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Before you buy

The sofa didn’t fit the alcove

Which width of the recess and which width of the sofa have to be compared, and how much clearance to leave between them.

An alcove has no single width. At floor level the skirting takes 1 to 2 cm off each side, the two side walls of the recess are rarely parallel, and the same recess measured at the top and at the floor gives two different numbers. Sofas have no single width either: the figure in a listing is often the seat width, and the arms add 15 to 25 cm on top of it.

So the two numbers that usually get compared are the widest reading of the recess and the narrowest reading of the sofa. Both are correct, and neither of them decides anything.

The sofa is wider across the arms than the recess, so it stands at an angle with one arm past the wall.
A dark grey three-seat sofa standing at an angle in a shallow wall alcove, its left arm sticking out past the edge of the recess.
The sofa is wider than the opening, so it never went in and stands in front of the empty alcove.
A light grey three-seat sofa standing in front of a wall alcove, its arms against the edges of the opening, with the empty alcove and its shelf behind it.
The chaise is deeper than the seat, and it takes the walkway beside it down to a squeeze.
A dark brown velvet corner sofa with a long chaise filling a narrow living room almost up to the fireplace.

What has to be true

Sofa width across the arms, plus 2 to 3 cm on each side, has to be smaller than the narrowest point of the alcove. The margin covers the error in the measuring: walls drift, readings get rounded, and the hands lowering the sofa into the recess need somewhere to be.

The numbers that decide it

  • 15–25 cmwhat the arms add to the seat width of a three-seater
  • 2–3 cmclearance on each side, or the arms scrape the paint going in
  • 1–2 cm per sidewhat the skirting takes off the alcove width at floor level
  • 2–4 cmhow far a radiator or a skirting board on the back wall holds the sofa forward

What to measure

The alcove, three times
At the floor, at seat height and near the ceiling. Old plaster is uneven, and the smallest of the three numbers is the one to use.
The sofa across the arms
Not the seat. If a listing gives a seat width, add both arms from the maker’s drawing.
What is on the back wall
Measure from the face of the skirting or the radiator, not from the plaster behind them.

Before you buy

  • The narrowest of the three alcove measurements, written down
  • The sofa width taken across the arms, from the drawing rather than the photo
  • 2–3 cm of clearance left on each side
  • The route from the front door to the room, at its tightest point
  • The delivery box size, which is not the sofa size

If it is already in the room

  • Move it to the open wallThe alcove takes shelves or a cabinet instead, and the sofa stands straight along the longer wall.
  • Place it in front of the recessIf the sofa misses by a few centimetres, centre it in front of the alcove rather than wedging it in.
  • Change the arms, not the seatSlim-armed and armless models are 15 to 20 cm narrower overall at the same seat width.

Questions

The sofa is 200 cm and the alcove is 202 cm. Is that enough?
That is 1 cm on each side, and turning the sofa into the recess takes 2 to 3 cm. Measure again at floor level with the skirting in place: if 202 cm is the narrowest point, it goes in only after the skirting inside the recess comes off.
Does the sofa have to sit flush against the back wall?
No, and it rarely can. A radiator, a skirting board or a plug socket holds it 2 to 4 cm forward. That changes the depth the room loses, not the width the sofa needs.
The alcove is 15 cm wider than the sofa. Does that matter?
Not for fitting. Those 15 cm end up as one gap or two, and a gap under about 10 cm takes nothing wider than a slim shelf or a plant stand.