During my last move about two years ago, everything was going smoothly. I remember thinking to myself that this was the easiest move I'd ever had. I should have known right then and there that I completely and utterly jinxed myself and that something was definitely going to spoil the day.
That something was our new couches not fitting through the front door. I know what you're thinking &mdash why didn't I measure before I bought? Well, that's where I feel as though I may have an excuse. My friend was moving across the country and didn't want to bring all of his furniture (something about starting new and fresh and leaving baggage in Philadelphia) so I took a lot of furniture off of his hands! He was moving the same day as I was, so we needed to make quick work of the situation. Fast forward to about 10pm and the damn couch wouldn't fit through the door!
This is where my perfect day stayed around kicking and screaming to be noticed, because my landlord happened to be in the kitchen still working on finishing touches. Did I mention that he also happens to own his own window and door company? This is the point that I wish I would have taken control instead of letting three men do the work &mdash they removed the storm door which allowed for enough room to barely squeeze the couch in. Apparently no one thought to be a little more careful, so we now have some scratches in the leather (luckily in a place that isn't noticeable).
A few weeks ago the same problem happened on Design Star, which seemed a tad less excusable because they are a team of interior designers. Maybe they were just too wrapped up in being so overly excited for the piece of furniture that no one thought to measure. They ultimately paid the price, because their outdoor space didn't look nearly as great as it could have, because viewers and team members alike couldn't forget about that great oversized piece of furniture that never was.
Who knows what the reasons are for not measuring and finding yourself stuck outside your new home with a giant piece of furniture, but it has happened to most of us. What have you been stuck outside with?
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Stanley Console by ...
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Too much to mention. Our narrow stairway and front door in Amsterdam meant I had to put my mums old kitchen cupboard/shelves in storage. In Amsterdam one sometimes finds houses with windows that come out to allow bigger items being pulled up and moved through there. The shelves didn't fit though....
I was *this* close to losing a couch, but removing a light fixture allowed us to tip it juuust so and get it in the hallway door.
This is also the reason I love split boxsprings. They make life so much easier on move-in.
Havn't had this problem so far. I have however no idea how the guys got out king size mattress up our stairs, but they did. May have to call them back when it's time to get it back down.
a piano. :(
"Apparently no one thought to be a little more careful, so we now have some scratches in the leather"
So they scratched the leather couch you got for free after they went to the trouble of taking off your storm door...ungrateful much?
I wonder if Kristen thought to unscrew the legs?
Often folks don't check to see if their sofa has removable legs - If so, those few inches can make a huge difference.
We had a couch that wouldn't fit into a rental home. A few weeks after we tossed it in the garage, the home owner replaced the windows and we brought the couch in through one of the openings during the replacement. We had to use a saw to destroy the couch just to get it out when we left, but at least we had somewhere to sit for 11 months!
@jake999 I'm extremely grateful, I don't think it's fair for you to assume that I'm not. I never mentioned anywhere in this post that I was upset or mad with the men that carried the furniture inside. No matter if I paid $0 or $10,000 for a couch, I'm allowed to mention that it got scratched.
@bepsf we did unscrew the legs. that was the first thing we did.
i had an amazing team of movers who somehow got my couch from the outdoor staircase onto my neighbour's balcony since there was this random doorframe in the staircase they couldn't get the couch through. i think it involved using their magic levitation techniques. needless to say, when i moved out (sans movers) the couch stayed with my roommate.
my apartment came with a beautiful big red couch that the previous tenant didn't want to deal with getting out. we're on the 3rd floor, and it wasn't the door that was the problem, but the stairwell. when we move, we'll have to see how much we love it, versus cost of removing it. It had to be hoisted over the 2nd floor balcony to get it in.
During my recent move to a new apartment, my oversized, overstuffed sofa would not fit through either front or back door. Subsequently, while purchasing a new sofa, I was delighted to learn that many sofas ship from the factory with legs/base separate for assembly at the retailer. My retailer is delivering my new sofa unassembled and assembling it once in the door of my apartment - to assure it'll get in this time. Yes, the new one is also smaller!
Sometimes removing the cushions, tilting the couch, and wrapping it really tight in plastic helps. The plastic helps tighten the bulk of the couch and helps glide the couch into the doorway. Also, it prevents scratches.
The stairs in our old townhouse were too narrow to bring my couch and the boxspring mattresses through when we moved in, so we ended up standing in the bed of my pickup and hoisting each over the second floor balcony and through the sliding door. We just moved out last weekend and had to repeat the process (much scarier for my BF and our friend having to "catch" the descending couch!)
Thankfully our new place had a much better layout and everything fit!
My couch (barely fit) and table (didn't fit) were both irreparably damaged in my last move because I used friends instead of hiring reputable movers. Lesson learned: use professionals if you have nice things.
I had an Ektorp which is "just" Ikea, but it's heaven, you can sit in any position on it and even build a den while watching a movie. It didn't fit into the moving van last time I moved, so I had to leave it for the next tenants *disappointed face* My dear dad later concluded that it wouldn't have fit in but as far as the entryway in my current home, so we would have ended up hoisting it in, first up on the balcony, then through the balcony window, which is bigger than the balcony door opening. No, I don't live on the ground floor. Needless to say, Ektorp will have to wait until I move into a bigger flat with wider everything everywhere.
Moved in with my bf last year. My 8 yr old Mitchell-Gold sofa would not fit in the recently renovated elevator (they lowered the ceiling to add recessed lighting). I abandoned the couch, because the movers wanted $500 to carry it up 12 flights of stairs, and it was badly in need of a new slip cover which was going to cost me $600 anyway. I'd rather put that towards a new couch.
Flash forward 6 months. We measure the elevator. We measure the new couch. By god, it should fit! But there was some weird angle issue, and it just wouldn't go. I'm standing there on the verge of a breakdown. The delivery guys offer to carry it upstairs for a fee. At that point I probably would have paid $500, but they did it for $160 (I tipped another $40). It took them about 10 minutes to take it up 12 flights. Amazing.
But now we are worried about the elevator issue. Most of the big furniture was moved into the building before the elevator was renovated (lowering the ceiling by about 6 or 7 inches). What if it won't fit when we move out?
In my first apartment, we had a wonderful sofa that originally belonged to my grandparents, then my parents. It had down cushions and had been professionally redone, right down to retied springs not many years before. I still miss that sofa, because it wouldn't fit into any of the doors of the house we bought, no matter how we tried. Unfortunately, the feet were not removable. I seriously thought about getting someone to remove the picture window in the living room, but decided it wasn't worth it.
In our current residence, a third floor condo, I didn't plan on bringing any sofa with us. I knew the stairs were narrow and twisty. I planned to buy a sofa. Luckily, Room and Board has a service where, for a fee, they send out the delivery guys to assess your staircase and doors and determine if any particular piece of furniture will fit. Lucky because the sofa I picked out originally would not have fit.
Bought our first brand new sofa some years ago, and discovered it wouldnt fit up the exterior staircase to our third floor apartment, no matter what we tried. Had to return it to the store and exchange it for the modular sectional version of the same thing, and lucky they even HAD such a thing!
It's another tale of a too long sofa that wouldn't fit in the too short elevator. My friends very kindly carried it up the stairs and very kindly cracked the window in the stairwell. Moving with the help of friends...cheap. Replacing the glass in the window..not so cheap. Lesson learned.
I have the same story but with a happy ending ... my first apartment on my own (w/o roommates), I splurged on a beautiful and long white sofa, which was a special order. After sitting on the floor for 6 weeks, the sofa finally arrived, and it wouldn't fit EITHER in the elevator OR up the stairwell.
Luckily, riding back to the furniture store with the couch, the owner agreed to let me exchange my white one for a dark green one that can be taken apart in 3 pieces! So I got my giant couch AND also got to take it with me when I moved this summer. :)
We moved into our new house with a days notice and all I could scrounge up in regards to lounges on that day were a set with thoroughly worn out base cushions while the back was so firm it felt like nobody ever leaned back on them.
A week later I'd had enough and on our limited budget found a set of dirty white lounges, hired a wet vac and cleaned them in the garage bringing them up fantastically.
When I went to bring them inside they didn't fit through the door at all! Took the little feet off the lounges and they still didn't fit. Ended up having to take the screen door and front door off to get them through.
The whole thing was made more frustrating by having a large sliding door on the back of the house, but the door between the lounge room and dining is tiny.
Not looking forward to ever having to remove them, that's for sure.
We tried to move the queen size spring box to our master bedroom on 2nd floor but the staircase was too small for it. so we ended up buying 2 separate spring boxes from Craigslist.
Helped get a friend's poofy sofa into her new apartment with foot removal, door removal, hinge removal, and the brute strength of two men. But, that thing will not be coming back out.
More to the point, though - I LOVE that mustard colored door!
Split Boxsprings are your friend! I discovered this when i purchased a new bed that wouldn't fit up the stairs. Thankfully the company replaced my one-piece with a split for no extra charge.
I have an 11-foot 700lb table that has shockingly fit into every apartment/stairwell I've lived in.
Once we had to hoist a stackable W/D up through a second floor window. That was a little scary...
Ugh. Just moved across country.. and then found our sofa would not fit in the elev nor the up the stairs (we are on the 15th floor) my husband said this happened to him before in an old apt in Chicago and that the elev ceiling was taken off and then his sofa was literally placed on top? Well, this was no longer an option for us now (rules and regulations etc.) Our only option would have been to spend $500 for the elevator company to actually do this for us.. so since our sofa was not really worth it we decided to opt for getting another sofa.. not exactly happy about having the additional expense just glad the old sofa was 3 years old and not brand new. Now, I'm trying to find the "formula" of how to measure the elevator clearance etc. Isn't there some sort of formula I could plug into Excel to do this??? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!