Will my sofa fit through the door?
Type in the sofa and the doorway. The calculator tells you whether it goes straight through, needs tipping back, or will not make it, and whether it gets round a turn on the way. It all runs in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How to measure the sofa
- Width: arm to arm, at the widest point.
- Depth: from the back to the front of the arm or the seat, whichever sticks out further.
- Height: from the floor to the top of the back. If the legs unscrew, measure them too: the calculator takes them off the height.
- Diagonal depth: lay a straight edge, like a broom handle, from the top of the back to the front of the arm. Then measure from the bottom back corner of the sofa up to the straight edge, at a right angle. Shop listings often give it too.
How to measure the doorway
- Width: open the door all the way and measure the narrowest gap. That is usually from the door stop on one side to the face of the open door on the other, not the frame.
- Height: from the floor to the underside of the frame.
- A turn on the way: if the sofa has to turn from a hallway into the door, measure the hallway's narrowest width. The calculator assumes it turns straight into the doorway unless you give the width after the turn.
What the answer means
- Straight through: the gap is wider than the sofa's depth, carried upright, or its height, carried on its back.
- Tipped back: neither fits, but the diagonal depth does. Tip the sofa back and swing it through the opening.
- The turn: the calculator works out the longest box that can be carried level round a right-angle turn. Standing a sofa on its end can beat that, if the ceiling is high enough. Movers also tilt and twist, which this flat-floor maths does not count, so a near miss is worth a second look.
If it does not fit
- Take the legs off. Many screw off by hand.
- Take the door off its hinges and measure again.
- Ask the shop whether the back or the arms come off, or whether it comes in sections. Many corner sofas arrive in two or more pieces.
- Measure the whole route, not just one door: the front door, the stairs, the landings, the turn into the room. The tightest point decides.
Then make sure it fits the room
Getting it through the door is half the job. The other half is whether it fits the room with space to walk round it. In Scooch, draw the room at its real measurements, add the sofa at the size from the listing, and anything that clashes turns red, before anything heavy moves. There are typical sizes in the sofa dimensions guide.
Fits the door. Does it fit the room?
Draw the room, drop in the sofa at its real size, and see what fits.
Common questions
What is diagonal depth on a sofa?
The distance from the bottom back corner of the sofa to a straight edge laid from the top of the back to the front of the arm. It is the narrowest the sofa gets when you tip it back, so if it is smaller than the doorway, the sofa can be tipped through even when its depth and height are not.
How much room should I leave in the doorway?
At least 2.5 cm (1 in). Moving blankets, the door handle and an unsteady grip all take a little of it. The calculator marks anything closer than that as only just fitting.
Does taking the door off help?
Usually, yes. An open door still sits in the opening and narrows it by about its own thickness. With the door off its hinges, measure again from frame to frame, minus the door stops.
What about stairs?
Stairs add two things to check: the headroom where the stairs turn, and the width of the landing. Measure the narrowest point of the whole route. A tight turn on a landing is where standing the sofa on its end often helps.
It gets through the door. Will it fit the room?
That is the other half of the job. Draw the room at its real size and place the sofa at the size from the listing, with room to walk round it. Scooch does exactly that on iPhone. Read more