Moving? Safely pack and move fine antiques and vintage furniture


Tips & Guides | PUBLISHED 09.23.21 | Guest Blogger: Sarah James
A formal living room or parlor full of antique furniture and period pieces | BRG

Moving is always a stressful process. There are a lot of things that require careful organizing and preparation. For example, packing your belongings demands a lot of care and a bit of know-how. And this is never more true than when you need to pack fine antiques and valuable vintage pieces. After all, you want them to reach your new home safe and sound. These beautiful pieces are often delicate due to their age. Also, they usually have many intricate details that can easily suffer damage during relocation. But with quality packing supplies, careful handling, and a few useful packing tips, you'll be able to enjoy them in your new home, too. Additionally, there are few things you should do before you start packing. With all that in mind, here's how to pack and move antique furniture safely to your new home.

Create an inventory and get an appraisal

If you have many antique furniture pieces, it would be a good idea to make an inventory before you move. Make a thorough list of your belongings and the condition they're in. This will enable you to keep track of them during the relocation. Having detailed notes on the state of each item (including pre-existing damages, if there are any) is especially important if you're going to hire a moving company.

Additionally, you can take photos of all of your antique pieces to check whether they're in the same condition upon their arrival at your new home. Hire a professional antique furniture appraiser to provide you with details on your furniture's worth. That way, in case of potential damage, you'll have enough evidence to make a claim.

BRG Blog

Before you pack and move antique furniture, it's important to create an inventory and get the right insurance policy.

Purchase adequate insurance before you pack and move your fine antique and vintage furniture

People often tend to neglect insurance, thinking it's an unnecessary expense. While purchasing insurance is always a good decision, it's vital when it comes to transporting valuable antique pieces. Despite all the careful packing and handling, accidents still may happen, and you want your furniture to be protected as much as it can be. Although insurance won't help you replace the damaged item, you'll at least get financial compensation.

Prepare everything before the move

Before the moving day, it's crucial to give yourself enough time to prepare everything. Procrastination is one of the worst moving mistakes that you want to avoid. Packing the intricate and delicate antiques two days before relocation might lead to many problems. In a hurry, you might not protect your precious pieces well enough or even accidentally scratch or damage them during packing or loading. Therefore, plan enough time to go through the following steps before you pack and move your antique furniture pieces.

  • Clean everything - empty all drawers and compartments of each furniture piece and then gently clean it with a soft microfiber cloth to remove the dust and debris.

  • Disassemble the furniture if possible - make sure to take detailed notes and photos so you can put everything back together later.

  • Get quality packing supplies - moving blankets, furniture pads, bubble wrap, mover's tape, etc., are necessary for packing everything securely.

How to pack your antiques and vintage furniture

Antique and vintage pieces add charm and character to every home. However, they also require special care and consideration at all times. This is especially true when you're planning to relocate them to your new home. Antique furniture pieces can be challenging to pack due to their size, fragility, and often shape. If you're planning to pack your furniture yourself, the key is to adequately protect every item.

BRG Blog

Packing antique furniture pieces is often challenging due to their shape, size, fragility, and weight.

Wrap each piece in moving blankets or furniture pads. Then secure with bubble wrap or plastic-based materials. It's important not to put plastic directly on the surface as it may trap moisture and cause damage. But once your items are securely and fully wrapped into moving blankets or similar materials, you can put additional layers of plastic for extra protection. If the furniture has glass components, you can put cardboard over the padding to ensure extra safety.

Be careful with the tape

When securing protective materials around the pieces, use tape with care. Packing (mover's) tape is best, but you don't want it to touch the surface of your antique item. In addition to leaving a sticky residue, it can also damage and ruin the finish. Instead, use it to connect different parts of padding and keep them in place. Put as much tape as necessary to ensure padding won't move or slip away from the packed item.

BRG Blog

Ensure you have enough padding before you use plastic materials to add extra safety to your antique pieces

Use a dolly to transport your items to the loading truck

If you are hiring professional movers, you can leave loading your antiques in the truck to them. However, make sure they know you have antique pieces and how fragile they are. That will make them pay special attention to these items, both when putting them in the truck and when unloading them at your new destination.

On the other hand, if you're planning a DIY move, use a carry or dolly to transport wrapped up items to the truck. Don't slide them across the floor or carry them with your friends. They're often too delicate and fragile - you might accidentally drop or scratch them. And that is exactly what you want to avoid.

Find a reliable and experienced moving company

While you can pack your antique pieces yourself with some care, hiring a professional moving company to handle the relocation is imperative. No one can handle it better than experienced moving experts - from loading and unloading the truck to safe transportation.

Naturally, you should do a bit of research before finding the right company for you. When hiring movers, the key is to check recommendations and reviews. They'll tell you what you can expect from the company in question. Additionally, ask about their experience with moving antiques. That way, you can opt for someone reliable to bring your lovely antique piece unscathed to their new home.

BRG Blog

Final thoughts

Although moving valuable antique items can seem daunting and even scary, it's far from impossible. With proper preparation and quality packing materials, you'll ensure they are well protected. Follow this guide to pack and move antique furniture, and soon you'll admire its beauty and flair in your new home.

BRG Blog


Guest Blogger: Sarah James

Sarah James is a freelance writer and an experienced moving consultant. When she's not helping people relocate to their dream homes, she loves sharing useful and practical tips about her work. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and traveling with her fiancé.


If you're downsizing, transitioning to senior living, or moving and don't plan to take all your fine antiques, vintage furniture, art, decorative arts, and other personal property with you to your new home, give the experts at Black Rock Galleries a call before you put your home on the market. We specialize in the sale of estate and personal property and can help make your packing and moving a little less stressful.

Moving? Safely pack and move fine antiques and vintage furniture. Black Rock Galleries provides high end estate liquidation services through online estate auctions and a 50,000 sq ft designer showroom. estate liquidator, estate sale, online auction, antiques, fine art, liquidation, clean outs, auction, consignment, interior design, fine jewelry, collectibles, appraisals, estate appraisals, estate services, decor, furniture, furniture consignment, antique center, consignment shop. We offer appraisal services and specialize in fine art, jewelry, antiques and decorative arts. Sell with us. Black Rock Galleries is the tri-state's largest estate liquidator serving New England and the greater New York City area. We are the trusted source for expert appraisals, auction services, estate sales, and consignments. Black Rock Galleries is the east coast's largest and most trusted estate liquidator, with locations in Connecticut, greater Boston, MA and Raleigh, NC, Fairfield, Southport, Apex, TX. We are the best source for expert appraisals, auction services, estate sales and consignments. We have served thousands of families and estates with compassion, professionalism and expertise. BRG works with attorneys, executors, realtors and families to bring the greatest return on personal and estate property in the current market. Our unique combination of services make us the easy choice to get the job done in a timely and stress-free manner. We are with you from the initial consultation to the final clean out. Our house-built online auction software platform offers clients a dynamic approach to liquidating their personal property. This venue is most successful in bringing the best return with the least amount of disruption for our clients. See our services page for a complete description of this offering. Moving? Safely pack and move fine antiques and vintage furniture
|| Our Locations ||
Bridgeport, CT - Get Directions  |  Greenwich, CT - Get Directions  |  Waltham, MA - Get Directions  |  Cary, NC - Get Directions  |  Fairfield, CT - Get Directions  |  Southport, CT - Get Directions