Short answer. Big furniture rarely gets stuck in the room. It gets stuck on the way in. Walk the route from the street to the room and measure every narrow point: doors, halls and the turns between them, stairs with their headroom and landings, and the lift. Compare each with the item's width, depth and height, and find out what comes apart. When the numbers are close, order it flat-packed or in parts, take doors off their hinges, or ask a removals firm about lifting it in through a window.
Standard door width by countryWill my sofa fit?Moving into a new flat
Walk the route first
Start at the kerb, not at your front door: the gate or steps, the building's entrance, the shared hall, the stairs or the lift, your front door, your hall, the room's door. In most homes the narrowest point is not a door but a turn: the top of the stairs, or where the hall meets the bedroom door.
- Doors: the clear opening with the door fully open, and the height.
- Halls and turns: the width at the narrowest point, on both sides of each corner, and the ceiling there.
- Stairs: handrail to wall, not wall to wall; the headroom; the size of each landing.
- Lift: the door as well as the car, and the car's diagonal, because long items travel at a slant.
Typical sizes of big items
| Item | Typical size | What comes apart |
|---|---|---|
| Two-door wardrobe | 100 to 150 cm wide, 55 to 60 cm deep, 200 to 240 cm tall (39 to 59 in, 22 to 24 in, 79 to 94 in) | Flat-pack is built in the room; doors, drawers and shelves come out |
| Double or king mattress | 135 to 180 cm wide, 190 to 200 cm long (53 to 71 in by 75 to 79 in) | Nothing; check the maker's advice before bending one |
| Fridge-freezer | About 55 to 60 cm wide, 60 to 65 cm deep, 180 to 200 cm tall (22 to 24 in, 24 to 26 in, 71 to 79 in) | Doors and handles often come off |
| American-style fridge-freezer | About 90 cm wide, 70 to 75 cm deep, 175 to 180 cm tall (35 in, 28 to 30 in, 69 to 71 in) | Doors and handles usually come off; see the maker's guide |
| Upright piano | About 150 cm wide, 60 cm deep, 110 to 135 cm tall (59 in, 24 in, 43 to 53 in); often 200 kg (440 lb) or more | Nothing; a job for specialist movers |
These are typical figures; the product page and your tape measure are the numbers that count. For sofas, see our guide "Will my sofa fit?".
Tilt, turn and stand it up
Rough checks for a box shape. Measure the door with it open, between the frame and the door leaf, and take legs and cushions off if you can.
An item passes a door if its two smallest sizes fit the opening. Round a turn, long items often get through standing on end, or by swinging one end into a doorway off the hall; mark the outline at the turn with masking tape and try. A tall wardrobe built lying down sweeps the diagonal of its side as you raise it: one 236 cm tall and 58 cm deep needs about 243 cm (8 ft), more than a common 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) ceiling.
Stairs, lifts and when it does not fit
Long items tilted up stairs need headroom and room to turn at every landing; spiral and winding stairs allow very little, so plan on flat-pack or parts. In a lift, the door is often the limit, and many buildings want notice before a delivery.
When it does not fit: take off legs, doors, drawers and headboards; order it flat-packed, modular or in sections; lift internal doors off their hinges; or ask a removals firm about a window hoist. Read the shop's terms for items that do not fit before you order.
Plan the route in 3D
In Flatwalk the tape measure lives in the 3D flat: tap both sides of a doorway or a hall and read its width. Furniture from real shops stands at its true size, and you walk from the front door to the room at eye level to see where a wardrobe has to turn. Flatwalk does not test the route for you or know your building's stairs, lift or entrance, so measure the real route with a tape.
What Flatwalk does that older planners skip
Lights
Add ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips and see the new wardrobe or bed in the evening, not only by day.
Your flat in its city
Give the address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D where the map has them.
Sun for your address
See where the sun falls by date and hour, before a new piece sits in it all summer.
One piece, in your own room
Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand it on your own floor at its true size before you buy.
Detail
Doors, radiators, kitchens, wardrobes and bathrooms built piece by piece, so new furniture meets what is really there.
Made for a thumb
Tap a piece and its choices appear: move it, turn it, replace it with another.
Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.
One flat, free
Most people plan one home. For that, Flatwalk costs nothing: no trial clock and no card. Drawing your flat, furniture at its true size, the tape measure, lights, sun and walking are all part of it, and each AI tool gives one free try. A membership is for people who want more flats or more AI.
Questions people ask
How do I know if furniture will fit through my door? Measure the door's clear opening with the door fully open. If the item's two smallest sizes fit through it, it can pass. Then check every other point on the route, especially the turns.
How do you get a wardrobe through a narrow door? Order it flat-pack and build it in the room, or take off its doors, drawers and shelves and carry it on its back. Before standing it up, check the diagonal of its side against the ceiling.
Can I take a door off to get furniture in? Usually, yes. Most internal doors lift off their hinges, which gains a few centimetres. The frame stays.
How do you get furniture up narrow stairs? Measure handrail to wall, the headroom and every landing. Take apart what you can, or ask a removals firm about a window.
Flatwalk lets you place real furniture at its true size in a 3D plan of your flat and measure every doorway on the way in, free for one flat. It is launching on Google Play; join the waiting list at flatwalk.app.
Join the waiting list