A corner sofa is chosen in the living room and lost in the hallway. Across every age group we deal with, the two decisions that cause the most regret are the same: getting the handing wrong, and ordering a piece that cannot physically reach the room. Neither has anything to do with style, and both are settled with a tape measure before anything is bought.<\/p>\n
Where the generations genuinely diverge is in what they want the corner to do. Younger households buy a corner as a space saving device and an occasional spare bed. Households with children buy it as the seating capacity of the room, and judge it on how many people it holds and how well the covers survive. Older households buy it for comfort at a specific seat height, and care more about getting up from it easily than about how many can sit down.<\/p>\n
Handing describes which side the long return sits on when you stand in front of the sofa and look at it. A left hand facing corner has its longer section on your left. A right hand facing corner has it on your right. Some ranges are described from the seated position instead, which is the source of most confusion, so the safest approach is to confirm the convention in writing before ordering.<\/p>\n
The practical test is simple. Stand where the television or the fireplace is, look at the wall you intend to fill, and note which side the long run has to travel along. Sketch it, including the door swing, the radiator and the window sill height. A corner sofa that blocks a radiator restricts heat into the room, and one that runs past a low sill can look wrong even when it technically fits. Universal and reversible configurations remove the risk entirely, and modular ranges allow the corner to be rebuilt on the other side after a move, which is why they suit anyone who does not expect to stay put.<\/p>\n
Corner sofas are the largest single item most households buy, and the room is rarely the constraint. The constraint is the sequence of turns between the front door and the living room. We advise measuring every element of that route before choosing anything from a range of corner sofas UK<\/a> homes are commonly fitted with, then comparing those measurements against the packed dimensions rather than the assembled ones.<\/p>\n Use the checklist below and write the numbers down. Approved Document M of the Building Regulations sets clear opening width requirements for new dwellings, but a large part of the UK stock predates it, so nothing should be assumed from the age or size of the property.<\/p>\n