Will it fit? How to measure for furniture delivery

Start with the piece

Check the product page for the piece’s width, depth and height, and write all three down before you measure anything in your home. For a sofa, the length is rarely the problem: a sofa usually travels upright on its end or tilted, so it is the depth and the height that have to clear the narrowest opening. Our sofas are mostly 90 to 104 cm (35–41 in) deep and 67 to 89 cm (26–35 in) tall, which is why a standard interior door of about 76 to 81 cm (30–32 in), whose clear opening is a few centimetres less, needs a careful look.

1. Note the width, depth and height from the listing, in centimetres or inches, whichever your tape measure shows.
2. For sofas, sectional pieces and armchairs, mark the smaller of depth and height: that is the number the doorway has to beat.
3. Check whether the legs unscrew. Taking them off can lower a sofa by several centimetres.
4. For modular sectionals, measure for the largest single piece, not the whole shape. The pieces travel separately.

Measure the way in

Walk the route the piece will take, from the street to the room, and measure every opening on it. The narrowest point decides, and it is often not the front door.

1. Doorways: open the door fully and measure the narrowest clear width, usually from the face of the open door to the opposite door stop, not the outside of the frame. Measure the height too. Taking the door off its hinges gains back roughly the door’s thickness.
2. Hallways: measure the width, and look hard at any corner. A long piece has to swing around a turn, so a narrow hallway that meets a door at a right angle is a common sticking point.
3. Stairs: measure the width between railings or walls, the headroom at the lowest point of the ceiling above the stairs, and the space at any landing where the stairs turn.
4. Elevators: measure the door width and height, then the inside of the cab: depth, width, height and, for long pieces, the diagonal from a bottom front corner to the opposite top back corner. Ask your building whether a larger service elevator can be booked.
5. Obstacles: note railings, light fixtures, radiators and low beams along the route, and any step or narrow gate outside.

How a sofa goes through a door

A sofa is usually stood on its end or tilted back, then turned through the doorway. That is why a sofa much longer than the door is wide can still pass, as long as its depth and height clear the opening. If the smaller of the two is wider than your doorway even with the door off its hinges, choose a smaller piece or a modular sectional that arrives in parts.

Tall and heavy pieces

Bookcases and tall cabinets are carried in lying down and stood up in the room, so the diagonal of their height and depth has to clear the ceiling, not only their height. Under a standard 244 cm (8 ft) ceiling, that usually means a piece of about 235 cm (92 in) or less. Long sideboards and dining tables need the same care on stair turns, and stone or marble tops are heavy, so plan how the piece will get from the door to the room.

What checkout asks you

At checkout we ask for your narrowest doorway in millimetres, measured at the opening rather than the frame, how many flights of stairs lie between the truck and the room, and whether there is an elevator. There is also a box for anything else the delivery crew should know, such as tight turns, a low ceiling on a landing, a loading dock, a gate code or parking. Delivery is priced live at checkout for your address.

If it doesn’t fit

Returns are accepted within 7 days of delivery; you pay the return shipping and a 20% restocking fee applies, so measuring first is the cheapest step in the whole order. When a measurement is close, measure again with the door off its hinges, subtract the legs if they unscrew, and choose the size that clears with room to spare.