Updated
How to measure a sofa and a doorway
- Sofa length: the widest point, usually arm to arm.
- Depth: from the front of the arm or seat to the back, at the deepest point.
- Height: from the floor to the top of the back cushions or frame.
- Diagonal depth: lay a straight edge from the top of the back to the front of the arm. Measure from the bottom back corner of the sofa up to the straight edge at a right angle. This is the thinnest the sofa gets when tilted back.
- Doorway clear width: open the door fully and measure from the door stop (or the face of the open door) to the opposite frame. Not the door itself.
- Doorway height: from the floor to the underside of the frame.
- Hallway width: wall to wall, if you have to turn the sofa from a hallway into the door.
Standard door sizes
The clear opening is always less than the door itself, because the open door and its stops take up space. Typical figures:
| Country | Common door | Typical clear opening | Height |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK, internal | 762 mm (2′ 6″) | about 70–72 cm (27½–28¼ in) | 1981 mm (6′ 6″) |
| UK, front door | 838 mm (2′ 9″) | about 77–79 cm (30¼–31 in) | 1981–2032 mm |
| US, interior | 30 or 32 in (76 or 81 cm) | about 28–30 in (71–76 cm) | 80 in (203 cm) |
| US, exterior | 36 in (91 cm) | about 33–34 in (84–86 cm) | 80 in (203 cm) |
| Australia, internal | 820 mm (32¼ in) | about 76–78 cm (30–30¾ in) | 2040 mm (80¼ in) |
Always measure your own doors: older homes and flats often have narrower ones.
Three ways a sofa gets through a door
- Flat: carried length first, upright or on its back. Fits if the smaller of its depth and height is narrower than the door.
- Tilted: leaned back so the thinnest part, the diagonal depth, goes through first. This is how most deep sofas get into a room.
- On its end: stood up with the length vertical. Only works if the sofa is shorter than the door is tall, but it makes tight hallway turns much easier.
How the hallway turn is worked out
Turning a long object round a right-angled corner is a classic geometry problem. For a hallway of width a, a doorway of width b and a sofa of thickness w, the longest sofa that can be carried flat round the corner is the smallest value of a/sin θ + b/cos θ − w/(sin θ cos θ) over all angles θ. The calculator works this out for your numbers. Real moves can do better by lifting one end, which is why it also checks standing the sofa on its end.
If it won’t fit
- Take the door off its hinges, which usually gains 3–5 cm (1–2 in).
- Remove the sofa’s feet and any detachable arms or back cushions.
- Ask your removal company whether a window or patio door is an option.
- Look for a sofa that comes in sections, or one with removable arms. Some furniture repairers will dismantle and rebuild a sofa in the room.
Once it’s through the door, check it fits the room too. Draw the room and drop the sofa in to see how it sits next to everything else, and look at typical sofa sizes or how much space to leave around it.