apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

get those furniture glides. They come in large and small sizes and are great for moving the item around in a room. You can put the piece on them as soon as it gets in the new home and then you'd just have to push/pull it to its final location.

Use painter's tape to hold doors/drawers closed

remove the shelf pins with the shelf, put in plastic baggie and either label it and store all baggies together or tape to the piece.

remember to watch out for handles or other decorative items that stick out when moving through tight spaces

watch the ceiling when carrying items up stairs!

If you need to move something heavy across a smooth floor, put it on an upside-down small rug/doormat and push instead of carry. This saved our floors and our backs when we had to relocate a heavy metal filing cabinet.

Invest in the proper moving supplies. A couple of mover’s dollies and pads can save a lot of money in the long run. Cut cardboard to fit the tops bottom and sides of any piece of furniture that can be scratched, attach this cardboard padding with stretch wrap. Wrap and pad all knobs and handles. Pack smaller delicate items in double boxes, packing the first box well and placing it in a larger box, with packing material filling the space between the outside and inside box.

giant bubble wrap will help preven those tiny nicks.

Measure measure measure. If you're still not sure about an awkwardly shaped item you can make a mock-up out of cardboard to the same dimensions that you can use to try out your plan of attack.

Remove drawers to make pieces lighter, or if you're unable to remove them seran wrap them closed so thy don't fly open at innoportune moments.

When transporting make sure that your pieces are securely packed and don't have room to slide around. Put moving blankets or cardboard between the faces of your pieces and truck walls, floors, etc.

Have the right number of people for the job. Yes, two people COULD haul your credenza up a flight of stairs one step at a time, but four will minimize damage both to the movers' backs and the piece itself.

Moving blankets are inexpensive at the hardware store or see if you can rent them from a truck rental company. Put them over and in between items in the truck so furniture doesn't bang against one another when the truck is moving.

Wrap your dishes in a complete stack in cling plastic wrap. It's what the party rental people do and it works!

I'm not sure if you have these in Australia, but they look intriguing to me and allow one to move large items safely and easily: http://www.forearmforklift.com/ I've seen others for shoulders too.

If you are buying boxes, get them from a store that takes returns and buy ALOT more than you think you'll need (take back what you don't use). I always run out at the worst time.

Label your boxes with descriptions that seem like overkill (not just "kitchen", or "kitchen appliances", but "kitchen appliances: toaster, coffee pot, blender") - you'll thank yourself when you are looking for the box with the coffee pot.

Pack a box with things you'll need your first night and put that in your car rather than on the truck. Include sheets, toiletries, towels, pajamas, pillows, medication, wine bottle/opener/wine glasses, whatever you think you will need to be comfortable your first night when you are too tired to unpack everything else.

Don't cheap out on the packing boxes. The boxes from the grocery store have already been handled a number of times (packed, taken to the shipper truck, loaded, maybe transferred to another truck, unloaded, loaded again for the trip into the store, tossed into a pile when they're emptied). All this weakens their structural integrity. Also, since they are varied sizes, they won't stack efficiently. Either buy boxes from a UHaul place (as a previous poster says, they will take any unused ones back) or go on freecycle or craigslist for them.

For wrapping things in paper: Call your local newspaper. Frequently, they have end rolls of blank newsprint paper they will let you have for free (as long as you agree to return the roll's inner core when you're done; there are metal components on it for the presses).

That blue colored painter's tape is wonderful for doors and cardboard covers and it won't harm the finish.

Cushion glass doors on cabinets (if you don't remove them) by placing pillows and blankets inside.

Remember that glass and stone is transported edge down - never flat.

Industrial sized cling-wrap around anything with doors and drawers keeps everything together.

Keep a tote in your car with hammer, nails, charged screw gun, screws, and allan wrenches - ratchet sets may also be needed.

If you find yourself with a bad furniture mover (my fat, loud brother for example), put him in charge of boxes or putting something like the grill together.

If you have a group, the furniture movers get to leave early once they are done and don't have to help with boxes. They also get first dibs on pizza.

Along with that first night box that LilyC mentions, be sure to include toilet paper, lightbulbs, a set-up for coffee/tea if you can't start your morning without it, an all-purpose surface cleaner and paper towels/cleaning rags...

Last time I moved, I double bubble wrapped my precious breakables, wrapped them in blankets or towels, and clearly labeled the boxes with what was inside as well as warnings and "This side up" with arrows. I only lost one drinking glass

Get lots of help, free or paid, and don't overdo. Better to pay to have pros move the heavy stuff than to end up with injuries or broken furnishings.

(We hired movers for the big furniture, TV, boxes and boxes of books, and rented a truck and moved lighter things like small chairs and boxes of bedding and towels, etc. ourselves.)

I agree about having a floorplan figured out ahead of time. This allows you to figure out what not to bother to move -- furniture that will have no home in the new location can be donated (or sold or whatever) beforehand and not dealt with at move time at all. But to make this really work, someone needs to be the supervisor at the receiving end, to get the movers to put things where you want them. (I had to work that day, and they left almost everything in the garage, because my "domestic partner" didn't supervise after all... it was a mess.)

Make an 'X' with painters tape on all glass surfaces (frames, shelves) if it does break there is less chance of it destroying other things around it

wrap everything you can in drop cloths, if you dont have that use sheets.

Do not put packing tape on any wooden surfaces - use the stretchy cling wrap

I was reading this and the suggestion for fresh new boxes is good. Not always possible but a great idea. I have made the mistake also of finding boxes that seemed ideal and capacious at first, but when full, too heavy to lift and maybe too wide to put your hands on it steadily.

I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THOUGH: Don't buy a tape roller and tape from U-Haul. I have never been so aggravated by tape in my life as when I last moved and my father picked up the truck and bought tape 'cause it was there. The tape is thin, splits easily, wants to stick to itself more than anything, and the dispenser broke in no time; just in general don't buy the cheapest tape at the drugstore. I have moved 8 other times and have worked in capacity of a shipping manager, so I'm not just stupid with tape. When you're trying to get through something already kind of chaotic, it's extremely frustrating to have to deal with tape that is doing everything to make sure you are crazy.

Also, if you have to disassemble furniture, put all the screws and bolts and nuts into a baggie and tape it on the piece itself. If you have a lot of these things, you could probably label the individual bags and put them somewhere all together, like where the tools are (toolbox? yes). Things when they are in the house are in different categories and get packed in similar order, but finding your tools in a pile of unpacked boxes while you have all the nuts and bolts together can be hard. When you move in, the things you need on top for settling in/camping your first night will be one thing, but if you want to have your bed assembled before or after your first hot shower in a clean tub, you need a wrench and/or screwdriver.

Also, plan as far ahead as you can. Some may pack everything and sort it out when you get there (ran out of time?), but if you can cast off any unwanted items before you leave, it's an excellent time to make your load a little lighter and packing and unpacking go quicker. I'm talking about not making these decisions as you pack, when it's most time-consuming or possibly in haste.

"the keep with you bag" should include:
toilet paper
drink cups-enough for all workers
overnight stuff
cleaner
and most important scissors/knife (try unpacking anything when your scissors are packed by an overzealous tape fiend)

agree with label stuff in detail

spare bedding/towels can be used as padding

ziploc baggies are great when taking things apart. Use them for all screws/bolts/etc then label where it came from. When you are finished put the tools necessary to rebuild in too (if possible). Same thing with all the cords and remotes that go with your TV. Put them all together, label, and tape to the back.

Most important, I've found that the better you are organized before you start packing the easier it is to unpack and set up in a new place.

Take into consideration how many flights of stairs you are dealing with. More flights=smaller boxes

You friends are nervous about moving the furniture... have they looked into having movers just move the pieces they are worried about? It is significantly cheaper to have them come in for a few pieces than trying to move a whole house. That way the pieces are also protected by the mover's insurance if something goes wrong.

Oh if you can, I like to create a "staging area" in the new place to put all boxes. As I unpack, I move the boxes into the proper room (kitchen, bedroom, etc) that way every room in my place is not filled with boxes and clutter while I get time to deal with unpacking.

Depending on the place, the dining area is usually a good place to put the "staging area". It usually has the most open space with the least amount of furniture to work around.

Have one person direct the moving. Every time I move i have one friend (with excellent spatial reasoning skills) direct. He doesn't have to lift anything - just tell us where to go.

For short moves (across town) I put the most valuable pieces of furniture (the 1946 Eames chair) into the back of a car and drive it over personally.

Oh, and get renter's insurance!

Beg any man you have currently in your family to help - LOL -- remind them of anything you've ever done for them.

That's always been my best tip - LOL - since I can't lift heavy things. Last time I moved, we rounded three men and a couple females.

I'm afraid my advice differs a bit from ChrisGal's ... I find it works better for me to be very, very choosy about whom I ask for help. Just because, for instance, Mover #4 is family doesn't mean that he'll realize not to, say, push my desk down a flight of stairs or sit on my mother's antique chinoiserie coffee table. In my experience it seems more efficient and far less stressful to hire high-quality assistance or be willing to take a longer time moving with fewer if any helpers.

Lizza - well I'm talking about men as in my brother (who knows I'd freaking kill him if something broke), my father-in-law (who is especially careful with everything since he collects antique furniture), and my stepdad (who also knows I'd kill him). Of course the fiance helped, but half the stuff was his and he knew if he broke something, he'd be living with me and be facing hell on earth.

So it goes with who you trust. I refuse to hire people to move me when I have enough family and friends to do it myself - it's much too expensive to pay for it.

If you move a fridge, give it a couple of hours before you turn it on again, unless its been horizontal then give it a full 24 hours - the liquid gas need to settle to stop your compressor straining.

NEVER NEVER NEVER use box tape [the wide brown plastic tape] on anything other than boxes - that stuff is made by Satan himself and will ruin anything.

If you have valuable furniture, pay for expensive movers (ie, Atlas or a similar line): if you have antiques, pay for specialist movers. They will often pack/wrap for you as well.

It's expensive, yes, but it beats having to replace a 8,000.00 chair.

My experiences with moving have been few (only two times, so far) and miserable, but I can make some suggestions based on the misery I (or someone close to me) experienced.

1. You have more stuff than you think you have. If you will be moving most of it yourself and you wish to make the job as quick and efficient as possible, pay the extra $ for the larger truck.

2. Put the largest items and boxes in first. You can fit in little stuff afterward.

3. Do not give beer to your crew unless every single item is safely inside your new home. Even if it is a hot day. (Most of you think this is obvious and I assure you that it isn't. *shudder* My friend's "good ol' boy husband thought a couple of gratutity Buds would be fine. Her china cabinet fell victim to a severe MUI violation.)

4. Be sure to pack up and hide away any and all small personal electronics. A kind "helper" from across the street helped herself to my music player and I didn't figure it out until I was in the new place and had no way of proving it.

5. Drink tons of water.

6. Use the bathroom often because of #5. because nothing good will come of you trying to juggle boxes while you do the "pee-pee dance".

7. Pack your lightbulbs ahead of time and have them packed away in your "open first" box. A few shoe boxes and a sheet of bubble wrap should do the job nicely.

8. Be sure there is a moving blanket between EVERY.SINGLE.PIECE.OF.FURNITURE. The worst possible scenario is more likely to happen in the back of that truck than the best possible version.

9. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have sheets of cardboard (slightly larger than the art within) sandwiching your paintings. Wrap the sandwich up with a load of packing tape. It makes it less likely that a random sharp corner or doorknob or some such can smack into the canvas as it is dragged/carried/pulled down a hallway. This may be a better use for some of the boxes that you can get from the grocery store that have weak joints and wouldn't be a good use for stuffing with stuff.

jrochest - I guess that is exactly why I would never ever buy a chair that costs that much. Even if I inherited it, I would get rid of it since why would you want it. You would be afraid for someone to sit on it - LOL.

BethanyBlah - LOL on most of your tips though they all make sense. I kept plenty of bottled water and iced tea on hand last time we moved - and we sprung for pizza afterwards. Nothing better than refreshments to keep people happy.

I have moved 12 times and the main thing that I've learnt from my experience is to buy many boxes of the same size, they fit together. Also, when you're loading stuff into a truck (I always hire one and move with the help of my mum), make sure that you pack it up in horizontal layers so that things have no room to move around.

I love moving :)