Sofa fit calculator

Will my sofa fit through the door?

A sofa fits through a door when its depth or its height, whichever is smaller, is at least half an inch less than the door’s clear open width. With the defaults below (a sofa 38 in deep and 31 in high, a 32 in door) it fits, carried on its back.

Your result

Fits through the door

Door openingSofa, as carriedSeen from the hallway, to scale

Carried on its back, its 31 in profile clears the 32 in opening.

Measure twice: stair landings, railings, light fittings and lift cars are checked the same way. Removable legs and arms gain inches.

At a glance

Door clear width	Largest sofa profile that fits
28 in	27.5 in
30 in	29.5 in
32 in	31.5 in
34 in	33.5 in
36 in	35.5 in

Profile means the smaller of the sofa’s depth and height, or its diagonal depth if it can be tilted.

How to measure

Measure the sofa. Measure its width arm to arm, its depth and its height at the tallest point.
Find the diagonal depth. Lay a straightedge from the top of the back to the front of the arm and measure from the inside back corner to it.
Measure the door. Open the door fully and measure the clear width between the stop and the open door, then the height.
Measure the hallway. Measure the width of the hallway or landing you turn from into the door.
Compare. Enter the numbers: the calculator checks straight through, tilted, and round the turn.

The short answer

A sofa usually fits through a door if its depth or its height (whichever is smaller) is less than the door’s clear open width. If neither is, it may still fit tilted, as long as its diagonal depth is smaller than the door width. Turning from a hallway into the door limits the sofa’s length; this calculator checks all three.

How it works

A sofa passes a doorway when its cross-section, the smaller of its depth and height, clears the door’s open width, with half an inch to spare for hands and padding. If it does not, tilting it back presents the diagonal depth instead.

The hallway turn is the classic moving-sofa problem: for a piece of thickness w turning from a hallway of width a into an opening of width b, the longest piece that makes the turn is the minimum, over every angle θ, of a/cos θ + b/sin θ − w(tan θ + cot θ). If the sofa is longer than that, it can still be stood on end and pivoted, provided it is shorter than the door is high.

Questions people ask

How do I measure a doorway for a sofa?

Open the door fully and measure the clear width between the door stop and the open door itself, not the frame’s outside edges. Measure the height too. Taking the door off its hinges usually gains about an inch.

What is the diagonal depth of a sofa?

Lay a straightedge from the top of the back to the front edge of the arm. Measure from the inside back corner, where seat meets back, straight out to that straightedge. It is the sofa’s smallest profile when tilted back through a door.

Will a sofa fit through a 30 inch door?

Only if its depth or height is under about 29.5 inches, or its diagonal depth is. Many deep sofas are 35 to 40 inches deep and 30 to 36 inches high, so a 30 inch door is tight; removable legs, removable arms or a modular sofa make it far easier.

Why does the hallway matter?

Turning a long piece from a hallway into a doorway is the most common failure point. The narrower the hallway and the door, the shorter the piece that can make the turn, whatever its depth.

What if the calculator says it will not fit?

Choose a modular or sectional piece that arrives in parts, a sofa with removable legs and arms, or a custom size built to your doorway. Blankspace makes pieces to the measurements of your route, not just your room.

Need it to fit exactly?

Every Blankspace piece is made to order. Give an advisor your room and your doorway, and we build to both, in the Bay Area or by video.

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