A new sofa instantly transforms a room (and makes movie night even better). But before you start searching for the right style and upholstery, you need to get out the measuring tape. There’s nothing like the heartbreak of finding your new piece of furniture is too big (or small) for the place you’d envisioned it … which is why we can’t stress enough the importance of thorough measuring.
Many of our sofas come in three sizes: small, standard and grand. And while it may seem like an easy call to make: “my room is small, I should have a small sofa,” or “my room is huge, I should have a grand sofa,” it all comes down to how you’ll be arranging the space. Depending on the layout – how much other furniture you’ll be filling the room with and if you’d like two opposing sofas versus just one – you may need a different size than you originally thought.
Arrange the furniture in the room around the space you’ll be placing the sofa. A good rule of thumb is to leave a little more than a foot between the sofa and coffee table and about 2 feet between the sofa and any other nearby furniture (excluding end tables). Once you have this measurement, you can see how it measures up against the size of the sofa you’re eyeing. In general, the width of a small sofa (A) is 72 inches or less, the width of a standard sofa (B) is 84-88 inches and the width of a grand sofa (C) is 96 inches or more.
Once you’ve chosen a sofa style and size, you can get an even better idea of what the presence of the sofa will be like in your space. Use the exact width and depth measurements and masking tape or kraft paper cut to size to map out the new items placement in the designated spot. This will give you a physical representation of its proximity to the tables and chairs around it and confirm whether or not it’s a good fit. No matter what size you choose, you want to make sure the sofa fills enough space that it doesn’t look like it’s floating – or that it isn’t so large that it becomes the only thing you see when you walk in the room.
Now that you’ve determined the right sofa for your space, it’s just as important to make sure it will fit through your door for delivery.
