Will the sofa fit through the door?

Check if a sofa will get through your front door, round the hallway corner and up the stairs, and whether it fits the wall where you want it.

My tape measure is in
1What are you buying?

Use the sizes from the product page or the shop’s spec sheet. Measure the widest points, including handles if the listing gives them.

Air gaps it needs

Appliances need space to breathe and for pipes. These are typical values; your model’s manual has the exact ones.

2Getting it inside

Measure the narrowest door it has to pass through, inside the frame.

3The spot where it goes

Measure the corner or gap: wall to wall (or wall to cabinet), and from the back wall to the front edge of the space.

Height limit: only if there’s a cabinet or shelf above. Leave empty otherwise.

Show sizes in
Front view through the door
Your spot, seen from above

The checks

    Biggest size for this spot

    Why sofas get stuck

    Most sofas get stuck not at the front door but at a tight hallway corner, a narrow staircase or a low ceiling where they need to be turned. A sofa that easily fits through a straight doorway may still be too long to swing round a corner. That’s why this checker looks at the door, the hallway turn and the stairs together, and tries every way of carrying it: flat, on its back and standing on its end.

    How to measure a sofa

    1. Width: the full length from arm to arm, at the widest point.
    2. Depth: from the very back to the front of the arms or seat, whichever sticks out more.
    3. Height: from the floor to the top of the back, including the legs.
    4. Diagonal depth: lay a straight edge from the top of the back to the front of the arm, then measure from the corner where the back meets the seat out to that line. This tells you how slim the sofa is when tilted back.

    The tool treats the sofa as a box. If it says the sofa won’t fit but the sofa’s diagonal depth is smaller than your door width, it may still go through tilted back at an angle. Movers use this trick all the time.

    Tricks that help a sofa fit

    Taking the legs off often saves several centimetres, sometimes 10 cm (4 inches) or more. Taking the door off its hinges adds a few more, and you can tick that box above to see the difference. Standing the sofa on its end and “hooking” it round a corner works when it’s the length that causes trouble. Many sofas also have removable cushions, backs or arms, and corner sofas and sectionals usually come apart into pieces, so check each piece separately.

    Will it fit the room?

    Getting it inside is only half the job. A common guideline is to leave about 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 inches) between the sofa and a coffee table, and walkways of around 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 inches) where people need to pass. Enter the length of the wall as the spot width, and how far the sofa can come out into the room as the spot depth.

    More fit checkers

    Furnishing the bedroom too? Try the bed and mattress checker. Buying an appliance? Try the fridge or washing machine fit checkers.

    Questions

    What size door does a sofa need?

    It depends on the sofa’s two smaller sizes, usually its depth and height. If one of them fits the door width and the other fits the door height, it can usually go through on its back or side. Many sofas are around 85 to 100 cm deep, so narrow doors of around 75 to 80 cm are often the problem.

    The sofa is stuck at the hallway corner. What now?

    Try standing it on its end so the long side points up, then turning it round the corner. If it still won’t go, check if the legs or arms come off, or ask the shop whether it can be delivered in pieces.

    What if I already bought it and it doesn’t fit?

    Check the shop’s return policy first. Some areas have furniture specialists who can take a sofa apart and rebuild it inside the room.

    How accurate is this?

    The tool treats the sofa as a box, so rounded arms and soft cushions can make a real sofa slightly easier to move than the result suggests. If the result is orange or red, measure the tight spots again before you buy.

    Checking…See result