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Moving Across the Country: The Benefits of Backloading


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Moving Across the Country: The Benefits of Backloading

When I was offered a new job in Perth, I had to relocate my life from Brisbane. I had no idea how I was going to ship all my things across Australia. I considered hiring a van and doing it myself, but driving thousands of miles and then starting work when I arrived just didn't appeal to me. I looked into using a moving company, but I was put off a little by the cost. It was then my friend mentioned backloading. Backloading allowed me to haul my things across the country on trucks which were returning from another job. This drastically reduced the cost. I am now settled in Perth, but I wanted to start this blog to help others who need to store or move the things they own.

A Few Quick Tips to Make Furniture Removal Easier on You

Even if you hire a good furniture removalist company to help you move, it's good to still think of how you can make the entire move easier on you overall. Paring down some furniture items might mean paying less for those services, and taking a few minutes to prepare your furniture can also ensure everything is protected. Note a few tips for making furniture removals easier.

Purge the unwanted items

Purging old furniture items is often a difficult step for many people because they may hesitate to part with furniture that is even broken or otherwise damaged, reasoning that they can still use parts of it for future projects. A good way to get around this is to take a weekend to break down those items and keep the salvageable parts while tossing the rest.

For instance, if you have an old bookcase that has a broken side but know you can still use the shelves and one undamaged side, take the time to disassemble it and then stack the shelves and usable side together; toss out the broken side. If you have an old chair with stained fabric but useable legs, remove the legs and toss out the chair part itself.  It's often easier to move a small stack of useable pieces than a large, bulky item of furniture. You can then keep the pieces you think you'll need for future projects without having to move the entire piece of furniture itself.

Use zipper bags for small parts

If you take apart your furniture, don't lose those nuts and bolts that you'll need to put the pieces back together. To avoid this, use a plastic zipper sandwich bag for each piece of furniture, keeping the parts separated. You can then either tape the bag to a part of the furniture or just write on the bag which piece it belongs to, such as "living room sofa" or "dining room chairs." This will ensure you can easily reassemble that furniture once it arrives at your new home.

Wrap your furniture

You may not think of wrapping your furniture the way you wrap dishes and other delicate items, but this can be a good idea for protecting wood, laminate, and other such surfaces. Use bubble wrap or at least wrap them in your unused blankets and other such fabric pieces so you won't wind up with nicks, scratches, chipped paint, and even dents when your furniture is shipped.