L Shape Sofas
21 items in this collection
An L shape sofa combines a main seating run with an extended chaise section, giving you a place to sit upright and stretch out without needing a separate footstool. The chaise section is the extended seat designed for stretching out rather than a separate chair. That shorter side is the whole difference between this and a corner sofa, where both returns match and either end will take an adult. Ours return 150 to 180cm. A corner returns 235 to 250cm, so an L shape gives up far less of your second wall which is what decides it when a door or a radiator sits on that wall.
Filters
Sort Best selling
Shop by colour
Pick a shade, we build to it.
About this collection
L Shape Sofas
L shape sofa dimensions
The first figure is the main run. The second is the chaise return. The chaise is the extended seat you put your legs up on, and unlike a footstool it forms part of the sofa itself.
| Range | Footprint (cm) | Height | Seat height | Depth | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jumbo Cord | 212 × 164 | 85cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| MH Somerset | 212 × 164 | 90cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| Soho | 212 × 164 | 85cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| Amelia | 235 × 150 | 80cm | 45cm | — | £1,399.99 |
| Clara | 235 × 150 | 80cm | 45cm | — | £1,399.00 |
| Aaron | 250 × 150 | 80cm | 45cm | — | £1,399.00 |
| Winston | 250 × 150 | 80cm | 45cm | — | £1,399.99 |
| Oliver | 250 × 150 | 80cm | 45cm | — | £1,599.00 |
| MH Lily | 250 × 170 | 85cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| MH Serenity | 250 × 170 | 85cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| MH Windsor | 250 × 170 | 90cm | 45cm | 90cm | £724.99 |
| Chelsea Line | 250 × 170 | 65cm | 40cm | 90cm | £1,499.99 |
| MH Luxury Chesterfield | 250 × 180 | 75cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,399.00 |
| MH Theo | 250 × 180 | 85cm | 45cm | 80cm | £1,399.00 |
| Romeo | 250 × 180 | 75cm | 45cm | 85cm | £1,399.00 |
| Charlotte | 250 × 180 | 80cm | 45cm | 80cm | £1,399.99 |
| Ambassador | 250 × 180 | 80cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,399.99 |
| Oakley | 250 × 180 | 80cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,499.00 |
| MH Luxury | 250 × 180 | 75cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,499.00 |
| Majestic | 290 × 160 | 80cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,599.00 |
| Scarlet | 290 × 160 | 80cm | 45cm | 90cm | £1,599.00 |
As each M&H sofa is handmade, finished dimensions may vary slightly from the published measurements as a result of normal manufacturing tolerances.
Depth is blank for Aaron, Amelia, Clara, Oliver and Winston. The figure published for those five repeats the chaise return instead of the seat depth, so we have held it back rather than print a number we cannot stand behind. Ask us and we will measure the one you are looking at.
Pick the footprint first. MH Windsor and Chelsea Line share one, both 250 × 170cm, and start £775 apart, so once you know which footprint your room takes, price becomes a separate decision rather than a limit on size. The Chelsea Line is also the only L shape we build low: 65cm to the top of the back and a 40cm seat, against 45cm everywhere else.
Will an L shape sofa fit through the door?
Measure the clear opening, not the door leaf. They are not the same number, and the gap between them is where sofas get stuck. Approved Document M treats a standard 826mm leaf up to 44mm thick as delivering a clear opening of 775mm, so about 50mm vanishes into the frame and the stop before anything passes through. Depth is what has to fit: 90cm on most of what we build, 80cm on Charlotte and MH Theo, 85cm on Romeo.
The regulation runs the opposite way to most people's instinct. Approached head-on from a 900mm hall, a new-build internal door needs a clear opening of at least 750mm. Approached at an angle it needs more, not less: at least 775mm where the hall is 1050 to 1200mm wide, and at least 800mm where the hall is narrower still, between 900 and 1050mm. A tight hall demands a wider door, because you are turning the sofa rather than pushing it straight through. Most Victorian and Edwardian doors were hung long before any of those figures existed.
Diagonal depth is the figure that settles a tight landing, and it is not printed on the product page. Ask us for it. Every L shape is built after the order is placed, so there is time to sort the route out before anything is made.
L shape sofas for small living rooms
The smallest is 212 × 164cm, in three ranges, Jumbo Cord, MH Somerset and Soho, all from £724.99. Below that you are looking at a two-seater, not an L shape.
Two walls have to work, not one. The main run and the return both need somewhere to land, and the return is the one people forget when they measure. Mark both on the floor with low-tack tape and leave it down overnight. Tape tells you things a tape measure does not: whether the cupboard still opens, whether you can still get past to the window.
Left hand or right hand?
Same price either way. Orientation is described as you stand facing the sofa, which is the industry standard, so left hand facing puts the chaise on your left as you look at it. Choose the side on the product page.
Stand in the room and watch where you walk. The chaise is the part that gets in the way of a doorway, so put it at the end you do not walk past.
Where an L shape sofa works in the room
Pushed into a corner it does what the name suggests. Floating in an open-plan room it does something more useful: the return becomes a low divider between the seating end and whatever sits behind it, usually a dining table or a kitchen island. That is where the return earns its keep, and it is why the return length matters more than the total footprint.
Leave a walkway behind a floating sofa. If the return is 180cm and the room is 400cm across, you have 220cm left on that axis for everything else, and a walkway takes a good part of it.
L shape sofas are usually chosen by footprint rather than length alone. The measurements to compare are the overall length, the chaise return and the walking space left around the sofa. In this collection the main run goes from 212cm to 290cm and the chaise return from 150cm to 180cm, so the right choice depends on both your wall space and how much open floor you want to keep.
Fabrics on each range
Six fabrics run through the catalogue: Plush Velvet, Chenille, Conistan, Naple, Teddy or Bouclé, and Jumbo Cord. No range carries all of them. Nine of the twenty-one L shapes offer six fabrics and eleven offer four. The Jumbo Cord range offers three: Conistan, Jumbo Cord and Naple. Read the list on the product page in front of you, because it changes between ranges.
Order swatches before you commit. A velvet and a cord carrying the same colour name will not look like the same colour under your lights. Because an L shape sofa has a larger upholstered surface than a standard sofa, the fabric choice has a bigger visual impact in the room.
What the guarantee covers
Every M&H sofa carries a 10-year commercial warranty on the internal frame. If a covered part fails, that part is replaced, not the whole sofa. Electrical components and sofa mechanisms do not carry a separate M&H commercial warranty, and the frame warranty does not extend to cushions, fillings, upholstery or coverings.
An L shape sofa also has to support the connection between the main seating section and the chaise return, so frame construction matters more in this style than in a straight sofa.
A different length
Contact M&H if you require a different sofa length or a fabric outside the standard range. Choosing a size, a fabric, a chaise side or a colour on the website is a standard option, not a bespoke one.
Are L shape sofas a good idea?
In a room with two usable walls, yes. In a room with one, usually not, because the return has to land somewhere, and it runs between 150 and 180cm depending on the range. If your second wall is shorter than that, or a door opens onto it, a three-seater with a separate chair does the same job without the geometry problem.
What size room do I need for an L shape sofa?
There is no single room size, because L shape sofas vary by footprint. Compare the sofa length, the chaise return and the walking space you need around it. The smallest designs in this collection start at 212 × 164cm, while the largest run to 290cm along the main run.
How do I know it will get into the room?
Send us the measurements and we will tell you before you order. That is a service we run: give us the model plus your doorway, hallway, staircase, lift or room measurements, and we come back on whether it works.
Two numbers are worth checking yourself first. Depth comes first, but access depends on more than depth alone: the rigid frame, the diagonal measurements, the arm design, any removable parts and the route into the room all affect whether the sofa can be delivered. Height matters second, because a sofa tipped on its side clears the opening on its height instead, and that runs from 65 to 90cm.
Then there is the chaise. A sofa may pass through the doorway and still need space to turn into its final position. Which end the chaise sits on is your choice at the point of order and the price is the same either way, so a landing that turns the wrong way is usually solved by ordering the mirror of it rather than a different sofa.
If you would rather see one first, the Bradford showroom is open Monday to Saturday and you can walk in. If Bradford is too far, ask for a video-call visit and someone will take you round the sofa and answer the same questions live.
What is the 2-2-1 rule for sofas?
It is a cushion arrangement, not a sizing rule. Interior stylists use it to lay out five scatter cushions: two pairs at the ends, one feature cushion in the middle. It tells you nothing about whether a sofa fits. For that, use the footprint table above.
Do you make an L shape sofa bed or a recliner?
No. The L shape collection has no sofa beds and no reclining mechanisms, and neither exists anywhere else in the range. If that is what you need, it is quicker to say so now than to have you find out at the checkout.
Which L shape sofa is the most comfortable?
That depends on how you sit, and you deserve a straight answer rather than a ranking. The Chelsea Line is the only L shape built low: 65cm to the top of the back and a 40cm seat, against 45cm on the other twenty. Low seats suit some people and not others.
So sit on one. The showroom is at Thorite House, Chapman St, Laisterdyke, Bradford BD4 8BY, open Monday to Saturday, and you do not need an appointment. If Bradford is too far, ask for a video call and someone will walk you round it.
Do you deliver to Northern Ireland?
No, and not to the Republic of Ireland either. Anywhere else, check the delivery policy or ask before you order.
What is the smallest L shape sofa?
The smallest M&H L shape sofas measure 212 × 164cm. If your available space is smaller than that, a two-seater sofa may be a better fit.
Is an L shape sofa the same as an L shaped couch?
Yes. Couch or settee, it is the same product here. The word changes with where you grew up, and the measurements do not.