How to choose the right L-shape couch size for your lounge

An L-shape is the biggest single object most people ever put in a lounge, so the size question matters more than the colour. Here is how we help customers get it right before they order, in the order we would do it in your home.

1. Measure the wall, not the room

An L-shape has two measurements: the long side that runs along the wall (2.6 m to 4.8 m in our range) and the chaise, the shorter arm that comes out into the room (usually 1.4 m to 1.8 m). Measure the wall the long side will sit against, from the corner to the first obstacle: a doorway, a window that opens inward, a passage. That number is your maximum length.

2. Leave a walkway

You need about 75 cm to walk comfortably past the end of the chaise, and 90 cm if it is a main route through the house. So if your room is 4 m deep and you want a 1.8 m chaise plus a TV unit on the opposite wall, check that there is still a clear path. Our product pages have a room planner: type in your wall length and room depth and the drawing shows you the couch in the space with the walkway marked.

3. Which side does the chaise go?

Chaise side is always described sitting on the couch, facing the room. If the chaise should be on your left when you sit down, that is a left-hand chaise. The most common mistake is to choose it standing in the doorway looking at the couch, which flips it. Our drawing updates when you choose the side so you can check it against your own sketch.

4. Will it fit through the door?

A standard South African door opening is 813 mm wide. Our couches are built as sections wherever possible, but the chaise section of a large L-shape can be 1.7 m by 1 m. Measure your front door, any passage turns and, in a flat, the lift. Tell us about stairs, lifts and narrow passages in the order notes and we plan the delivery around them.

5. Pick by how you use it

• Two people, townhouse lounge: 2.6 m to 2.8 m with a 1.4 m to 1.7 m chaise (Luzama, Kuba, Cassina, Padra).
• Family of four, open-plan: 3.2 m to 3.5 m with a 1.7 m or 1.8 m chaise (Everet, Oani, Modular Stitched, Lemo).
• Big family, everyone on one couch: a U-shape or a 3.8 m plus L-shape (Banda, Potra, Sabbi, Bonnie, Vonia U-Shape).
• A room that keeps changing: a modular (Mata, Liema, Mihla, Cassina) so the chaise can move when you move house.

6. If no standard size fits

Enter a custom length and depth on the product page. Because we build every couch in our own workshop in Kya Sands, a 3 m couch instead of a 3.2 m one is a different cutting list, not a different product. The price updates on the page before you add it to the cart.

Still not sure? Send us a photo of the room and your wall measurements on WhatsApp and we will tell you which size we would choose.