How to Prepare Your Furniture for Moving
The moving process can be a stressful time for many people. From packing boxes to all the tasks on a moving day, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who actually enjoys moving. Perhaps you’ve hired a moving company to help take some of the stress and heavy labor off of your plate. While helpful, this comes with the new stress of having to worry about potential furniture damage. Luckily, we’ve got all the tips and tricks for you to ensure your furniture is properly protected and prepared for moving with this helpful blog. Keep reading to see what you can do to prevent dings and damage to your furniture.
Make a List
Before you begin, make a list of all the furniture that needs to be moved and whether or not it can be disassembled. Organize your list according to what you can prep for the move early versus what you’ll need right up until moving day (a bookshelf vs a bed). If you’re not planning on taking certain items with you, add them to a separate list to be sold, given away, or recycled.
Measure Doorways and Hallways
For the furniture that can’t be taken apart, you want to ensure you can at least get it out of the house! Surely if you brought the piece into the house when you bought it, you can get it out now? Sadly, this is not always the case. Measure your doorways and hallways as well as any items you think might be a tight squeeze, just in case you have to remove a door or find an alternate exit for some larger items.
Take Things Apart
If an item can be disassembled, it should be. Even saving a couple of inches by removing the feet from your couch can make a difference between easily getting through a doorway and attempting to recreate the pivot scene from Friends. You’ll also save more space and risk less damage by taking your bedframe apart than trying to fit it into the moving van fully assembled.
Keep Parts Together
Once you’ve taken apart everything that can be taken apart, you’re now left with a load of screws, bolts, and other assortments that you need to keep track of. Our top tip for not losing any bits and pieces is to put all loose screws and clips into separate sandwich bags with a label inside to designate what piece of furniture they belong to. Keep all of these bags in the same box. Leaving them with the disassembled furniture runs the risk of losing them. For pieces too large for a bag, wrap them together with some paper and tape around the paper (this prevents you from needing to scrape sticky tape residue off of them later).
Wrap It Up
Protect your furniture with plastic covers (for mattresses and sofas), plastic wrap, and cardboard or moving pads (for wooden furniture) and, if you’re doing it yourself, with other cloth items at your disposal. Taping towels around chair legs both saves the legs from dings and scratches and saves you space from packing a load of linens that could be used to help protect your items. For glass tabletops and mirrors, use bubble wrap after first taping a giant “X” with painter’s tape on the item to prevent shattering if the glass does break. Wrap the glass completely, taking care on the corners, and place it between two sheets of corrugated cardboard.
Load Strategically
When moving day comes, load the van strategically, making use of packing blankets for extra cushions. Be aware of what items can and can’t support a lot of weight and stack boxes accordingly. For desks and tables that can’t be disassembled, flip them upside down and stack boxes in and around them, rather than leaving them upright and risking overload. Be sure to wrap your mattress either in fitted sheets or in a plastic mattress cover to protect it from dirt.
