"A small flat" doesn't mean "no sofa". It only means you have to choose by different numbers — and the main one isn't the one everybody measures.
Depth matters more than length
Everyone measures the length: "so it fits along the wall". But it's the depth that eats up the room, because it's taken away from the side you walk along.
Our range varies a lot: Novial — 70 cm, Soho — 88, Ratri — 90, MODE — 94, Mind and COLLIE — 95, ISSA — 100, MITRA — 105 cm.
Work it out for a room 300 cm wide:
- a sofa 100 cm deep plus a 70 cm walkway = 130 cm left
- a sofa 70 cm deep plus the same walkway = 160 cm left
Thirty centimetres is the difference between "there's a coffee table" and "there's nothing". That's why NOVIAL (144×70 cm) is a better fit for a small flat than its dimensions suggest.
What a shallow sofa costs you: the way you sit. A depth of 70 cm gives a seat of about 52 cm — you sit upright, feet on the floor. That's a seat for talking and working on a laptop, not for lying with your feet up. A detailed breakdown: sofa dimensions.
The narrowest straight models
If the wall is short, here's what to choose from:
- NOVIAL — 144 cm (depth 70). The most compact straight sofa in the catalogue.
- Mind — 150 cm (depth 95, backrest 65 cm — the lowest in the range).
- MODE — 170 cm (depth 94), and it also comes in nine lengths — from 170 to 340 cm.
Count centimetres, not "seats". One person needs 60 cm, plus armrests of 15–25 cm each. A "three-seater" 170 cm wide really seats two and a half.
A low backrest makes the room bigger
A technique that works better than colour.
When the backrest is low, your eye passes over the sofa — and the room reads as a whole. A high one splits it in two.
You can see it in our numbers: Mind — 65 cm, COLLIE — 72, Ratri — 77, MODE and Novial — 80, ISSA — 95, NORDIK — 107 cm.
The rule: in a room up to 16 m², take a backrest of up to 85 cm. The price: there's nothing to rest your head on; fine for a film, not for reading.
A compact corner sofa often beats a straight one
It sounds illogical, but a corner sofa gathers the seats into the corner and frees the middle of the room, while a straight one stretches along the wall.
The key is to count both sides. This is the mistake people make almost every time: they measure the length and forget how far the corner section sticks out into the room.
- CLASSY — 200 cm long, projecting 155 cm
- NORDIK Corner Compact — 200 cm, projecting 160 cm
- For comparison, ELLENKA XL projects 410 cm — that's a different category of room
So a compact corner sofa needs a square of about 200×160 cm plus walkways. A comparison of shapes: a corner or a straight sofa.
The mechanism: does it have to be moved from the wall
In a compact room the sofa almost always stands flush against the wall, and that rules out half the mechanisms.
A Dolphin unfolds forwards — no need to move it. A Eurobook needs space behind, so the sofa will have to be pulled out every time.
And work out separately how much space the unfolded sofa takes: folded it's 90 cm deep, unfolded about 200. If there's a table or a cabinet opposite, the sleeping area will run into it. A comparison of mechanisms: Eurobook or Dolphin.
Legs: seeing the floor makes the room seem bigger
It's not a subjective impression. When you can see the floor under furniture, the eye fills in the area that's actually covered. In a small room the effect is noticeable straight away.
A sofa on visible legs versus a sofa with a solid base down to the floor — the same dimensions, a different feel. Plus a vacuum cleaner fits underneath, which also matters in a small flat.
What actually makes a difference and what doesn't
Makes a difference: depth, backrest height, legs, shape.
Makes less difference than people say: colour. A light sofa in a dark room won't make the room light — only the sofa itself will be light. Lighting and furniture height matter more than the shade of the upholstery.
How practical the colour is, though, is another matter: in a small flat the sofa more often stands in a through-way, so marks are more visible. A breakdown: which fabric to choose if you have pets and children.
What to measure at home
- The wall — from corner to corner at the narrowest point, not "by eye".
- The walkway — what will be left in front of the sofa. To the coffee table 40–45 cm; where people walk, from 70 cm.
- The delivery route — the building entrance door, the lift, the turn on the landing. This is the number one reason deliveries get rescheduled: the sofa fits in the room but won't go through the entrance.
Frequently asked questions
What's the most compact sofa you have?
NOVIAL — 144 cm long with a depth of 70 cm. The depth matters more here: it's the smallest in the whole range.
Corner or straight for a small room?
A corner sofa frees the middle of the room but needs a square of about 200×160 cm. A straight one stretches along the wall and leaves more layout options. Measure both walls before deciding.
Can I order a sofa narrower than 144 cm?
Yes, we make the dimensions to fit your space. For a small flat this is often smarter than a compromise: a 132 cm recess is no reason to take 120 and leave a gap.
A sofa for everyday sleeping in a studio — what to consider?
A mechanism that doesn't need moving, a flat surface with no join in the middle, and space to unfold it. A separate breakdown: a sofa for everyday sleeping.
In short
- Depth eats up the room more than length: 70 cm versus 100 cm = 30 cm of free space
- NOVIAL 144×70 cm is the most compact straight sofa; Mind has the lowest backrest, 65 cm
- A backrest of up to 85 cm in a room up to 16 m²
- For a corner sofa, count both sides: a compact one projects 155–160 cm
- Flush against the wall — a Dolphin mechanism, not a Eurobook
Find a compact sofa that won't block the walkway and adds a bed.
Go to the sofa catalogue →
