How To Measure and Plan for Furniture Delivery

As a custom furniture maker, I take a lot of care in selecting the perfect piece of wood for your furniture design and pay attention to every detail to be sure your piece is handcrafted to perfection.  However, there is one detail that I have discovered over countless furniture deliveries to my customers, Denver Homes, which is the most important detail. Will it fit not only in the room it was designed for, but will it fit through all the doorways, stairwells, elevator boxes, and around all hallway corners?

Measure the Path, Not Just the Room Where the Furniture Will Go

The space in your room is almost never the problem; it’s the journey to get there. You need to measure the entire path the furniture will take, from the truck to its final spot.

Step 1: Gather Your Tools

You don’t need anything fancy:

• A 100-foot flexible tape measure (for long hallways and stairs).
• A standard 25-foot tape measure. It’s great for doorways and stairwells
• A notepad and pen (use your phone’s notes app as a backup).
• A helper (for holding the tape and double-checking numbers).

Step 2: Measure the Furniture Itself (The “Box” Dimensions)

First, get the exact dimensions of the item. Do not rely on the product name (e.g., “Queen Bed”) or just the mattress size.

• Key Dimensions to Get:
  • Height: The tallest point.
  • Width: The widest point.
  • Depth: How deep it is.
  • Diagonal Depth (for sofas/chairs): Crucial for pivoting around corners. See Step 5.

Pro Tip: Always ask for the “packaged dimensions”. The box or crate can be significantly larger than the product dimensions, especially if it has legs or arms that need assembly.

One of the best things about ordering custom furniture from Benham Design Concepts is that we can make arrangements to be on site to uncrate and assemble in place any of the furniture we build.

Step 3: Map and Measure the Delivery Path (“The Runway”)

Walk the exact path the movers will take and measure every single obstacle. Start from the building’s entrance.

1. External Doorways (Front Door, Patio Door):

• Measure the Door Height: From the top of the door sill to the bottom of the frame.
• Measure the Door Width: Measure the narrowest clear opening. This is usually the space between the door stops inside the frame when the door is open at a 90-degree angle.
• Note: Storm doors and screen doors can steal precious inches. Can they be easily removed?

2. Internal Doorways, Hallways, and Corridors:

• Measure every single doorframe along the path using the same method.
• Measure Hallway Width: Especially important if the piece is long. A sofa might fit through a door but then get stuck in a narrow hallway because it can’t be maneuvered around a corner.
• Check for Obstructions: Light fixtures, thermostats, light switches, and handrails can reduce the clear space.

3. Staircases:

• Headroom: This is the most common culprit for stairway failures. Measure the vertical clearance from the edge of each step going upwards to the ceiling or any overhang above it. Furniture often needs to be tilted back, and the top can hit the ceiling.
• Stairwell Width: Measure the narrowest point between the wall and the railing.
• Landing Space: Is there a landing where the stairs turn? Measure its length and width to see if there’s enough space to pivot the furniture.

4. Elevators:

• Elevator Cab Dimensions: Measure the interior height, width, and depth.
• Door Opening: Measure the width of the elevator doors.
• Diagonal Test: The longest piece that can fit in an elevator is often determined by its diagonal length. Calculate the diagonal of the elevator floor (?[width² + depth²]). Your furniture’s length must be less than this diagonal to be laid flat.
• Plan with a Dolly:  Just because you can get it in the elevator doesn’t mean you can get it out if there is no room to tip the dolly back to get it rolling.  You don’t want to get pinned against a wall.

5. Tight Corners (The Pivot Point):

• This is where the “diagonal depth” of a sofa or large chair becomes critical.
  • To measure a sofa’s diagonal depth: Push the sofa flat against a corner. Measure from the back of the sofa (in the corner) diagonally to the farthest point on the front of the arm.
• Compare this diagonal depth measurement to the width of your hallway or doorway. If the hallway is narrower than the diagonal depth, the sofa will not pivot around the corner without being tilted vertically.

Step 4: Compare and Calculate

Now, compare your numbers. For each measurement point (door, hall, stairs, elevator), you need at least 2-3 inches of clearance beyond the furniture’s dimensions to allow for movers to grip and maneuver the piece.

Create a simple chart:

Step 5: Develop a Plan B (Before Delivery Day)

If your measurements reveal a problem, figure out the solution now.

• Pivot and Tilt: Can the piece be turned on its side or end to fit through a narrow space?
• Disassembly: Are the legs, feet, or arms removable? Can the frame be partially disassembled? Check with the manufacturer. WARNING: Many modern sofas are not designed to be disassembled, and doing so can void the warranty or cause damage.
• Alternative Routes:
  • Is there a wider back door or patio slider?
  • Can a first-floor window be removed? (This is a more extreme option).
  • For high-rises, is there a freight elevator with larger dimensions?
• The Last Resort – Hoisting: For impossibly large items in high-rise buildings, a professional hoisting service may be required to lift the furniture from the outside using a crane. This is very expensive.
• The Plan B that Should Be The Plan A: Here at Benham Design Concepts, we are no strangers to challenges, and can often design a piece of furniture that is modular and can be reassembled once in the room, making it a breeze to get into your home or office.

Key Takeaways & Final Checklist

• Measure the packaged dimensions of the furniture.
• Walk the entire path and measure every single opening.
• Don’t forget stairwell headroom and hallway corners.
• Account for the diagonal depth of sofas and chairs.
• Always add a 2-3 inch “Maneuverability Buffer.”
• Have a Plan B ready before the delivery truck arrives.
• Have it custom-made. If all else fails, we will build it to fit.

By following this guide, you can confidently know whether your new furniture will make it to its new home, saving you from the immense hassle, cost, and heartbreak of a failed delivery.

Brian Benham

I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.