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aliceblois

Our sofa sleeper didn't fit through the doorway!

2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago

Help! I need sofa sleeper and chair ideas. I made a dumb mistake and purchased a sofa sleeper that won't fit through the door to our den/guest room. The room itself is good sized 15' x 15' but the door is narrow and the hall is awkward. It's okay--we will use the sofa bed in a different room, but now I need to figure out how to furnish our den/guest room.

The primary purpose of the room is a den for watching tv or reading, so we need comfortable seating for that. We need to be able to occasionally sleep a couple of guests there--either on two twins, two doubles, or a queen.

Could be day beds or maybe there is some sort of modular sofa sleeper that will fit through the door? I'm not a fan of murphy beds, but not totally opposed, but whatever we get needs to navigate a narrow short hall with a 90 degree turn and a narrow door way. Furniture that needs to be assembled would be ideal. Any ideas?


I should add: I'm not a fan of inflatable beds, and to me, futons are neither comfortable for sleeping nor as a couch. If anyone knows of any really comfortable futons or blow up beds let me know!

Comments (24)

  • 2 years ago

    One idea





  • 2 years ago

    All good in concept, but my experience is none of those are very comfortable either as beds or as seating. I'm hoping someone knows of a specific brand that is really comfortable.

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    Widen the doorway. It isn't a tough job for you to do or that expensive for a carpenter to do it.


    My husband did it by himself in our cottage. Then he made two panels to fit the wider opening.



  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Did you previously have a sofa in the space? Will any sofa fit through the door?

  • 2 years ago

    It’s a newly built house.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    I would think about doing a built in wall unit that houses two murphy beds, twins or fulls on each end and a lower built in between them that a TV can go above. Then I would look into modular sofas specifically made to fit through small doorways.

  • 2 years ago

    Not an option to widen the doorway. Laundry room on one side and garage on the other, creating a hallway. Windows are also too small for furniture. I don't believe a typical assembled sofa would fit through the hallway and door.

  • 2 years ago

    We had the same thing happen to us, and brought it in through a window. It was on the second floor so we used a pallet jack to lift it and had to remove the window. Got it in though!

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    Macy’s has some comfortable/not too expensive sofas. i helped put one together recently - it came in 2 boxes. i know they have sleeper options although no idea if the mattresses are comfy. we have guests that prefer to sleep on the macys couch over the ikea sleeper in office though! we have a fancy double camping mattress that we will put on the ikea one if we need to comfortably sleep two.


    ETA exped camping mattresses are quite comfy but not cheap.

  • 2 years ago

    The sofa that does not fit is from Macy's. We got the Radley queen sofa sleeper. Maybe there's a different one at Macy's. The one we got was fully assembled, so too big to move through the hallway and door. Something needing assembly would probably work.


  • 2 years ago

    Pretty sure it was a radley we put together lol. no idea why it wasn’t assembled. it actually came with mismatched parts so had to be sent back and next one came assembled. at least without the sleeper part it was super easy to put together and take apart (we realized fabrics were different after set up so we got to do both of course!).

  • 2 years ago

    We had a very large L sectional that was also a sleeper sofa. The backs came off as well as the individual seats separating. We got it into our basement, that had an awful angle to get around, with no problem. Our computer desk counter, on the other hand, had to go through the window.

  • 2 years ago

    I just purchased the Burrow Nomad for our TV room. I do prefer firm and it is that, but there are other styles available. Two advantages are modular and very quick shipment.

  • 2 years ago

    Did they tip the sofa vertical when trying to get it in?

  • 2 years ago

    If you’re in a large metropolitan area, look up Sofa Doctor. It’s not cheap but they actually cut your sofa and put it back together. My daughter had a sleeper sofa cut in two to get in the basement. She actually did the same one twice!

  • 2 years ago

    If you own the home, I would figure out a way to make the sofa fit. If you popped off the doorway trim, would the current sofa fit thru?

  • 2 years ago

    I like Wall Beds. My daughter has one that’s built in with shelves on either side. It’s not cheap, but easy yo use and comfortable. Another option - blow up beds. We’ve used those a lot and they’re really comfortable if you get a good one. The best ones are bed height, and I usually had a mattress topper on it. Surprisingly stable and comfortable. I wouldn’t dismantle or physically change my brand new home just because of one sofa. Good luck to you!

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    How wide is your doorway? How wide is hall. Draw a sketch and put measurements on it. Can’t help without knowing more specifics.

  • 2 years ago

    We had to remove the entire door and jambs to get a sofa into our basement. With prehung doors and stained trim (no paint touch-ups after), more do-able than one would initially think.

  • 2 years ago

    I would ask macys if they have assembly instructions for it. i really think they are all shipped flat packed then assembled for delivery. the instructions were fairly straightforward - like putting together ikea furniture.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    I'd do a twin daybed with a trundle that pops up. How wide is the door?



    Clear Creek · More Info

    Alternatively, you could build in a custom daybed:



    Built-in Trundle Bed · More Info


  • 2 years ago

    Can you take the legs off? if you can, it should go through the door with it stood on one arm. It not daybeds are very comfortable to sleep on, but depending on your height, they may be too deep and high for a comfortable couch.

  • 2 years ago

    Some ideas with twin beds that look like casual sofa.

    Wall bed

    Antique White Office with Twin Wall Bed · More Info


    Flip bed in sections

    Eclectic Kids · More Info


    Twin beds with cushions

    Airy and Bright Guest Suite · More Info