Tips for Moving Furniture

Even if it’s your first time moving, you probably have at least some heavy furniture to bring with you. While moving boxes and small items is fairly simple, if tedious, moving furniture is not as simple. There are certain ways to move furniture that will keep you from damaging it or hurting yourself. The experts in portable storage services offer these tips to make your move as easy as possible.

Don’t Attempt It Alone!

While you might be able to move some of your smaller pieces of furniture by yourself, you won’t be successful in moving your large pieces of furniture like couches, armoires, dressers, tables, and more. You are going to need help. Not only are these items heavy, but they’re also bulky and awkward. You might have to tip a piece of furniture to get it through a doorway or down a flight of stairs. The only way to do this and avoid damaging your walls and floors is to have help.

Now, people generally avoid helping others move. It’s a natural response to hard work. But, friends and family members usually come through, especially if you’ve helped them out in the past. So, ask the people you know first and if you still can’t find help, turn to apps and websites like Next door to get your neighbors to help. You might have to pay them a few bucks to lure them into lifting heavy furniture, but most of the time, you’ll get the assistance you need.

Plan Your Path

Decide the path you’re going to take to get your furniture out of your house (or into your new one). Measure doorways, look for potholes or uneven surfaces, and identify other potential hazards and challenges. Then, make a plan on how you’re going to move the furniture. If you can avoid stairs, do it, but if you can’t make sure you know how many stairs there are so you can navigate them without worry that you’re going to miss one.

Protect Walls, Doorways, and Floors

It’s easy to bump into walls and scrape through tight doorways when moving furniture, not to mention scratching floors. Take time to protect the walls along the moving path by hanging moving blankets, removing doorway molding, and laying down flattened cardboard or moving blankets on the floor. This is particularly important as you move your furniture into your new house because you definitely don’t want to damage the walls, floors, or doorways before you even move in!

The flattened cardboard will give you a nice smooth surface for walking on to ensure you don’t get tripped up by uneven concrete or potholes, but it’s also great for rolling a dolly on. In fact, if you can use a furniture dolly, you’ll find the entire moving process a lot easier.

Lift With Your Legs and Not Your Back

Furniture is the culprit for many injured backs, but you can prevent injuries by lifting heavy objects the correct way. Bend at your knees, not at your waist, and lift with your legs and not your back. These two techniques will ensure that you get a good grip on the item of furniture and protect your back at the same time.

Conclusion

Whether you’re moving large couches and dressers or smaller items like chairs or ottomans, moving furniture can be a real pain. The tips here will make the entire experience easier so you can get it over with more quickly.