Chances are that when you’re moving, you’re going to have a fair amount of furniture that’ll be causing you headaches. After all, what is the best and safest way to store and move your couch, bed, bookcases, kitchen table, etc? You obviously don’t want anything to get damaged, but you also don’t want to run the risk of damaging yourself by attempting to lift cumbersome pieces of furniture during the moving process. And what are the best storage options if your new place doesn’t offer the space or setup you require?
Thankfully, we’re going to pass on some helpful tips that will make storing and moving furniture a much less painful task. Follow these tips, and your furniture will always receive the love and care it deserves.
Disassemble Your Moving Furniture
A bookcase, table, or bed frame may seem like daunting moving objects, up until you take out your screwdriver and Allen key and disassemble them into far more manageable pieces. Taking apart your furniture allows you to pack their parts into tighter spaces – which will help with both storage and moving. Of course, not all pieces of furniture can be disassembled. But you may find that even small adjustments like taking the doors off a TV cabinet or the legs of an armchair may make a significant difference in how your furniture can be managed during a move.
While disassembling (and reassembling) furniture is a time-consuming task, it provides greater protection to the individual pieces when in storage or transit. And some moving services even offer the service of taking apart your furniture themselves.
Just remember to keep all the screws and assembling pieces in a labeled box or ziplock bag so it’s nice and easy to put it all back together when you choose!
Create an Inventory & Label Everything
Whether you plan to take your furniture with you to your new place of residence or want to store it away in a storage facility, make sure you create an inventory list that you can keep track of where everything is at all times. This can be in paper form or digitally, but make sure you list what type of furniture it is, where it is located, and how long it has been there. This way, you’ll have a comprehensive resource to fall back on if you ever need to take something out of storage or have forgotten the whereabouts of any of your furniture.
Labeling is also a vital part of this process. Storing furniture, either in a storage unit or in your home, can result in a large amount of clutter and the last thing you want to do is opening up every box and plastic wrapping trying to find what you’re looking for. This can easily be mitigated by writing down the name of each piece of furniture on the front of whatever moving container they come in.
Clean Prior to Storing or Moving Furniture
There’s no worse feeling than taking out your pieces of furniture after storing them for a while only to discover they have been damaged by mold, rot, or stains. This is why you need to clean all of your furniture (and appliances, clothes, and other items) before you pack them away for storage or moving. So give your furniture a thorough dusting, wipe them down with antibacterial wipes, and absolutely make sure everything is dry before you pack them away.
This is especially important if you own wooden furniture like tables, chairs, desks, dressers, bed frames, and bookcases. Any long-term moisture on wood can cause disfigurement, mold, or even rot. One way to mitigate this is to wrap your furniture in airtight plastic to keep any moisture from coming into contact with the objects during storage or moving.
Conclusion
Storing or moving furniture can seem like a monumental task involving a lot of time, energy, and organization. But in reality, by following these tips, you are ensuring your furniture will have a long life whether you want them in your new place or wish to store them away for a while.