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How do I figure out if furniture can traverse this hallway?

23 days ago
last modified: 23 days ago

Getting furniture into my home is no problem, it's getting to where it needs to go that may be. I've got a super-tight turn down a hallway. When I moved here the movers couldn't get my desk into my office, I had to buy a smaller desk for that space so I know this can be a problem. Now I'm on the hunt for a loveseat or small sofa for that same room, and a Captain's (storage) bed for another bedroom.

I have no idea how to measure to ensure I get things to where they need to go. Can anyone help with this? (yes I feel kinda dumb for asking)

Here is the first situation -- back-to-back 90 degree turns: (who is the dumb-*ss architect who designed this is what I'd like to know. Grrrrr.....)



Here is the backside, view from the hallway:



Here is situation #2, the room the movers couldn't get the desk into. I can't remember why they couldn't get it in there, whether it was because they couldn't pass the bottleneck at the end of the hallway, or they couldn't get it into the room itself (DH thinks it's the latter, but I think it's the former). This is the room I need to get the loveseat/small sofa into):



Any rules of thumb as to how to measure?

Comments (13)

  • PRO
    23 days ago

    Not really but a bed comes apart so should not be a big issue if you pass on a box spring and do a platform bed . Get a loveseat from Wayfair that comes in pieces and assembled in the space . I got agreat sofa thtaw ay took 5 hrs to put together but is awesome . Desks have legs and they can be removed so not sure about the movers abilities there . Stuff gets stood on end, gently turned around corners . Our neighbors had to take out the bedroom window to get a boxspring into the house . No all buildings have good design but so much furniture now comes unassembled this should not be an issue.

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 23 days ago

    Buy sofas and beds and such with legs that can be unscrewed.


    The only other suggestion I have is to make a cardboard box the size of the item, just along the constraints...so if you know the height will clear, just the same width and length and see if you can maneuver it in.

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked Annie Deighnaugh
  • 23 days ago

    Also, one time my mother bought this enormous sofa and the only way we could get it in and out of the room was through the window...

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked Annie Deighnaugh
  • 23 days ago

    I agree...legs come off a desk. Just don't buy any furniture that is over 6'8"...or when you stand it on end it won't fit through the door. Here's a link to a measuring guide to make sure the sofa fits through your hallways: Click

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked Nicole
  • 23 days ago

    Just by looking at it, it may need to be stood on end and wrapped around the door frame. I've had success with doing that several times.

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked hobbitmom
  • 23 days ago

    Thank you for linking to that guide, @Nicole! Although I hope I never again have to move a large piece of furniture into my home, it's nice to know the necessary information is out there..

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked amystoller
  • 22 days ago
    last modified: 22 days ago

    It can be difficult to take everthing into account. Think of a cross section taken at its largest point, typically the middle if the back is arched, depending exactly on where it’s traveling you’ve got to take not only the outside dimensions into account but the inside, and the thickness of the back and bottom, the angle, etc. And then you take all those into careful consideration and convince yourself it’ll work, you bring the sofa home and lo and behold it’s got arms and you can’t make full use of the vee!

    Obviously I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it often requires a lot more visualization than the average person is accustomed to.

  • PRO
    22 days ago

    Double and triple dressers will need to stand on end and will be tricky. Might be better to consider Bachelor chests in the bedrooms.





    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
  • 22 days ago

    This reminds me of the time I found this fabulous 1830 wardrobe in the original off-white paint with the interior sporting wooden hooks for the clothes. This piece was standing next to pieces that a very famous TV star had purchased from this dealer. The dealer brought it to my house and said he always sets large pieces outside. Smart thinking on his part. My husband, daughter and our SIL tried every which way to take this up the winding staircase to the front large bedroom, and it missed by 1/4 of an inch. It was meant to hold clothes upstairs, but instead is right near the front door in the living room for the last few decades.

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked lily316
  • 22 days ago
    last modified: 22 days ago

    I was gifted an incredibly cool vintage chemistry classroom table to use as a desk. When I moved into a narrow home with hairpin turns in the hallways, the movers couldn't get it in my office. They sawed 4" off the legs and then reattached them inside the room. What skills!

    For a love seat - purchase so much of the crap that is sold today that can be built inside the room. We recently purchased an Ikea table and wingback chair for our second home this very reason. Nothing else could fit through the hallway and door.


    Alternatively, depending on the city you live in there are sofa doctors who will take apart and reassemble a sofa that won't fit through the door or down a hallway. They are expensive though.

  • 22 days ago

    I once was faced with the task of somehow getting a gigantic, extremely heavy gun safe out of my son's bedroom to his house 40 miles away. After much fretting over the way to do this without causing mass distruction to my floors, carpet, etc, We called the company from which the safe was originally purchased. They came out with a hydrolic lift and lengths of protective cardboard, and expertly transferred the massive thing into their moving van, and drove it to my son's home and got the thing into his garage. I don't remember the exact cost, but I do remember it was certainly reasonable considering the size of the undertaking. Sometimes you have to call the professionals.

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked hobbitmom
  • PRO
    21 days ago

    Had this issue once! Got a bunch of cardboard and mocked up everything I needed to get through the hallway. Made it very easy to see what would fit and what wouldn't. It was worth the cost of the boxes and duct tape!

    Also for the things I had to stand on end - some I put on a dolly to roll it easily and the others I used an old comforter to slide it along so it didn't get scratched.

    Good luck!

    porkchop_z5b_MI thanked Debbi Washburn