There are many aspects to a successful move to a new home: getting the right packing materials, communicating with everyone involved, removing all belongings, and then cleaning the home you are leaving, etc. Without a doubt, one of the most important and time-consuming steps in the moving process is moving the furniture. Take a look at our useful tips that could definitely save you time and hassles that make transporting furniture a (non)Sisyphean task.
Moving furniture: The strength is in the numbers
Transporting furniture to your new home is definitely not a task for just one. Make sure that before you start the process, you have selected a good team of helpers—your relatives or professionals who will assist you with all the cabinets, sofas, beds, chairs, tables, etc. Above all, you need to make sure that the coordination of the team is excellent—make a plan of what will be the most optimal order to move the furniture and make sure that in the process of moving you communicate clearly with everyone, and no tension arises. And how can you best motivate the furniture removal team? Here are a few tips:
- Schedule regular breaks
- Prepare light snacks or energy drinks for those involved in the process
- Encourage everyone
- Show appreciation for a job well done
- Determine who will lead the overall process: you or someone with previous furniture moving experience
- Be prepared for any accidents or unforeseen damage especially if it comes to help from a non-professional team
- Be patient and make sure you have enough time to move the furniture, rushing is the enemy in this case
A bonus tip to consider in relation to moving your furniture is to let your neighbours know in advance, as moving around in the building (up the stairs or in the lift) will be hampered. The noise level is also likely to be higher.
Advance reparation for furniture moving
In fact, advance preparation when transporting furniture would optimise the process considerably. Among the useful approaches we advise you to take are:
Give up on the unnecessary furniture: For many movers, moving into a new home also involves a completely new or at least partially redecorated living space. In case you are planning to change the interior of your home, moving your existing furniture would be unnecessary. Therefore, make sure you only transport the furniture that you really intend to keep. This way, you can simplify the whole removal process by, for example, giving your unwanted furniture to neighbours, or those in need, selling it (and having someone else take care of the removal), donating it to a good cause, or simply repurposing it by disassembling it. It's a good idea to find out if the dealer from whom you bought the now-worn furniture offers options for removal and subsequent recycling.
Take care of your furniture: disassembling furniture, especially the bulkier ones, on the one hand, requires a lot of time and dexterity, but on the other hand, offers a better chance of not finding scratches on it. You'll reduce the weight of transporting them, be able to fit them more easily during transport, and, last but not least, be able to move them more easily to your new home. Disassembling the furniture would allow you to use the original boxes you bought them in (in case you keep them), saving money on packing materials.
Make sure that even if you plan to freshen up your furniture, this will happen after moving into a new home: this step is quite logical given the concerns presented in the previous point and is an excellent way to erase newly occurring scratches, as well as to give a new and fresh look to the home you are moving into. In fact, furniture repair is a great activity to bring your family together and make everyone as involved as possible in the move.
Separate the glass components of the furniture: here we are talking about items such as glass shelves, mirror or glass doors, glass tables, etc., the storage and transportation of which should be treated with extra care. You can wrap them in so-called "moving blankets" which, in addition to ensuring the integrity of the furniture, will also ensure that the glass is not scratched during removal.
Packing when moving furniture
As we've stressed many times before, packing is key when you're preparing a move. Furniture is no exception. That's because by using the right packing materials, you could keep your furniture safe not only from potential damage, but also from contamination. Wrapping is also absolutely mandatory for the soft parts of a piece of furniture: sleeping mattresses or the soft components of sofas and armchairs, as cleaning these types of furniture pieces is labour intensive. Make sure that when you prepare the furniture for packing, you have cleaned the furniture carefully beforehand, separated all the smaller parts (hinges, nuts, bolts, including assembly instructions), and purchased suitable packing materials such as:
- Cardboard boxes (an alternative for packaging is the original boxes in which each piece of furniture was purchased)
- Bubble wrap
- Waterproof laminating film (Waterproof laminations)
- Stretch wrap
- Markers to indicate the contents of individual boxes
When moving furniture, and more specifically when packing it, a bonus tip is to wrap smaller pieces of furniture in blankets. This way you ensure extra security related to potential damage during the actual transport. Note also that not all furniture is suitable to be wrapped in so-called "bubble wrap". More delicate surfaces can be wrapped in soft wrapping paper.
Moving furniture according to their type and size
The size of the furniture is important for its transportation. For example, more bulky items such as armchairs or appliances will certainly require more people and extra attention to carry. Here are more detailed tips to use when you are about to move into a new home:
Use different techniques and support materials when moving furniture: One of the main tricks here is not to lift or push the furniture, an operation that could potentially damage the floor of the home, but to slide it using so-called 'furniture slides'. These are items of soft fabric that are placed under a furniture component to pull it across smooth surfaces such as parquet or tiles without damaging the floor surface. Another type of slider is plastic panels with attached casters. Another particularly useful tool when moving furniture is furniture carrying straps. These are elastic bands that are attached to the arms of those carrying and around a piece of furniture to distribute the weight more evenly and provide support when carrying the heavy object.
Disassemble the furniture you can: the next tip is to disassemble the furniture that provides this opportunity. This would make the transportation process immensely easier, allowing you to be as independent as possible and prepare the furniture you plan to transport yourself. This step is even mandatory in cases where you rely on your own smaller vehicle (car or van) and have not hired a specialized company with a large truck.
Move the furniture with the help of a specialist: a tip that applies when transferring bulky furniture in as short a time as possible and with a specialist vehicle. In addition, removal specialists can also supply you with packing materials and help you secure your furniture. They are also the people with special equipment that minimizes human intervention when moving heavy furniture. Also, given the variety of cases in their practice, they would be most familiar with the techniques to successfully bring the interior into your new home, a step that should not be underestimated.
Important steps after the final move of the furniture
The process of moving furniture is not limited to bringing and arranging it in the new home. Here are the key aspects to consider once you've transported your furniture:
Take care of the waste: make sure the boxes you transported the furniture in are reused by you or someone else preparing a move soon. The same goes for other materials you have purchased to transport the furniture, including paper, foil, tape, markers, etc. When it comes to waste, make sure you separate it and dispose of it in the containers provided.
Check for scratches: make a detailed inspection of the furniture moved into the new home. This would help you determine: if you need to freshen up a piece of furniture; where you went wrong in moving it; and how to better secure it for future moves. In addition, you might want to plan extra time out of your schedule in which to tackle furniture repairs before finally completing renovations on your new home.
Clean the home before bringing in bulky furniture: before bringing furniture into your new home, make sure it is clean. Focus on floors and corners, areas that will be difficult to clean once all the furniture is finally in place. In case you didn't pack some of the furniture and it got dirty in transit, plan a few hours to clean it as well.
Have a clear furniture arrangement plan: consider where and how you will place your furniture after moving in. This will streamline the process, saving you from unnecessary panic and chaotic decisions. In addition, if you rely on professionals to move your furniture, it will be much easier to arrange it than if you decide to rearrange the apartment yourself afterwards. The clearly defined positions of each piece of furniture will also make it easier for you to decorate your home with smaller, complementary items.
However, if you change your mind about the original layout of the furniture (whether for aesthetic reasons, lack of convenience or functionality) after you have already moved in, by all means, do not take it upon yourself to rearrange the furniture. Call a friend or call in a specialist. Also, keep in mind that it is advisable to put away fragile decorations that you may inadvertently snag with the furniture when rearranging it. Be careful also when it comes to the walls of the place, protruding wall parts or shelves hanging on the wall spaces. Attention should also be paid to hanging chandeliers.
Moving furniture is a challenging task that a team effort would make much easier. If you are interested in the opinion of an expert to accompany you in the moving process, Movega Removals, a company specialized in transport services in Europe, will be happy to advise you. Get in touch with us right now using the chatbot feature and contact form available on our website.
