Will My Sofa Fit Through the Door? UK Calculator

Type the door and the sofa below. The calculator runs the tests furniture shops use, shows the margin in cm, and draws the doorway with the sofa's end in it. Measure the door yourself: the sofa's listing gives its width, depth and height, and often its diagonal depth.

The three tests, in order

A sofa goes into a room in two moves: its end goes through the doorway, then its length turns. The shops' tests follow those two moves.

Straight through. Carry the sofa end first. Its depth or its height, whichever is smaller, crosses the door, so that number must be less than the clear width. An 85 cm-high sofa carried on its back needs more than 85 cm.
Tipped back. If it is too deep, tip it back as it goes through. Now its diagonal depth crosses the door. Darlings of Chelsea's guide puts it simply: the diagonal depth must be less than the entry width.
The turn. Once the end is through, the length has to get round. The same guide asks for the sofa's width to be less than the door height (stand it on end and pivot) or the clearance beyond the door (swing it round). If the door opens onto a straight run, there is no turn to check at that door.

The calculator calls anything with less than 5 cm to spare "tight". That margin is our choice, for a reason one maker gives: its sofas can differ from the listed size by about 5%. A tight result can still work with care, and a delivery team may find an angle these tests do not. By the same token, never take a "fits" as a promise: walls are not always square, and skirting, handles and radiators steal centimetres.

How to measure a sofa

Width is arm to arm. Diagonal depth runs from the back bottom corner to a straight edge laid from the top of the back to the front of the arm.

Width: the widest point, arm to arm.
Depth: from the back to the front of the arm or seat, whichever sticks out more.
Height: from the floor to the top of the back. If the legs unscrew, measure without them too: Furniture Choice suggests both.
Diagonal depth: take the cushions off. Lay a straight edge (a broom handle works) from the top of the back to the front of the arm. Measure from the bottom back corner to the straight edge, square to it.

Shops measure diagonal depth in two ways. Darlings of Chelsea uses the straight edge, as above. Furniture Choice runs a tape from the top back corner to the bottom front of the arm. The straight-edge figure is the one that matches how the sofa actually tips, so use it if the two differ.

How to measure the door

Do not use the door's size. Measure the clear opening: open the door to 90°, and measure from the door stop on the latch side to the face of the open door. That is how Approved Document M measures a clear opening. The door itself (usually 35–40 mm thick) and the stop (10–15 mm) take their share, so a 762 mm door often leaves only about 70–72 cm.

Measure at the narrowest point: a handle, a radiator or a light switch can stick out further than the frame.
Measure the height from the floor, or the threshold, to the underside of the frame.
Measure every door on the route, not only the front door. The tightest one decides.
For the turn, measure the hall's width, wall to wall, at the point where the sofa has to swing.

UK door sizes

Imperial doors are still the most common in England and Wales; metric doors are common in Scotland. The clear opening column is our estimate: the door width minus about 50 mm, for a 35–40 mm door and a 10–15 mm stop. Measure yours.

Door width	Imperial	Height	Clear opening, about	Where you find it
610 mm	2 ft 0 in	1981 mm	56 cm	Cupboards and small rooms
686 mm	2 ft 3 in	1981 mm	64 cm	Small rooms and tight spots
762 mm	2 ft 6 in	1981 mm	71 cm	The standard internal door
838 mm	2 ft 9 in	1981 mm	79 cm	Wider doors, often for wheelchair access
726 mm	metric	2040 mm	68 cm	Scotland, and more and more elsewhere
826 mm	metric	2040 mm	78 cm	Scotland, and more and more elsewhere

New homes have minimums. Approved Document M asks for at least 775 mm of clear opening at the main front door of a new home, and 850 mm in homes built to the accessible standard (M4(2)). Those homes also need halls at least 900 mm wide. Older homes often have less, so measure.

The turn at the hall

Swing round, from above: a piece shorter than the hall's width C lines up with the door and goes straight in; a 190 cm sofa would need to stand where the far wall is. Stand it on end, from the hall: a 180 cm sofa fits under a 198 cm door.

The turn is where most deliveries go wrong. A sofa that clears the doorway with centimetres to spare can still jam because its length will not get round from the hall. There are two ways round:

Stand it on end. If the sofa's width is less than the door height, it can stand on its arm in the doorway and pivot. A 190 cm sofa has 8 cm to spare under a 198 cm door.
Swing it round. If the width is less than the clearance beyond the door, usually the hall's width, it can swing flat. In a 90–100 cm hall, this works mainly for armchairs and small sofas.

These are the shops' tests, and they are cautious: real movers also tilt the sofa as they turn it, and may get a longer sofa round than the numbers say. If the calculator says no, ask the shop for an access check before you order.

Stairs

Stairs add two limits. The first is headroom: Approved Document K asks for at least 2 m over new stairs and landings, but loft stairs and older houses can have less, and a sofa tipped on end needs more. The second is the turn at a landing. Treat the stair width as the hall width in the calculator. Winders, the wedge-shaped steps on a turn, are the tightest of all. Some banisters unbolt, which gives back a little width.

If the sofa will not fit

Unscrew the legs and feet, and measure the height again without them.
Lift the door off its hinges. You gain its thickness, 35–40 mm.
Ask whether the back or the arms come off. Some sofas have bolt-on arms.
Choose a sofa made in sections, or one delivered flat in boxes.
Ask about returns before you order. Some shops charge to collect a sofa that does not go in.

Then check it fits the room itself. Small living room layouts, with measurements shows where a sofa can go and the walkways it must leave; and the rug size calculator draws your sofa to scale with its rug.

Plan the room before the sofa arrives

Snuug, the iPhone room app, rebuilds your room in 3D from one slow walk round it. You can place a sofa at its real size and see the walkways it leaves, before you buy. Your room comes to within about 3% of its real size in our tests of ten homes. Use this calculator for the way in, and Snuug for the room itself.

Questions

How wide is a standard UK internal door?

762 mm (2 ft 6 in) wide and 1981 mm (6 ft 6 in) high, in England and Wales. The gap you can carry furniture through is smaller: about 70–72 cm, because the open door and the door stop take their share. Scotland's standard is 2040 mm high.

What is a sofa's diagonal depth?

Take the cushions off. Lay a straight edge from the top of the back to the front of the arm, then measure from the bottom back corner of the sofa to that edge, square to it. That is how thin the sofa's end is when it is tipped back.

Will a three-seater sofa fit through a standard door?

Most three-seaters are 85–100 cm deep, so they will not go straight through a 762 mm door with about 72 cm clear. They go through tipped back if the diagonal depth is under about 67 cm, which leaves the 5 cm we count as safe; 67–72 cm is tight. Then the length has to turn into the room.

Does taking the door off its hinges help?

Yes. Lifting the door off gives back its thickness, usually 35–40 mm, which is often the difference between tight and fits. Taking off the door stop beads gains another 10–15 mm, but in a rented home ask the landlord first.

Will my sofa fit up the stairs?

Use the same tests with the stair width in place of the door, and check the headroom: new stairs in England need at least 2 m (Approved Document K), but older and loft stairs can have less. A turn on a landing is the hardest part. A sofa that fits through the front door can still stop at a winder or a low beam.

What can I do if the sofa will not fit?

Unscrew the legs and feet, take the door off its hinges, and ask the shop if the back or arms come off. Some sofas are made in sections or come flat-packed. Ask about returns before you order: some shops charge for collection if the sofa does not go in.

Editorial notes

Written by the Snuug team and checked on 1 November 2026. A number with no source beside it is a designers' rule of thumb, not a study.

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