Moving Tips - Packing your Furniture
Moving. This word causes some to rejoice and others to cringe. It can be an exciting and trying experience to move to a new home. When it comes to packing your valuable furniture and accessories, a few helpful tips can make the moving process a lot less stressful.
It is always a smart idea to dust all your furnishings before they get loaded into the moving truck, but avoid major cleaning undertakings until you are settled into your new home. Waxing or oiling wood furniture can cause wood to soften and could make it more susceptible to dents and scratches. In addition, wait to re-paint furniture as a new coat of paint needs a lot of time to absorb properly into the furniture surface even if it appears dry.
Leather and upholstered furniture should be properly covered during the moving process. Old sheets and moving cloths can be draped around the piece and temporarily sewed together to ensure they are completely covered. Often times larger pieces like a couch or loveseat will be the first to get loaded onto the truck and dirty floors can grind dirt into furnishings that are not properly protected.
If you want to leave a few lighter items in the drawers of end tables and dressers, you can wrap the entire piece with a self-adhering plastic wrap you might use in your kitchen. The wrap will temporarily hold the drawers in and provide a thin layer of protection for the piece.
Be careful not to leave heavy or smaller articles in the drawers, though, as shifting during the move might force them open and your valuables could scatter. Sock drawers are a better choice for this option than ones that contain your child's marble collection.
Fragile and awkward sized items like a lamp can sometimes be more difficult to protect. Invest in a large roll of bubble wrap and allow the piece to be rolled several layers. Lampshades can also get wrapped in bubble wrap as well as placing a small piece in the interior of the shade to create resistance against crushing.
As in all of your moving, be sure to mark boxes in several easy to read places with phrases like "Fragile" and "Do not Crush" along with the room where it should be placed and a small list of contents. A box that says, "Fragile, Guest Room, Candle Holders and Picture Frames" will give you a much easier time of unpacking and getting settled when you arrive at your new home.
