When you’re relocating from one house to another, one of the things you’ll be dealing with is making sure your furniture goes with you. That’s not always easy, especially if you don’t have a professional company or at least some friends who can help you. The idea of moving furniture on your own may not make you very happy, but it can be done if you’re careful and resourceful. Naturally, you want to make sure you do things safely. While you can move most things on your own, you should definitely get help if you’re pregnant, have a medical condition, or have any other reason why you feel you might not be able to move larger or heavier objects safely. Here are some ways you can move furniture on your own, if you decide that’s the best choice for your needs.
1). Can you use blankets for sliding things?
One of the biggest problems with heavier or larger furniture is getting it moving. Once you get it started, it can be easier to keep it in motion. To get it started sliding, you can work a blanket up underneath it. By pulling on a corner of the blanket, you get more leverage to move an item that wouldn’t budge before. Depending on the type of item you’re trying to move, using a blanket as a slider can be an excellent way to get things going and start everything moving forward, so you can get your move underway. Just be sure the item won’t fall over easily, and that you have enough of the blanket underneath it that the blanket won’t pull right out and cause you to fall.
2). Should you take things apart when possible?
The process of buying a house is stressful enough, and then you have to make sure your furniture can make the trip properly. One of the ways to ensure that your furniture has the best chance of surviving the move, and that you can move it more easily by yourself, is to take it apart. Not all furniture comes apart easily of course, and some of it isn’t meant to be taken back apart at all. However, for the items that you put together, taking them apart can be a great way to ensure that they don’t weigh too much for you to move. That can reduce the cost of hiring someone to move your furniture, saying you money.
3). Could you ‘hook’ chairs around corners and through doors?
Sometimes chairs are hard to get around corners, and they can also be difficult to get through doorways. If you lay them over on their sides, they often fit much easier. You can slide the top part through and hook it around, and then slide the bottom part through. By maneuvering it through the doorway or around the corner like that, you won’t be stuck trying to shove the chair through a small, narrow area where it’s trying to rub on the sides. That also helps prevent the chair from getting stuck in a doorway, which can be a real source of frustration for anyone who’s trying to get furniture moved around.
4). Can you stand couches on end and ‘walk’ them?
The idea of ‘walking’ a couch or other heavy piece of furniture is pretty common, and can be made easier if you stand the couch on end first. Just be sure doing that doesn’t make it too tall to clear the doorways. If that’s going to be a problem, you’ll need to avoid standing it up, and just walk to to where it needs to be. You may need to tip it onto its back or otherwise move it around to get it through doorways, but tipping, walking, and sliding a couch or loveseat can generally get it moved where it needs to go. If you have stairs to deal with, though, you may need some help.
5). Will ramps help?
Ramps are another great way to move furniture. They help you get the furniture past small sets of stairs, like you often find at the front of homes. These ramps don’t work well for larger or longer sets of stairs, though, because they can encourage the furniture to slide too quickly. That’s not safe, and should be avoided. When you’re moving to a new house, though, using ramps on short staircases can be an excellent way to get furniture moving into and out of a home so you can relocate all of your things and start getting settled in.
6). Have you bought sliders?
You can purchase sliders that go under the feet of tables, couches, chairs, and more. They are small disc-shaped objects that slide easily on most surfaces, even under a heavy load. If you buy something like this, read the directions carefully and use them only as recommended. They can help, but they aren’t a substitute for having another person there to help move large furniture.
7). Should you use the end-over-end technique?
For non-breakable items that are large but not overly heavy, such as an over-stuffed chair. You may try almost rolling it by tipping it gently end over end. That’s a variation on the walking technique, and can help you get your furniture from one room to the other without too much trouble. It doesn’t work well for breakable items, though, or anything that shouldn’t be tipped, such as a TV set. It’s a better option for softer items, and can help you get them moved without hiring anyone to move them for you.
2 Point Highlight
Depending on the type of item you’re trying to move, using a blanket as a slider can be an excellent way to get things going and start everything moving forward, so you can get your move underway.
One of the ways to ensure that your furniture has the best chance of surviving the move, and that you can move it more easily by yourself, is to take it apart.
