Methodology

How we build Catalog · Last reviewed April 23, 2026

Catalog is an editorially-curated directory of furniture stores. Every listing is reviewed by a person before it appears. This page explains how that process works, where our data comes from, how we handle affiliate relationships, and how often the site is updated.

How we pick stores

We start from three sources: brands our team already buys from, submissions from readers, and research we do for category pages (e.g. researching “best mid-century-modern sofa retailers”). A store only makes it in if it meets all four of the following:

Sells furniture as a primary product line (not a general home store that happens to carry a few pieces).
Has a functional e-commerce checkout or a clear buying path (some trade-only brands qualify if retail access is documented).
Ships to at least one of the US, Canada, or the EU.
Is not a dropshipping reseller or a Temu-style aggregator.

How we classify

Every store is tagged with one or more styles (mid-century modern, Japandi, industrial, etc.), a price band (budget, affordable, mid-range, premium, luxury), and a set of attributes (quick-ship, trade program, outlet, made in USA, etc.). Price bands are benchmarked against a fixed reference: a contemporary leather sofa. We price-check every store against the same reference sofa category so bands remain comparable across brands.

Classifications are reviewed by a human editor, even when AI tools pre-fill them. We keep a private log of reclassifications so we can audit drift.

How we verify the data

Every URL in our catalog is checked for liveness weekly. Stores that return parked-domain signatures, repeated 5xx errors, or clear shutdown notices are moved to a quarantine list and delisted within 14 days if they don’t recover. Screenshots are regenerated quarterly so the thumbnail you see reflects the brand’s current design.

How stores are removed

Permanent domain failure (NXDOMAIN, parked, 404 for 14+ days).
A brand exits the furniture category entirely or pivots to a business model we don’t cover.
Repeated reader complaints about undelivered orders, unresponsive customer service, or fraudulent practices, after our own verification.
Classification is no longer possible (e.g. site collapses into a login wall we can’t authenticate past).

Affiliate relationships

Some outbound links on Catalog earn us a commission if you make a purchase. We use short affiliate redirect URLs under links.catalog.homes/<store-slug> so attribution works consistently. A few important points:

Affiliate status never determines whether a store is listed. Stores without any affiliate relationship appear alongside ones that do, classified on the same criteria.
Affiliate status never determines classification. A “luxury” band is based on the reference sofa price, not on commission rates.
Stores we recommend most prominently (“sponsored” slots on the homepage) are labelled as such on the page where they appear.

How often we update

Weekly: liveness checks on every outbound URL.
Monthly: new store submissions processed; backlog reviewed.
Quarterly: screenshots regenerated; price-band benchmark re-priced against the reference sofa.
Ad hoc: reader corrections applied the same week they’re reported.

Every store page carries a “Last reviewed” date so you can see when a listing was last touched. Category pages reflect the most recent review date across the stores they group.

Corrections & contact

If a listing is wrong, out of date, or a store shouldn’t be included, email hello@catalog.homes. We reply within a week and log the correction publicly in our roadmap.