Buying a couch based on size
May 26, 2020 2:03 PM   Subscribe

How to search for sofas that will fit into a particular stairwell?

My wife and I are in the market for a new sofa--we're looking for something higher quality than the ikea furniture we've had for years. We bought our first house this past weekend, and the house has a massive basement. We'd like to put the biggest sofa we can in the basement since the room is so large, but the stairway getting down to the basement is quite small: 29'' door frame, and a ceiling that is 52'' at its narrowest.

How can we search for sofas that will be able to make it downstairs when moved? Are there companies that allow you to filter based on this information? Should we be searching for a sofa that requires assembly? Companies that will allow us to send an order back if it doesn't fit? Looking for any tips or recommendations that will help us get something big and comfy in our space. (We're in NW Chicago suburbs if there are local places you'd recommend.)
posted by soonertbone to Home & Garden (13 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sofas should have length, width, and height information available, so there’s that.

Also keep in mind that the feet on the sofa are probably removable (or don’t come preinstalled), and they can also take off the railing(s) of the stairwell if necessary to get a couple more inches so things fit through.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:09 PM on May 26, 2020


New Yorker here—I've found that the biggest problem with getting a couch up the stairs has to do with turns and ceiling height. Lots of couches can be maneuvered through a space of that width if it's a straight shot, but if the space in front of the door is tight, or if the staircase turns, you'll have problems.
posted by the_blizz at 2:14 PM on May 26, 2020 [4 favorites]


You could get an arbitrary number of Burrow sections down there.
posted by zeptoweasel at 2:25 PM on May 26, 2020 [6 favorites]


Here's a guide that may help you to visualize.
posted by calgirl at 2:25 PM on May 26, 2020


Yes, assembly, and look for size of pieces. And a good return policy. We ordered one from Room and Board that should have fit in theory but didn't make the turn by an inch - we could return it without a problem (and I didn't feel too bad because we ordered other things at the same time)
posted by beyond_pink at 3:24 PM on May 26, 2020


Best answer: Other couches that come in assemble at home segments like the Burrow rec up above, because I think that's the way to go for you:

Home Reserve--more affordable but honestly not as comfy/slick as the Lovesac, I have some friends that got one of these. Serviceable, though.

LoveSac Sactionals--I always feel awkward recommending these because they're expensive (especially compared to IKEA) but they're so versatile and I've really enjoyed mine. You can fill your entire room with the pieces and once it's all locked in it's rock solid. Do not buy at list price, get on their mailing list and wait for the sales, you'll save a significant amount. The amount of sofa you can get is...well, you could fill that entire room with sofa, if you had the money to burn and the desire, they even have a tool to let you design the layout. Additionally, in non-pandemic times they have showrooms and there's one in Chicago, which is nice because who wants to spend that much money on a couch they haven't even gotten the chance to sit on?
posted by foxfirefey at 3:25 PM on May 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Also came to recommend the LoveSac, very comfortable and dead easy to assemble! But yes, wait for the sale or look for someone selling secondhand.
posted by mccxxiii at 3:27 PM on May 26, 2020


Best answer: Friends have LoveSac and they ... love it!
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 3:32 PM on May 26, 2020


Burrow's whole modular line is based around fixing this problem, I bought one of their loveseats for a weird/small space in a studio apartment that had a more narrow doorway than code. It fit through easily the way it was packaged.
posted by zdravo at 3:34 PM on May 26, 2020


I asked a similar question two years ago - Buy me a couch and manuever it into an impossible space and the winner was a Campaign couch.

OMG I love my Campaign couch so much. We put it together in fifteen minutes and now two years later it is still going strong. It was expensive but it looks good, is comfy enough to sleep on, and seems to be holding up well.
posted by silverstatue at 7:41 PM on May 26, 2020


Highly recommend finding a custom sofa place. Some styles can be made literally to the inch. Plus, they tend to be made in the US with pretty quick turnaround time.
posted by wnissen at 10:54 AM on May 27, 2020


Wayfair allows you to filter their searches by all sorts of size criteria - they are the only online furniture retailer I've found that does this. Crazy helpful!
posted by amycup at 6:25 PM on May 27, 2020


Response by poster: We got a Lovesac and just enjoyed our first movie night. Thanks for the responses, it was exactly what we were looking for!
posted by soonertbone at 9:08 PM on June 3, 2020


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