I’m not doing any furniture shopping this weekend, but I saved an extensive discussion on sofas I found here on Houzz about a year ago that you might be able to glean from:
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/281623/choosing-a-great-sofa-manufacturer-with-a-good-price-point

Good luck!

Is he moving in or out of your house?

Is his budget $500, $5000, or other?

IMO once your kids move out they should be getting their own stuff with maybe a bit of help from you design wise This should be his choices not yours. I would agree the sofa and the bed are the top of the list No sectional but maybe 2 nice recliners instead with the sofa is all the advice I am giving.

Thank you! He doesn't have a budget. He has plenty of money saved up because he can't stand spending it. Once he started college and had to spend his own money he became incapable of buying anything but alcohol and drive through burgers. He is 25. He has lived with us since he graduated from college trying to determine if the family business, in his hometown, was a good fit for him. The only things he kept from college life was his mattress and a TV.

Even when we were footing the bill he didn't ask for much and was happy with hand-me-downs. I really should just leave him to it and let him find things on his own, shouldn't I. I will still gift him the sheets and comforter.

He is out of town this weekend. I think he is going to miss the sales, unfortunately. Our business is on a project and he has been working 12-16 hour days. So, he simply hasn't been around and and will have a busy schedule until late September. But, to be clear .... he isn't the type of person to bother much with decor even when he has all day to shop.

Maybe what I will do instead is give you the dimensions of the rooms and we can help him come up with a layout and he can start shopping with just a little guideline of sizes.

I looked on craigslist last night and that stuff was awful!! I think I will look at hom furniture and ashleys furniture to see if there are any sales that can't be missed. I looked online last night and hom has 30% off. It's going to be hard for this mama to pass up a sale like that but I think you're right. He needs to make the decisions. It's time for this Mama to take a seat -- which might be on the floor at his house!! LOL -- it really might be. This young man -- let me tell you -- is quite the character. :)

You might be surprised when he gets his own space that maybe the decor will become more important I would just lend a guiding hand and not make too many decisions for him.The bedding is good and I would leave it at that.

How would you feel about simply giving him his current bedroom furniture and all his current sheets, towels, comforters, pillows and so on? Or making up a care package with any spare kitchen stuff? Many young adults start out with old family furniture as hand me downs. And many parents have decluttered their houses by finding a good home for their old stuff in sending it off with their children.

A nice housewarming gift is a set of pans and utensils from amazon, Macy's, Ikea or Walmart.

A 25 year old who doesn't like to spend money and who is currently working 12-16 hour days in the family business seems unlikely to be very enthusiastic about shopping in furniture stores. When he is ready, he'll make up his mind about what he needs and what he is willing to pay. He could decide he wants a mattress in a new size, so I would not give him new bedding for the old mattress, I'd wait til he settles in, then ask him. He may have absolutely no idea what a new mattress pad, sheets, pillow covers, pillows and comforter cost.

Great advice -- thank you!

I think the only help I will give him is to measure the space and help him decide on the layout. Then he will know what size of sofa, rugs, side table, coffee table, etc that he should keep an eye out for. I think it is easy to make a mistake with buying something that doesn't fit and blocks a door, etc.

Great, I think you made the right choice. Maybe ask if he wants advice or wait until he asks.

FWIW, I'm not sure someone first starting out wants/needs good quality furniture that will be long lasting. When I was first out of college, I bought upholstered furniture at department store outlet stores and my dining set at a garage sale. Even within the last year (while I've been waiting to remodel) I've bought decent furniture on craigslist--so it's out there, but you may need to check a few times.

Are you close to Omaha or Kansas City? Nebraska Furniture Mart is having some big sales this Labor Day.. They have all prices and brands of furniture and even if you or he do not buy anything, they have so much furniture to look at to give you ideas..

Bow OUT of the whole thing. Discomfort, and no place decent to bring a girl? That will free up his own cash, Despite the girl will dump him for that "I hate spending" thing.

Bow out mom, bow out, In the old days, at 25, young men had families : ) He's a grown man. You won't be living there. Help.......when he asks for it. He'll find the time, trust me. He needs a couch a tv and a bed. Give him a nice gift card for Bed Bath and Beyond, for the essentials for bath and kitchen. Let him figure out the rest like every other his age, Via the internet. He isn't going to die with ANY of it.

@erinsean I am going to be in Omaha tomorrow -- I will stop and take a look. I love NFM!! I've never actually made it to their labor day weekend sales. I am looking forward to it -- thank you for the reminder.

This is some kind of crazy. Let him get his own place and mom our job as parents is to teach our children how to b responsible adults. Still living at home? Tell him to rent an apartment of buy a house. I do think were wasting time on this one

@Tessalah Florentino Decorating I don't want you to feel like you're wasting your time but you do realize he is moving out, right?

I still go shopping with my Mom and my Aunt. It is fun and we've had a lot of great memories. I am not sure why this is any different. Don't any other moms go shopping with their kids and help them set up their homes?

That was funny. My mom stopped helping after the multiplication flash cards period. That may even be why I do what I do, now that I think about that. She wouldn't buy me the expensive stuff in the teen department, so I learned to sew great clothes, and then..........? When I could get the clothes, I used the money to instead, whip up a totally new bedroom , pillows, curtains, at will in my own place. ........when you want something, you find a way to get it. She did looooove to shop though!

Basically, once not under their roof, they stopped worrying about us : ) and much much later, we returned the favor BY WORRYING......and watching over them . Both of them.

Gina S, no pointer on specific brands or sales, but since this thread became a discussion of appropriate parental (maternal) involvement, I'll weigh in.

My eldest stepson is about the same age as yours and has purchased his first condo last year. I was very much involved in the whole process, from selecting the flat, thru some remodeling, to furnishing it. However, he was absolutely the one to lead the process. He asked the questions he knew to ask, we raised the issues he did not know need to be considered. He determined his priorities and what his "must haves" are, we helped him choose the option that best fits this criteria within the budget.

Let your son stay in charge. If he doesn't care and is OK with moving into an empty place and camping on the floor until he figures it out, let him. My second and his roommates did just that when they left the dorms. If he asks for your input, let him set the boundaries of your involvement. Otherwise just give some cash or gift carts. Offer him some hand-me-downs if you have stuff you'd like to pass on, but don't force it on him. Nothing worse than having to work around some stuff you didn't choose but feel obligated not to throw away.

My kid was not particularly eager to spend his time touring furniture showrooms, so we did most of the planning from home. Sketched the place with precise measurements, determined the furniture layout, wrote down the approximate sizes of pieces to be purchased. He picked out half a dozen inspiration pictures from the internet of interiors that matched his style. From that point on, I was the one to shop around and email him pictures of specific articles for confirmation. We have spent one Saturday in the stores, picking the final candidate among several sofas and a some armchairs. And one trip to Ikea for some random household stuff. The rest was ordered online.

@Gina S, you may want to edit your original post. It says "My son will be moving in soon"

not "My son will be moving out soon".

LOL @apple_pie_order that explains a couple of the comments I received. I cannot edit. I keep getting this message "The page you requested was not found".

I will try again in the morning. Thank you everyone for your advice.

@gina - I don’t see anything wrong with you wanting to help your son purchase furniture for his first place. Maybe it’s a cultural thing (I’m Asian).

Not sure what your/ his budget is, but many stores are having great Labor Day sales right now, such as Crate and Barrel (all upholstered furniture 20% off plus free delivery), West Elm, Zgallerie, etc. Sofas from Joybird are great and decently priced. Of course there’s ikea for low budget furniture, too.

I’m not sure whether these stores ship to your area, but it’s worth a look. Good luck!

@Gina S.: Houzz is set up to allow you to edit comments for a brief time. Sometimes it's been as short as an hour.

Thank you @Marie -- I kind of forgot about West Elm and got a lot from them when I was updating. I love sales -- LOVE. I've had my eye on ruggable for a long time and will be getting myself something from them today.

Also, thank you for helping me feel like I am not a horrible mother. :(

You’re welcome @gina! Remember that this is a public forum with LOTS of opinionated people (I’d say more so than other forums I’m a member of). This is a design forum first and foremost and so any comments outside of that realm I take with a grain of salt. ;) Take care!