Please tell me what couch will fit in our building!

October 8, 2007 2:21 PM

What couch will fit in our apartment building? Not the specific apartment, mind you, just in the front door and around the stairwell's odd and narrow corners.

We recently bought a good-sized couch. I don't have exact measurements, but 3 people could squeeze relatively comfortably. It wasn't unreasonably huge, but big and awkwardly-dimensioned enough that it just couldn't be shoved into the door and around our apartment building's strange corners. The delivery guy recommended couches that "come apart." I can't really figure out what he means other than buying a few sectionals. My question is are there any specific couches you can recommend that can get into a tight space because they a) come apart, b) are sectionals (if those two things are different) c) is economical space-wise even though it seats 3 people? Oh, our budget is modest. This one we got was $380 with tax. Obviously we are willing to do floor models and clearance stuff. The paradox here is that our actual apartment is huge so we can have a football field-sized couch if we could get it through the door. Are there couches that...fold? Or something?

posted by sneakin to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

I just look for removable legs or recently, mod style cuz they are thinner and smaller (shorter, thinner, less bulky)
posted by evilelvis at 2:26 PM on October 8, 2007

I've seen a lot of adjustable back sofas lately. The back can be positioned flat. Imagine carrying a matress with legs up the stairwell. That may work.

As evilelvis has suggested, look for sofas with removeable legs.

Another example.

These measuring instructions may be helpful.
posted by LoriFLA at 2:46 PM on October 8, 2007

Response by poster: This is good start, thank you. I should mentioned that the legs on the couch that didn't fit were little little stumpy knobs. It wasn't the legs that were the problem.
posted by sneakin at 2:49 PM on October 8, 2007

I bought a couch at Ikea that came in a box with separate side, back, and seat sections, along with separate legs. The one I bought was a two-person model, and cost somewhere near $100.
posted by yohko at 3:09 PM on October 8, 2007

Are you sure the doorway is too small? I would think one of the constraints of furniture design is the size of typical door frames. Your couch might actually fit through, but just not in the orientation in which it'd normally rest. Like one of those puzzles where you have to get the nails apart.

I had this problem in grad school. I was forced to get rid of my old furniture and buy a Klippan sofa from IKEA (all one piece) to negotiate a bizarrely convoluted stairway. Even then, it took some decent spatial reasoning skills and plenty of elbow grease to figure out how to make it work. I also disassembled some furniture that wasn't made to be disassembled, carried it up in pieces and then reassembled it. That takes some craft and the right tools, but it's possible.

The Klippan is only a two seater, but you could "squeeze" three people into it. Or at their prices buy more than one.
posted by Jeff Howard at 3:12 PM on October 8, 2007

I realize that this doesn't exactly answer your question, but don't forget that you can take the doors off the hinges. It can help a lot.
posted by unknowncommand at 3:14 PM on October 8, 2007

Response by poster: I hate to be all up in my own thread, but just to clarify, the door itself isn't the problem. It's navigating a combo of odd hallway walls and corners. I saw these dudes trying to make it go in and trust me-- it ain't going. I think the couch is the solution here. That said, Klippan looks like a great possibility....Any more out there?
posted by sneakin at 3:23 PM on October 8, 2007

There's always the option of going through the window, if you aren't too high up and you get a person with the right equipment.
posted by lovejones at 4:54 PM on October 8, 2007

I too live in an apartment at the top of an impossibly angled staircase. A friend has recommended Home Reserve to me several times, with much enthusiasm. The couch comes packed in boxes and you assemble it yourself -- there are several styles to choose from, and lots of different fabrics. She raves about hers and says it was very comfortable.

It looks like their couches start at $299, plus shipping, so they would be within your budget. They also have a 30-day money back guarantee.
posted by Siobhan at 4:57 PM on October 8, 2007

Seconding yohko. You want some assemble it yourself ikea-ware.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 5:51 PM on October 8, 2007

Many couches are designed to come apart in a non-obvious way for moving. There might be a few bolts on each side of the frame which are accessible from underneath, and the entire back will come off.

Find some couches you like, and ask the salesperson.
posted by The Deej at 5:57 PM on October 8, 2007

Apartment Therapy had a small sofa contest. Maybe some ideas there?
posted by bassjump at 6:16 PM on October 8, 2007

Grace at Design*Sponge had the same problems with the twisty hallways and bizarre sized doorways. She posted this sofa guide you might find helpful.
posted by cali at 9:24 PM on October 8, 2007

I've recently been looking around for sofas, too, and I feel your pain. The IKEA TYLÖSAND sofa comes in sections, if I recall correctly, that you assemble to make a fairly ample sized 3-seater. But it might be more expensive than what you're aiming for.
posted by misozaki at 11:33 PM on October 8, 2007