Sofa & sectional dimensions — standard sizes and the clearances that make them work

Standard sofas & loveseats

The American default is the 84-inch sofa. Depth is the number people forget — a deep-seat 40″ sofa in a 12-foot room eats a third more floor than it looks like it will in the showroom.

Piece	Width × depth	Notes
Settee	54 × 30	entry, foot of bed
Loveseat	60 × 35 · 66 × 38	two seats
Apartment sofa	72 × 35	the small-space workhorse
Standard sofa	84 × 38	the default
Grand sofa	96 × 40	needs a wall to match
Sleeper sofa	84 × 38 closed	opens to ≈85–96″ deep — check the listing

Sectionals — measured along the walls

Sectional sizes read as length along each wall, not a bounding box. An L-shaped 108 × 72 runs nine feet one way and six the other — and the inside notch is real, usable floor.

Shape	Common sizes	Notes
Chaise sectional	84 × 62 · 96 × 65 · 112 × 68	chaise side flips L/R — check yours
L-shape	90 × 90 · 100 × 100 · 108 × 72 · 118 × 118	both legs sit on walls
U-shape	120 × 72 · 140 × 84	returns face each other
Curved	110 × 70 · 130 × 75	crescent; corners stay open
Pit	90 × 90 · 135 × 90	every seat is a chaise

Chairs, for the corners that remain: armchair 35 × 35, accent chair 30 × 32, recliner 35 × 38 upright — and 35 × 63 reclined. The footrest nearly doubles the depth; plan for the open state.

The clearances that make it work

sofa ↔ coffee table: close enough to reach, far enough to pass

Sofa to coffee table: 14–18″. Closer clips knees; farther and the table is decorative.
Primary walkway: 36″ (30″ absolute minimum). The path from the door to the seat should never cross under 30.
Secondary paths: 24–30″ — behind an occupied seat, between sofa back and wall.
Conversation distance: facing seats work at 7–9 ft apart, centers under ten feet.

Will it fit through the door?

The footprint fitting the room is half the answer — the box has to make it through the doorway first. Standard US interior doors run 30–36″; sofas ship boxed deeper than their listed depth, and sectionals arrive as separate pieces (usually the saving grace). Poché's delivery check measures your actual doorways against the shipping carton when the vendor publishes one, and tells you plainly when it's only estimating.

Now place it on your plan.

Upload the builder's PDF you already have, set the scale in seconds, and drop a true-scale 96-inch sectional into your actual living room — clearance warnings included.

Try it on your plan →

More field guides All guides Dining table sizes → Bed sizes & clearances →