Two years ago we bought a new couch for my wife's upstairs office. Her brother, dad, and I lugged the thing up the steps, but no matter what wwe tried, there was just no conceivable way to get it around the corner into the office...about 1" too big as well.
The counch was an incredible deal with no return, and she loved it.
Solution? I ended up cutting a huge chunk of the wall out (basically cut a new doorway in the wall), cut the the studs out, carried in the couch, then rebuilt the wall. Even paying the sheetrock guy to remud (something I just can't get the hang of, no matter how much remodelling I've done), the couch was still a deal.
We know we're going to have to take that B%#$h out in pieces when she finally wants it gone.