If you are feeling adventurous, you could call the sofa's manufacturer or customer service line (it sounds like you already have a sofa?) and ask if it could be dis- and reassembled by the consumer (you). I'm sure many people have had this problem before and asking never hurts! The other option is to ask upon ordering a new sofa if it could be delivered disassembled. I worked at a home decor boutique and everything came to us in pieces, including recliners and sofas; maybe you could ask them to do the same? Again, more time on the line with customer service, but I'm sure some company could do it!

What about a day bed or something? Also, try to look for a couch with a low back. If you take the legs off, maybe it will fit through?

I have the Movie Steel sofa from CB2 and only a 28" wide doorway/hallway to my apartment. We unscrewed the legs to get it through with surprisingly little frustration. While it's not a sleeper, it's incredibly deep and roomy enough for my 6'4" fiance to sleep on it comfortably.

Someone like sofa.com will disassemble and reassemble, and (at least in the UK) will take it back and give you a refund if they can't get it in the door.

Simplicity Sofas have assemble it yourself sofas that might work. They have a sleeper option, but it's a bit cumbersome--you have to store the sleeper part separately, which might not work if you are planning on sleeping on the sofa nightly, but might be okay for the occasional guest.

I ran into the same problem with my small condo in DC. There is a store called Room and Board that sells nice sleeper sofas, with comfortable beds, that come apart in sections. So, not only are they easier to move because they aren't ridiculously heavy, they'll fit through the smaller door and hall. Here is their website www.roomandboard.com

Oh, and nabru.co.uk make self assembly sofas.

I've slept on the KARLSTAD bed sofa for 3 years and it is absolutely ok! Very quickly transfored and storage, I can recommend that one highly!

We live in an English basement, i.e., our front door is under the house's porch so you literally have to go through a narrow tunnel to get to our door. Our living room is pretty small and limited due to a column that is right in the middle of it. We ended up getting a mini pull out sofa from Urban Outfitters, which is super small and light (about 40 pounds) but takes a month to ship and an eggcrate makes it more comfortable. Then we got an apartment sofa from Simplicity Sofas, which is great because it is narrow (32 inches as opposed to 34-38") and comes in two boxes--you can assemble it within minutes.

Have you tried the window? Most moving companies can easily remove a window and hoist a couch up that way. I've had it done in two houses because of twisty stairs that can't accommodate big furniture.

In our last place, we actually ended up taking apart the door frame to get our couch into the apartment. When we moved out, we didn't want to take our old couch (which had barely survived our dog's puppy-hood) with us, so we cut it in half with a sawzall to avoid having to do that again.

@Paganireland - She mentioned four flights of stairs, so I don't know whether moving companies would be willing or able to hoist couches to windows that high. I would actually call a piano moving company because large pianos are virtually impossible to get through a door. They'll have the equipment and know how to hoist a sofa four levels and through a window.

If you havent yet purchased a sofa, or if you have the option to return it, you might be better off with an air matress for guests.

The other option for a regular sofa to go through the door is to purchase a small scale sectional that comes apart. That way you can purchase as many sections as you like to make up a large sofa, but carry each through the door individually.

The Younger Furniture Loft or Maria collection might work for you: http://www.youngerfurniture.com/products/sectionals-modular

I had the same problem when I moved into my 19th century apt in Boston with a 23" door opening. We had to buy a "couch-in-a-box" too, and got a Karlstad - but we spent more money picking a better fabric cover (Lindö beige). Also, we bought new couch legs. There's a guy in Texas who makes mid-century modern couch legs for Karlstad couches (http://www.unclebobsworkshop.com/search/?searchstring=karlstad). They look great, and it was only about $40. All the extra effort paid off. We almost bought a couch through Crate&Barrel because they can dissemble the couch, fit it through your door, and have someone reassemble in your living room for a fee. There was a customer service phone number we called with really helpful people. That was our Plan B if the Karlstad didn't work out.

Would removing the legs help? We had a similar problem with our house, but found if we removed the legs and turned the sofa at an angle, we could get it in.

(We actually made a cardboard cut-out of the sofa to figure out the right way to get it in!)

We bought our sleeper sofa from a store that contracted with an upholsterer to stand by in case his service was needed. In our case, it was. The sofa couldn't fit around a turn in our hall, so the upholsterer came over, disassembled it, and reassembled it in the room where it needed to go.

I'm sitting on it now.

So my advice is: Ask the retailer if they can provide such a service, and if not, call upholsterers in your area to see if they can do it.

@medusa12120

Those companies usually can't cut a sleeper sofa in half due to the mechanisms inside... It would be pretty awesome (albeit probably expensive) if they could though! Also, most building codes aren't retroactive. So if this apartment were older then it would probably be exempt from the code requirement you mentioned. Also, every city has differing codes, so it might be different where Alyse lives.

My advice for Alyse would be to check out the Ikea options and take a look at third party cover makers that can personalise and otherwise elevate the quality of their sofas. I also saw a company here on AT that makes different legs for Ikea sofas which further obscures the lowish quality of their furniture.

Also, I don't own a sleeper sofa, but the Kivik is extremely comfortable as a single bed when the back cushions are removed. You could consider getting a good quality blow-up mattress as an alternative to a sofa bed and only use it when necessary. I put an HBC wool point blanket on top of the air-mattress, then a fitted sheet over top which makes it feel a lot more bed like and improves air circulation (instead of having a sheet right up against the flocked plastic, which I find uncomfortable).

I initially wanted a sofa bed too, but found the options to be so limited and the ones I could afford weren't very comfortable as beds or sofas.

Boo The Bully has a great idea. When I ordered my American Leather sleeper sofa (which, I highly recommend) the delivery service though that they weren't going to be able to fit it through my front door. They talked about taking it apart and putting it together inside and they mentioned that is what they had to do with a prior delivery. So I do know that American Leather sofas can be delivered into small spaces.
Good luck with your search.

I had the exact same issue and lucked out with two high-quality sleepers from Room and Board (purchased from their outlet store in Minneapolis) - upon delivery, two people came upstairs and saw the narrow doorways and brought the couch up in pieces. They also took doors off the hinges to give a few extra inches of clearance. I highly recommend the couches (I have had family and friends sleep on them for 7+ days straight and they were very comfortable) and the fact that they can be moved in pieces is amazing!

many thanks for the suggestions!! I think what we're going to do (taking advantage of the black friday/cyber monday deals) is get a normal couch from La-Z Boy, which as several people suggested has a very low back and removable feet (and cushions FWIW).

We wanted the sofa bed originally because my boyfriend just moved here to DC from the West Coast, so we're going to be having a lot of overnight guests in the near future, and with a cat an inflatable mattress didnt seem like such a good idea. But alas! We found a hopefully cat-proof air mattress, and the deal on the sofa will even out with the price of the upgrades we would have to do to the KARLSTAD.

and for the record: my boyfriend wants nothing more than to hoist a couch up the side of our building and through the window, but i nixed that idea. :D

[also i apparently dont know how to put enter spaces in html, so sorry for the awful paragraph!]

oh! it fixed the spaces! ignore that last part!

Ikea itself has other higher-end sofa options, though, that presumably also comes in pieces. The vreta is really comfortable, for one, though I guess it's not stylish enough?

American Leather sofabeds all have instructions about how they can be taken apart for moving. They don't just come in leather, despite the name. They also make a few sold by places like Room and Board, Crate and Barrel, Design Within Reach, etc. They are the ones with the Comfort Sleeper bed inside - foam on board, no springs or bars to get your back (or your guests' backs) and are quite comfortable. I got one because I knew it was a purchase I wanted to keep for a long time, and I knew I'd be moving again (and again, and again...). Since I was the one who would have to pay more to have it taken apart andput together again upon delivery, if need be, I went to the store I bought mine from and measured the side of the couch very carefully. Then I made a cardboard cutout of the side of the couch from a box, which I maneuvered through all the doorways it would need to travel through to get to my apartment. I determined that it would fit, just, if I just had them unscrew the wood feet. Nice to know, though, that if it won't fit in the next place, it can be taken apart.. There are other sleepers out there that come apart, too, or are delivered in pieces - generally, more modern styles.

FYI you can have a sleeper sofa cut apart - I have. They take the sleeper part (which is smaller) out and carry that in, then peel up the upholstry (from a seam), cut through the frame, bring it in, and reassemble. I have had it dine twice (getting a couch into and then out of a DC apartment. In the DC area there is a company called John's Sofabed that does it. Although it seems like a big deal, it takes no time a d costs less than $100. And, the salesperson told me that the glued frame would actually be stronger

About being "up to code." Building codes are revised and changed all the time, annually in some places. A house that is perfectly "up to code" in all areas in 2000 will be "not up to code" by 2010, at least in some areas/systems, and yet be perfectly safe and livable. Previous codes will have been grandfathered in.

Something can be not up to code and be perfectly safe. Something that is up to code can break and cause a problem. "Up to code" and "not up to code" mean nothing more than whether or not something meets current code--which could be only a few months old. That doesn't mean that everything older than that needs to be changed.

I wouldn't sweat a doorway that isn't wide enough for current code. I'd be more concerned about the electrical system if the building is older.

For my couch, I took the legs off and stood it up on end and angled it through a teeny back door. Don't know if this will work or not for you. ALSO, I just go with a queen air mattress with built-in pillow top that I got via Costco a couple years ago. It stores very easily and leaves a lot of space in my office. When inflated, it's the same height and size as a regular bed, not some camping escapade. According to guests, it is also infinitely more comfortable than my sleeper sofa ever was. If you free yourself of the "sleeper" option with an air mattress, I think it opens the door for many more options for a regular sofa from places like CB2 and West Elm (depending on your style).

We had a hard time with our sofa/bed; the entrance gives to a direct narrow stairway on the side, there is no room to move around. We look on the web and found the "couch Doctors" in NY. We looked what there where doing and started dismounting our couch with more finest. We took the time to undo the upholstery and cut the main board in the front. When inside the apartment, we set it up so that it would be easier to undo when/if we move out.

Couch Dr.: http://nycouchdoctor.com/

Hi DCSusan,
We live in DC and have been having a hard time finding a sofa bed that will fit through our basement door of 27 inches or less. You mentioned John's sofabed, is there a phone number or website for him? Thanks

Simplicity Sofas furniture is made precisely for this type of problem. Every sofa (and sleeper) in the line will fit easily through doorways as narrow as 15 inches. Although the furniture is shipped unassembled this is not the "cheap" junk that most people associate with Ready to Assemble furniture. The sleeper uses an air bed system that is extremely comfortable. http://www.simplicitysofas.com