Before you choose a sofa, measure the room
Let’s start with one question: how long is the wall your sofa will stand against? Most sofas that get replaced within a year aren’t replaced for how they look. They’re replaced because the size was wrong for the room. We’ll walk through four numbers together, and you can try them on your own room.
The numbers at a glance
Start with the wall, not the sofa
Get a tape measure and measure the wall the sofa will stand against. A sofa that sits easy on the eye takes about two-thirds of it. A 3.6 m wall, like the room above, takes a sofa of about 2.4 m, and the rest is shared between the two sides for a side table or a lamp.
Thinking of a sofa that fills the wall from end to end? The room will look smaller than it is, even when the space is there.
Try it on your room
Type in your room’s measurements and the numbers work themselves out.
- Sofa lengthabout 2.4 m
- Coffee tableabout 1.6 m
- Seating that fitsA three-seater and one or two armchairs
- Right distance for the screen2 to 2.5 m
- The distance you’ll haveabout 2.5 mRight for this screen size.
- Walkway in front of the tableabout 1.1 mEnough to pass comfortably.
The distances that let a room breathe
Size alone is not enough. What makes the difference is the space around the sofa. This is the same room from above, drawn to scale.
A 3.6 × 3.5 m room seen from above, drawn to scale. The black bar below the plan is one metre.
- 35 to 45 cm between the sofa and the coffee table. Close enough to reach a cup while seated, with room for your legs.[1]
- A walkway of at least 76 cm. If it is the main route through the home, make it about 90 cm.[1][3]
- A coffee table about two-thirds the length of the sofa. A 2.4 m sofa takes a table of about 1.6 m.[1]
- Screen distance follows screen size. About 1.5 times the diagonal for everyday viewing (SMPTE), about 1.2 times for a cinema feel (THX). For a 55-inch screen that is 1.7 to 2.1 m.[2]
The room tells you the kind of seating
These numbers are a starting point. The room’s shape and where its doors and windows sit make a difference.
| Room | Seating that fits | Sofa length, about |
|---|---|---|
| Small, about 3 × 3.5 m | A two-seater and one armchair | 160–190 cm |
| Medium, about 3.5 × 4.5 m | A three-seater and one or two armchairs | 200–240 cm |
| Large, 4 × 5 m and up | An L-shape, or a sofa with two armchairs facing it | 260–300 cm on the long side |
An L-shape, or a sofa and armchairs?
We hear this one a lot, and the answer sits in the shape of your room more than in your taste.
The Olivia L-shape
The Tando set
The seat itself: try it before you measure it
Do you sit upright, or do you stretch out? If upright, choose a shallower seat. If you like to stretch out or tuck your legs up, choose a deeper one. A simple test: seated, your feet rest flat on the floor and your knees sit at about hip height.
The sofa’s overall depth is usually close to a metre. Count it in, because it takes from the table distance and the walkway.
Measure the way in
This is the measurement people forget: the front door, the lift and the turn of the stairs. The sofa has to pass on its smallest dimension, its depth or its height. Send us those measurements before you order and we will check them with you.
An easy way to be sure. Mark the sofa’s footprint on the floor with tape and leave it for two days. Sit in it, walk around it, open the doors. If it feels tight, it is.
Pieces in this article
Questions we hear often
How far should the sofa be from the TV?
About 1.5 times the screen diagonal for everyday viewing, as SMPTE recommends. For a 55-inch screen that is about 2.1 m. For a cinema feel, THX suggests sitting closer, about 1.7 m.
Can an L-shape work in a small room?
Yes, if neither of the two walls it stands against has a door, and a walkway of at least 76 cm remains. Otherwise a two-seater and an armchair seat as many people in less space.
How big should the coffee table be?
About two-thirds the length of the sofa, and close to the sofa’s seat height or slightly lower.
How do I know the sofa will get through the door?
Measure the door’s width and height, the inside of the lift and the turn of the stairs. Compare them with the sofa’s depth and height, and send us the numbers before you order.
Want a hand choosing?
Send us the room and door measurements, or a photo of the space, on WhatsApp and we’ll help you choose. If you’d rather sit on the piece first, both showrooms are open every day.
New Cairo Showroom
Street 26, New Cairo
Sat – Thu: 12:00 PM – 11:00 PM · Fri: 1:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Directions on the map ↗Nasr City Showroom
113 Mostafa El-Nahaas St., Nasr City
Sat – Thu: 12:00 PM – 11:00 PM · Fri: 1:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Directions on the map ↗Sources
The numbers in this article come from these references. The two-thirds-of-the-wall rule and the room-size table are common design practice, not fixed measurements.
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Coffee & Accent Tables, and Armchairs: reference dimensions and clearancesDimensions reference · Dimensions.com · online architectural reference drawings. Used for: A coffee table about two-thirds the length of the sofa, 35.6 to 45.7 cm between the seat and the table, and 76 cm to walk around a piece.
Open the source on dimensions.com ↗ -
Home Theater Guide: Screen SizeViewing standards · Kaleidescape · summarising the SMPTE and THX recommendations. Used for: SMPTE recommends a 30° field of view, THX about 40°. With the guide’s formulas a 55-inch screen sits 1.7 to 2.1 m away, which is what the calculator above uses.
Open the source on kaleidescape.com ↗ -
Human Dimension & Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference StandardsReference book · Julius Panero & Martin Zelnik · Whitney Library of Design · 1979. Used for: The standard anthropometric reference for interior design: the space people need to sit and move around furniture, including walkway widths.
Open the source on books.google.com ↗
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