When choosing a new sofa, the conversation usually centres on colour, fabric and comfort. Size is often reduced to "will it fit against the wall?" Yet the most unpleasant surprise on delivery day is a sofa that will not go through the front door, lift or a stair turn. The second problem is a sofa that fits the room but makes moving around it difficult. Both can be checked with simple measurements before ordering.
Space in the room: not just wall length
Wall length alone is not enough. Also measure:
- Seat depth and the gap in front: leave enough floor between the sofa and the coffee table for legs and for someone to get by.
- For sofa beds, the length when opened and the space left in front of it.
- The positions of radiators, sockets, window sills and air conditioners.
- The swing of the room door and whether it hits the sofa.
- Access to the balcony door or another room.
Marking the sofa's footprint on the floor with masking tape and living with it for a day or two is the simplest and most reliable check. A size that looks right on a plan can feel too big or too small in real space.
Height and visual proportion
Backrest height also relates to the room. A sofa placed under a window with a backrest higher than the sill may block curtains and window opening. A low sofa can get lost in a large room, while a high-backed sofa with chunky arms can weigh down a small one.
Arm width is part of the overall size too. For the same overall length, a sofa with slim arms gives a wider seat, which matters in a small room.
Getting through the door: diagonal depth
To check whether a sofa will pass through a door, you need three measurements: height, depth and diagonal depth. Sofas are usually carried through doors on their side or back, so the door width must exceed the sofa's smallest dimension.
Diagonal depth is the distance from the top back corner of the backrest to the bottom front edge of the seat. When a sofa is angled through a doorway, this measurement is decisive. The clear width of the door, meaning the actual opening between the frames with the door fully open, must be larger than it.
When measuring the door, remember that the door leaf, hinges and handle narrow the opening. If necessary, lifting the door off its hinges gains a few centimetres.
Lift, stairs and corridors
The route to the flat must be measured too. Check the lift door width and the car's internal height, width and depth. A sofa can often stand upright in a lift, in which case car height and diagonal matter.
On stairs, turns are the hardest part. A long sofa may not turn on a narrow landing, so check stair width, landing size and ceiling height. Narrow corridors and 90-degree turns inside the flat cause the same problem.
If the sofa will not fit: solutions
If measurements show the sofa will not get through, several solutions can be considered before ordering:
- Removing the legs, which often gains a few centimetres.
- A detachable backrest or arms, possible in some sofa constructions.
- A modular sofa: a corner or large sofa delivered in separate blocks and joined on site.
- Reducing the size slightly or choosing a different shape.
With a made-to-order sofa, these issues can be solved in advance by designing the construction around the flat's access routes.
Measurement checklist
Before ordering, gather these measurements on one sheet:
- Room length and width, and the wall where the sofa will stand.
- Clear width and height of the front door and room door.
- Lift door width and internal car dimensions.
- Stair width and landing size.
- Width of internal corridors and turns.
When you take each measurement, note where and how it was taken, for example whether the door width is frame to frame or with the leaf fully open. A few phone photos, especially of the stair turn and the inside of the lift car, show the person planning the sofa's construction far more than a list of numbers.
Zaferoglu Mebel makes upholstered furniture to individual measurements, with measuring and installation carried out by its fitters and free delivery. Any limits on getting a sofa into the flat can be checked together during measuring.
