Lifestyle

Furnishing an apartment in Canada comes down to three things: getting furniture through the door, making a small space do more than one job, and buying pieces that move with you to the next place. How hard each one is depends a lot on the city. A Montreal walk-up, a Toronto condo and a Calgary basement suite each have their own problems.

We started Cozey in Montreal because our first sofa had to make it up a spiral staircase. Since then, we've opened stores in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, with Edmonton next, and we've learned what furnishing a home looks like in each one.

This guide covers what to plan for in each city, the furniture that tends to work, and where you can try it in person.

On This Page

1. What Every Canadian Apartment Needs From Its Furniture
2. Montreal: Walk-Ups, Spiral Staircases and Moving Day
3. Toronto: Condos, Elevator Bookings and Small Living Rooms
4. Vancouver: Making Small Spaces Work
5. Calgary and Edmonton: Bigger Rooms, Basements and Winter
6. Where to Try Furniture in Each City

What Every Canadian Apartment Needs From Its Furniture

Summary: Furniture that fits through the door in pieces, does more than one job, and can be rearranged or added to when you move.

Wherever you live, these four rules save the most trouble:

• Measure the way in before the room. Doorways, stairs, hallways and elevators decide what you can own. Compare them to the box dimensions, not the assembled size.
• Choose pieces that come apart. Modular sofas that ship as separate modules, beds that assemble in the room and anything that flat-packs or boxes compactly will follow you from one apartment to the next.
• Make every piece work twice. A sofa bed instead of a guest room. A storage bed instead of a dresser. An ottoman that hides blankets.
• Buy for the next place too. A modular sofa can start as a loveseat in your first apartment and grow into a sectional later. Same pieces, more seats.

And one Canadian bonus: if you have kids, pets or a long winter of indoor living ahead, washable covers and rugs make a real difference.

Montreal: Walk-Ups, Spiral Staircases and Moving Day

Summary: In Montreal, the staircase decides what you can own. Choose furniture that arrives in boxes one person can carry, and plan around July 1.

Montreal's plexes, with their outdoor spiral staircases and narrow interior stairs, are some of the hardest homes in the country to furnish. A traditional one-piece sofa often can't make the turn. In winter, add ice and snow on the steps.

Then there's Moving Day. With so many Quebec leases ending on June 30, a huge share of the city moves on July 1. Trucks are booked weeks in advance, stairwells are crowded and everything has to happen fast.

What tends to work:

• Modular sofas in separate boxes. Each module is carried up on its own, so the staircase stops being a problem.
• Furniture you can take apart again. If you move every few years, it should come back down the stairs as easily as it went up.
• A sofa bed for the guest who's helping you move. Montreal apartments often trade a spare room for a bigger living room.

Moving Day tips:

• Measure your new stairs before you buy. Especially the outdoor spiral, if there is one.
• Order ahead. Delivery to a new address in early July is easier if your order is placed before the moving rush.
• Don't move your old sofa if it barely fit. Selling it and buying something that comes in boxes is often less work than hauling it down three floors.

Where to try it: Our Montreal store is at 1020 Sainte-Catherine Street West, at Peel, steps from Peel metro. It's where Cozey started, and the first Cozey sofa was designed for exactly these staircases.

Toronto: Condos, Elevator Bookings and Small Living Rooms

Summary: In a Toronto condo, the elevator and the building's rules matter as much as your floor plan. Furniture that arrives in manageable boxes avoids most of the hassle.

Many Toronto condos require you to book the service elevator for anything large, sometimes with a deposit and set time windows. Couriers usually leave packages in the lobby or with the concierge, so you'll be carrying boxes up yourself. And open-concept living and dining areas mean every piece has to earn its spot.

What tends to work:

• A modular sofa sized to the room. Start with a loveseat or a compact three-seater and add a module when you move somewhere bigger.
• A sofa bed in place of a guest room. It turns a den or living room into a guest room for the night.
• Storage built into the furniture. A bed with drawers or a storage ottoman replaces a dresser or a closet you don't have.
• Washable covers and rugs. In a small space, everything gets used every day.

Condo tips:

• Check your building's delivery rules first. Some require bookings even for boxed deliveries, or have concierge hours for receiving packages.
• Measure the elevator, including the diagonal, and compare it to the box sizes.
• Plan for carrying. Boxes that one person can manage make a lobby delivery easy. Scheduled delivery to your unit is available in select areas if you'd rather not.

Where to try it: Our Toronto flagship is at 1026 Queen Street West, at Ossington, steps from the 501 Queen streetcar. It's our biggest store, with two floors of sofas, beds and mattresses to try.

Vancouver: Making Small Spaces Work

Summary: In Vancouver, square footage is the constraint. Choose furniture that's sized right, does two jobs and can be rearranged as your life changes.

From West End low-rises to downtown towers, a lot of Vancouver living happens in compact one-bedrooms and studios. Every piece has to fit, and ideally do more than one thing. Add the rain, and the entryway takes a beating for half the year.

What tends to work:

• Modular layouts you can reshape. Move a chaise from one side to the other, or split a sectional into a sofa and a chair when you need space for guests.
• A sleeper sofa for the studio or one-bedroom. A real guest bed without giving up the living room.
• Storage beds. Drawers under the bed free up closet space you probably don't have.
• Washable rugs by the door. Wet boots and umbrellas are a fact of life from October to April.

Small-space tips:

• Tape out the footprint first. Live with it for a day before you commit to a size.
• Mind the walkways. Leave enough room to move comfortably between the sofa and the coffee table or kitchen.
• Go lighter and lower. Low backs and slim arms make a small room feel bigger than a bulky sofa with the same seat count.

Where to try it: Our Vancouver store is at 1168 Robson Street, between Thurlow and Bute, in the West End, about a 10-minute walk from Burrard SkyTrain station.

Calgary and Edmonton: Bigger Rooms, Basements and Winter

Summary: In Alberta, the challenge is less about tiny rooms and more about basement stairs and a long indoor season. Go bigger on seating, and make sure it can get downstairs.

More people in Calgary and Edmonton live in houses and townhomes, and the basement often becomes the family room, the guest room or a rental suite. Basement stairs are where furniture gets stuck: narrow, steep, often with a tight turn at the landing. And with long winters, the sofa does a lot of work from November to April.

What tends to work:

• A large modular sectional in pieces. You get the big family sofa without trying to angle one huge frame down the basement stairs.
• A sleeper sofa for the basement guest room. Visitors get a real bed, and the room stays a family room the rest of the time.
• Washable covers. Kids, pets and months of indoor living are easier when the covers go in the wash.
• A proper bed for the basement suite. One that assembles in the room, so you're not trying to get a box spring around a corner.

Basement tips:

• Measure the stairs, the landing and the ceiling at the tightest turn.
• Check the basement door width, which is often narrower than the rest of the house.
• Plan the layout around the TV and the windows. Basement rooms often have one good wall for a sofa.

Where to try it: Our Calgary store is at 919 17th Avenue SW, Suite 310, in the Beltline. In Edmonton, we open at West Edmonton Mall, Unit S201, on November 18, 2026.

Where to Try Furniture in Each City

Every Cozey store has sofas, sleepers and the Ara Bed to try, fabric swatches to take home and free design help. No appointment needed. Prices are the same as online, and everything you order ships to your home.

Where to Try Furniture in Each City

See all store details on our locations page.