Category: Criteria and Style · Reading: 7 minutes
Two years ago, a client bought a late 19th-century walnut sideboard from us. He had measured everything.
The space between the two living room windows: 190 centimeters. The sideboard: 182. He had four fingers extra on each side. Perfect.
On delivery day, the movers went up to the third floor and stopped on the landing.
The apartment door left 68 centimeters free. The sideboard was 52 cm deep and 98 cm high. In theory, it would fit on its edge. In practice, the hallway turned in an L-shape a meter and a half from the door, and the furniture couldn't turn.
It went back to the workshop. We found him another one. He remembers it as an anecdote; I remember it as the day we changed what we ask before selling.
Since then, when someone asks us for measurements, we ask them for theirs. Not the measurements of the space. The measurements of the door, the hallway, and the elevator.
An antique piece of furniture almost never fails to fit in the room where it's going to live. It fails on the way there.
Antique furniture cannot be disassembled: that's why it matters so much
A boxed store-bought wardrobe arrives in flat pieces and is assembled inside. An 1890s sideboard arrives whole. It's a solid wood block, glued and assembled not to move for a hundred years.
That's what makes it last. And that's what makes it impossible to fit through a 60 cm door.
There are exceptions. Antique wardrobes, especially two-piece ones, are usually detachable: cornice, doors, sides, and base separate with wedges or period screws. Large dining tables sometimes lose their legs or top. But a chest of drawers, a sideboard, a single-body cupboard, or a small display cabinet enter as they leave: whole.
Therefore, before buying, you don't have to measure the furniture. You have to measure the route.
The three furniture measurements that really matter
In each listing, we publish width, height, and depth. All three are important, but not for the same reason.
The width determines if it fits in the space. It's the measurement everyone looks at and causes the fewest problems.
The depth determines if it passes through the door. A piece of furniture is moved on its edge, with the depth facing forward. If the depth is less than the free space of the door, the furniture enters.
The height determines if it can turn. In narrow hallways, elevators, and winding staircases, a tall piece of furniture needs to be tilted, and that's where the diagonal comes into play.
The diagonal is calculated using the height and depth. It is the actual space the furniture occupies when laid down or at an angle. For a sideboard 98 cm high and 52 cm deep, the diagonal is around 111 centimeters. This figure is what must fit in the elevator shaft or the turn of the staircase.
You don't need to calculate it by hand: with the two measurements and a mobile calculator, it takes ten seconds. And if you prefer not to, we'll provide it.
How to measure your house in five minutes
A tape measure, paper, and five measurements. In this order.
1. The entrance door, with the leaf fully open. Not the frame: the free space left when the door is opened to its maximum. A door that only opens 90 degrees because it hits the wall removes between 4 and 5 centimeters.
2. The destination room door. Interior doors in most Spanish apartments leave between 62 and 72 centimeters. Bathroom doors and doors in old apartments, less. Measure it the same way.
3. The hallway, at its narrowest point. And note where it turns. A 90-centimeter hallway with an L-turn accommodates much less furniture than a straight 80-centimeter one.
4. The elevator, from the inside. Width, depth, height, and, most importantly, the door. Elevators in old buildings often have a narrower cabin than their door, which can be deceiving.
5. The staircase, if there's no elevator or the furniture doesn't fit. Width of the flight, height to the ceiling at the landing, and if the railing projects inwards.
With these five figures, any piece of furniture can be confirmed or discarded before paying for it. We do this for every piece if the client sends them to us.
The pitfalls that cause furniture to fail even if it seemingly fit
All the following we have seen in actual deliveries.
The handles. A sideboard 52 cm deep with 4 cm bronze handles has an effective depth of 56 cm. Some can be disassembled for delivery; period ones often shouldn't be touched.
The cornice and plinth. A cabinet with an upper molding can measure 5 centimeters deeper at the top than at the body. Always measure the widest part, not the most convenient.
The hallway radiator. Reduces space by 10 centimeters right where no one looks.
The reinforced door. Thick leaves, with hinges outwards, open less than they seem and consume space.
The landing ceiling. On winding staircases, the problem is almost never the width: it's that the furniture, when tilted, touches the top.
And one that is not about the house but the furniture: the legs. A sideboard with 15-centimeter turned legs can be laid down and pass where it wouldn't standing upright. One with a continuous plinth, no.
When you should NOT buy that piece of furniture
Here's what a hurried salesperson won't tell you.
Do not buy it if the depth of the furniture exceeds the clear opening of your narrowest door and the piece is not detachable. There is no trick. It will be left outside.
Do not buy it if you have to force it to get it in. A 19th-century walnut piece of furniture that scrapes a frame will fit, but it will leave a mark, sometimes on the frame and sometimes on the furniture. Neither can be fixed for free.
Do not buy it if your only option is to bring it up the facade and no one has quoted it beforehand. A crane or platform can cost more than the furniture itself, and in many communities, it requires permission.
Do not buy it thinking you will cut the plinth or remove the legs. An antique piece of furniture with cut legs loses proportion, loses value, and almost always, the person who did it regrets it. We often explain this to those who ask us, and the answer is always the same: we look for another piece.
And the other side, which is also true: don't rule out a piece of furniture because the hallway seems tight. Many pieces that on paper don't fit, do fit when laid down, tilted, or turned on the landing. That's why the measurement we provide is not of the furniture: it's of the path.
What we do before shipping a piece
In the Navalcarnero workshop, each piece of furniture is measured in its three dimensions before being published. The handles, cornices, and legs are measured. And it is noted whether the piece is detachable or not.
When someone writes to us before buying, the first thing we ask for are the measurements of their door, hallway, and elevator. With that, we confirm or rule out the piece before charging anything.
Each piece of furniture arrives in the room of your choice, with shipping included throughout the peninsula. The carriers we work with bring it up, in, and place it. They don't leave the furniture at the entrance. More than 3,500 families have received it this way since 2015, and the 4.9★ on Google largely comes from that moment: seeing the furniture inside the house and in its place.
Once inside, the hard part is done. I discussed how to make it coexist with the rest of the house in how to combine antique furniture with modern decor. And if you're still deciding where to buy and how to compare, this is the honest guide to where to buy restored antique furniture in Madrid.
And if you want a piece that already comes measured
Everything we publish includes its real measurements, including handles and cornices. If you send us yours, we'll tell you if it fits before you buy.
View available antique and restored furniture
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which furniture measurement should I compare with the door?
The depth. A piece of furniture is brought in on its edge, with the depth facing forward, so the depth must be less than the clear opening of the door with the leaf fully open. If there is a hallway or staircase turn, the diagonal formed by the height and depth also needs to be checked.
Can antique furniture be disassembled to bring it into the house?
Some can, and most cannot. Two-piece antique wardrobes can usually be separated into cornice, doors, sides, and base. Large tables sometimes lose legs or the top. Dressers, sideboards, single-body cabinets, and display cases are solid blocks and enter whole. We indicate in each listing if the piece is detachable.
What do I do if the furniture doesn't fit in the elevator?
It is taken up the stairs, which can accommodate more than it seems if the furniture is tilted. What needs to be measured is the width of the flight, the clear height at the landings, and if the railing invades the space. If it doesn't fit through the stairs either, the facade with a platform is an option, which is quoted separately and usually requires community permission.
Do you measure the furniture with the handles included?
Yes. In the workshop, we measure each piece at its widest point, including handles, cornices, and moldings, because that is the measurement that actually has to pass through the door. If the listing says 52 centimeters deep, it's 52 with everything included.
