What is the Best Way to Handle Antique Furniture?

Antique furniture

Antique furniture has always been more than a regular piece of furniture. It is both beautiful and valuable as well as full of memories and feelings. What makes it important is the fact that it was passed down from one generation to the next. It truly is a treasured family heirloom. So, if there comes a time when you have to move this treasure, you must ensure its safety. You must relocate it from one home to another without a scratch, or else, it will lose its value. In order to handle antique furniture, you must be a professional. There are many things you need to do in order to transport it, so do not try to cut corners, or you will end up paying more than you expected.

Antique chair and table - how to handle antique furniture
Your antique furniture is valuable and irreplaceable. So, do everything in your power to handle your antique furniture with the utmost care.

Make an Inventory of Your Antique Furniture

Making an inventory of your antique furniture will make you see a larger picture. It will also make you keep track of your valuable possessions. Start by making a list of all the antique pieces of furniture one room at the time. Make sure to write down not just the name of the piece but also any other relevant information. For example, you can write down the year and place of manufacturing, craftsman, material, original purpose, and so on. Most importantly, make a clear description of it. If there is some damage or scratch, specify it. Also, you should take photos of the furniture from all sides and angles. Maybe all of this seems a bit too much, but it will help you a lot with insurance and moving companies as well as speed up the relocation process.

Get Your Antique Furniture Appraised

Before getting insurance and hiring a specialized moving company to handle antique furniture, you must obtain an antique furniture appraisal as verification of the value of your precious pieces. This is not an easy task since there are not a lot of professionals out there and in that field. You need to make sure to find a reliable appraiser to assess the actual worth of your antique furniture. Try to get recommendations from friends and family. However, if none of them have experience dealing with antiques, the only thing left is to read online reviews on forums and different social media accounts. Read both good and bad comments, and focus on comments that show how some bad situation was solved.

Businessman showing something
Getting your furniture appraised is very important. Try to find a company which specializes in that before you move out.

Get Adequate Insurance

One of the most important things to do before the moving day and moving company like Four Winds Saudi Arabia comes to your house is to get adequate insurance for your antique furniture. It is too valuable and precious not to have it insured. You will feel sorry later if something happens to it. If it gets damaged, it will lose its value and it will be too late to fix the problem. So, do not try to cut corners and save money on this one. Insure all of your antique and valuable pieces of furniture. Set up a meeting with an insurance agent and see which kind of insurance is most appropriate in your particular case.

Plan Ahead

If you plan ahead and prepare both your furniture and yourself well, you will be able to avoid many problems and unexpected troubles. So, here is what you can do:

  • Find a safe route from your old place to the new one.
  • Measure the dimensions of your antique furniture and the dimensions of your doorways and stairs to make sure that everything can fit through without any troubles.
  • Create a floor plan of your new place. Try not to move your antiques unless necessary. So, if you have a floor plan,  you can avoid shuffling your furniture many times from one place to another.
  • Check the temperature and humidity of your new place and be sure to make necessary adjustments before the antique pieces arrive.
  • Empty all the pieces of your furniture so that they are lighter and easier to carry.
  • Finally, find a moving company. There are many professionals that can handle your international relocation or the relocation of your antiques.

How to Pack Antique Furniture for Shipping?

Packing antique furniture is not easy and it is no child’s play. Its size, weight and most importantly, fragility make them very difficult to pack and move across the country. So, try to avoid any damages, and do yourself a favor, hire a moving agency which specializes in this kind of move. This is the best way to start your moving preparations. It will not only save you plenty of time but it will also ensure your peace of mind. However, if you want to do this by yourself, we advise you to do the following:

  • Disassemble the furniture – try to do this as safely as possible. If there are any removable elements like drawers, doors, shelves, legs, glass panels and similar, remove them and pack them separately. If there are any small hardware parts but them in plastic bags.
  • Secure the furniture well – if there are any loose parts, fix them before moving. If possible lock the dors, or secure them with duct tape. Also, use a lot of bubble wrap.
  • Provide adequate cushioning – you can use foam sheets or moving blankets. This will absorb any shocks and vibrations during transportation.
  • Use a custom crate – If some of your furniture is extremely fragile and prone to breaking, providing an extra layer of protection for it. Many specialized moving agencies can take care of this for you.

Find Help

One thing is for sure, you can not do all of the packing and heavy lifting by yourself. There are two ways you can deal with this situation. The first one is to hire professional help. That is the safest and the most convenient option. They will do everything for you. From packing and transporting to fast and simple clearance of cargo. However, if you are trying to save some money, and want a kind of DIY relocation of your antique furniture, find some reliable friends to help you out. Remember to thank them afterward since this is not going to be an easy task.

A couple moving furniture
Ask a couple of your trustworthy friends to help you out when moving antique furniture.

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