Lucca Small Sideboard: will 97cm fit your alcove or hall?

The Lucca Small Sideboard is listed at a single size, 97x40x81cm, and that one line is the whole of its description. Rather than dress that up, this post does the job the listing cannot: it works through what each of those three figures means once the piece is standing in a real room, and says plainly what you will have to ask us.

The one size, as the listing gives it

Read the way sideboard figures usually run, that is 97cm wide, 40cm deep and 81cm to the top. The listing does not label them, and a few listings in this part of the catalogue plainly do not run width first, so if a centimetre decides it for you, ask us to confirm which figure is which before you order.

Measuring 97cm of wall

Measure the gap at the floor, at waist height and at the top, then work to the smallest of the three. An alcove is rarely square: skirting takes width out at the bottom, and a chimney breast or a thick patch of plaster can take a centimetre out of the middle. Add a finger's width at each end as well, so the piece can be slid into place without scraping either wall on the way.

The listing does not say whether the front is doors, drawers or a mix. That changes what you need in front of the piece rather than beside it, which is worth settling if it is going somewhere tight.

A 40cm depth, and the walkway

Forty centimetres is the forgiving figure. It passes through a standard internal doorway without drama; the 97cm width is what you turn with, so measure the tightest corner on the route in rather than only the door. A stair with a half landing is usually the pinch point.

In the room, take the 40cm off your clear floor width before you judge whether it fits. Leave roughly 75cm of clear passage in front if people walk past it, and more again if the front opens towards that walkway.

The 81cm top

At 81cm the top sits just below the usual 90cm kitchen worktop, which is a comfortable height to set things down on while you are standing and a little high to serve from if you are seated. It will clear most radiators and sit below most window sills, but both of those vary enormously between houses, so measure yours rather than take mine.

What the listing leaves out

• No material, finish or colour is stated. The photographs are the only guide, and we can describe the piece as it actually stands rather than guess at it here.
• No door, drawer or shelf count, and no internal measurements. If a specific thing has to fit inside, ask us to measure it.
• No weight, and nothing on whether it arrives assembled. Plan the route in and have a second pair of hands at the door.

Where it sits among the Lucca listings

The Lucca Large Sideboard is listed at 137x40x81cm: the same depth and height, 40cm more width. The Lucca Mini Sideboard drops to 70x35x80cm for a hall or a narrow wall. The Torino Small Sideboard carries the same 97 x 40 x 81cm figures in a different range, so that pair is worth comparing on photographs alone. The whole set is in Sideboards & Cabinets.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Once your measurements are settled, the Lucca Small Sideboard page carries the photographs and the order form.