How-to

Will this sofa fit my living room?

Guides · updated 2026-10-14

A sofa fits your living room when three things are true. It gets through every door, hallway and stairwell on the way in. It leaves a walkway of 75 to 90 cm, or 30 to 36 in, along the main route through the room. And it sits 40 to 45 cm, or 16 to 18 in, from the coffee table. Measure the room and the delivery path, then compare both with the sofa's width, depth, height and diagonal depth.

Most sofa returns we hear about fail one of those three, and the first one is the one nobody measures.

Measure the room first

Measure the wall the sofa will stand against at floor level, between skirting boards. Then measure out into the room to the nearest obstacle you can't move, like a door swing, a radiator or a kitchen counter. Write down where the doors and windows are and which way each door opens.

A common rule of thumb says a sofa should take up no more than about two thirds of its wall. On a 3.6 m wall that is a sofa up to about 2.4 m. It is a starting point for proportion, not a fit test.

If you have never measured a room for a plan, our measuring guide covers the order and the usual mistakes.

Then measure the way in

This is the part people skip. The sofa has to pass the front door, every inner door, the tightest hallway turn and the stairs before it reaches the room.

• Doorways. Measure the clear opening with the door fully open, from the door face to the opposite frame stop. That is usually a few centimetres less than the frame. Many interior doors give a clear opening of only 70 to 80 cm, or about 28 to 32 in.
• Hallways and turns. Measure the width of the hallway and the width of the opening you turn into. A long sofa that fits through a door can still jam on a 90 degree turn in a narrow hall.
• Stairs. Measure the stair width, the headroom under any low ceiling or beam, and the landing if the stairs turn. Handrails and banisters reduce the width.
• Lifts. Measure the door width and the inside depth and height of the car.

Now compare with the sofa. A sofa usually goes through a door on its back or on its end, so the number that matters is its depth or height, whichever is smaller, against the clear door width. If both are wider than the door, check the diagonal depth. Lay a straight edge from the top of the backrest to the front of the arm. Measure from the bottom back corner of the sofa to the straight edge, at a right angle. If that number is smaller than the clear door width, the sofa can usually be angled through.

Check whether the sofa arrives in one piece. Many flat-pack sofas, including many IKEA sofas, come in several boxes with legs and sometimes arms removed. The product page lists the package sizes, and for a flat-pack sofa those boxes are what has to fit through the door.

The clearances that decide it

Door swings count as floor. If a door opens into the living room, the quarter circle it sweeps has to stay empty, and the sofa can't sit in it.

Check it in the planner

1. Measure. Measure the living room walls, the door and window positions, and the clear width of every door on the way in.
2. Draw the room. Open the planner and draw the walls at the inside distances you measured. Add the doors and windows. Door swings show as arcs on the plan.
3. Paste the sofa link. Paste the IKEA product link. The real 3D model lands in the room at its true size. A link from another store comes in as a box at the listed dimensions.
4. Place it and read the gaps. Drag the sofa into place. Distance overlays show the gap to the walls and to the next piece as you move it. Use the measure tape for the walkway and the distance to the coffee table.
5. Compare with the door. Check the sofa depth, height and package sizes from the product page against the narrowest door you measured.

The planner checks the room. The delivery path is a tape-measure check you do against the sofa's numbers, as above.

For the general version of this check, covering wardrobes, beds and ceiling height, see "Will it fit?" before the checkout.

Questions

How much space do you need around a sofa?

Leave 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 in) for the main walkway past it and 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) between the sofa and the coffee table. A path only one person uses can be 60 cm (24 in).

How do I know if a sofa will fit through my door?

Measure the clear door opening with the door fully open. If the sofa depth or height is smaller than that, it should go through on its back or end. If not, measure the diagonal depth and compare that instead.

What size sofa fits a small living room?

Start from the wall. A common rule of thumb is up to two thirds of the wall length, then check that the walkway and coffee table gaps still work at that size.

Can I check this without buying the sofa first?

Yes. In The Good Room Planner you draw the room, paste the sofa link and the model appears at its real size, so you can measure the gaps before you order. It is free and needs no account.

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