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If you've got furniture with any kind of glass elements, then you'll already know what a pain it is to move them. You risk damaging the furniture whenever you need to move them around the room - never mind if you've got to move them from one house to another. Glass is fragile by nature, so knowing how to move furniture with glass doors is essential if you want to have the furniture intact on the other end. But don't worry, as stressful as this task inevitably is, there are some things you can do to make moving furniture with glass doors much easier. And we're going to share it all with you today.
This is your first port of call before you consider anything else. Moving your furniture as a whole will only increase the likelihood of it getting broken. Besides, it's easier for the people moving you (whether it's a removals company, friends/family, or yourself) to know the items to be extra careful with. Leaving the doors attached leaves things open to interpretation.
So, on to removing them. No matter your furniture with glass doors, you'll be able to take the doors off in the same way. Just find the hinges that attach the doors to the body of the furniture and use either a flathead screwdriver or a Philips (usually Philips but you'll be able to determine that for yourself) and then unscrew the door from the hinges.
Be extra careful when you do though, or else you might break the glass by dropping the doors. Instead, have someone else support the doors whilst you unscrew them. That way, the glass doors will definitely be safe.
Top Tip: Make sure you put all the screws in a sealed bag too, or else you might struggle to find them when you get to the other side of your move and need them to reattach the doors.
Now that the doors are off, you'll need to take extra precautions to keep them safer than the rest of your furniture. That means wrapping them up - and wrapping them up well. The more secure you can make your glass doors now using the best packing materials, the better it'll be for you and the more confident you can be that they won't smash in transit.
One way of making sure they're wrapped properly is allowing the removals company to handle it for you. They're usually insured for any damages because of the nature of their work, but they're also very knowledgeable about how to wrap glass doors effectively to pack them away safely. This will, of course, cost you money.
But if you're feeling brave and think you can handle the packing process yourself, then here's a quick list of everything you'll need:
Start by using furniture pads (essentially foam cushions) and placing them on either side of the glass doors, creating a sandwich. Then wrap the whole thing up tightly using a blanket. Next, take your roll of plastic wrap and go around the door package at least three times. Then do the same again with the bubble wrap. And finally, use duct tape to secure the entire package into place around the door. Wrap it around a few times in three spots - the top, the bottom, and the middle of the package to really make sure nothing will move.
Does all that seem a little excessive to you? Probably, but it's actually the bare minimum you need to do. Think about it - those glass doors are going to get jostled around a lot in the back of a moving van, and the last thing you want to do is find it broken at the other end. Especially if it's an antique furniture piece or expensive in any way. So, wrap them up well if you want to avoid breakages!
Before we leave you today, we really had to make a special section for display cabinets. Why? Because if we ever hear horror stories about people moving glass furniture, 9 times out of 10 it's going to involve display cabinets with broken glass doors and the contents of the cabinet smashed. Display cabinets also tend to be the biggest pieces of furniture with the most glass involved in the doors because they're for display (obviously...), so protecting them is key. As pieces of furniture such as display cabinets really make the most out of small living space with the copious amounts of storage within.
This is the step that differs from the more generic example we talked about above that applies to moving all furniture with glass doors. EMPTY THE CONTENTS. We can't shout that loudly enough, because so many people think they'll be able to keep their precious items inside and keep them safe, and this just won't happen.
Instead, the contents will either jostle around in the back of the van and smash into each other. Or the contents will jostle around in the back of the van and smash into the glass doors. Even if you've used bubble wrap and furniture pads on the outside of the display cabinet, your contents can still smash the glass from the inside out.
So if you take nothing else from today's article, please just empty your display cabinets, wrap up the contents safely, and secure them in a box for moving.
Next up, take off the doors. Remove them from the hinges, or else you'll risk them breaking in transit. After all, a display cabinet without glass doors is just open shelving. And who wants that?
And finally, just as with the other furniture, wrap the doors up with furniture pads, blankets, plastic wrap, bubble wrap, and duct tape. It's the best way to keep them safe in the back of the moving van.
Moving furniture with glass doors doesn't need to be complicated. Take the right precautions, think before you pack, and you'll see that moving glass is just as easy as moving any other furniture. But remember, of all the furniture with glass doors, it's display cabinets that will cause the biggest problems without the proper care. Just be extra careful with these large furniture pieces, follow the advice in our post, and you'll be just fine!
Thank you for reading our article on How To Move Furniture With Glass Doors! While you are here why not read some other articles we have on our ever growing blog section. We have informative articles on decorating tips and tricks and how to stick wallpaper to wood furniture. To really get those DIY juices flowing!