Author Bio: Jessica is the head of content for Hire A Mover – her father’s removalist company. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling around the world to different surf spots and tasting the local cuisine.
Most don’t relish the prospect of moving house. A new life may be exciting, but the actual moving part takes a whole lot of organisation and care. The stress of potentially losing or damaging your precious belongings can be very real, and this is especially the case when you need to move with lights.
Lamps and lights are both delicate and possibly quite expensive to replace, so extra care must be taken when moving them. In order to make sure your move goes smoothly, it is wise to consider a few of the following points:
Will you hire a mover, or drive yourself?
Hiring a mover
Whether you hire a mover or not will probably depend on the size of the move. If you’ve got an overwhelming amount of packing and shifting to do, sometimes help is the sensible option. There are moving companies that will pack and load as well, or help you to do both, as well as doing the driving.
There are others that will only load and drive, and there are those that will simply do the driving. The choice is yours, and dependent on budget as well as the amount of time and effort you’re prepared to put in. Once you choose a suitable package, the costs should be pretty transparent.
Full service movers are well trained and are less likely to damage your belongings, as they’ve got plenty of experience in packing up. They should take precautions like covering railings and doors, putting down floor runners or floorboards when shifting heavy appliances.
Moving yourself
This probably means getting to grips with a very large vehicle, and navigating motorways as well as potentially narrow roads. If you’re not accustomed to this, it may not be a great idea. The same goes for packing up and loading all of your belongings.
Do you have any friends that can help? It can be a massive job for one or two people to attempt alone. Unless you’re fit and strong, this can pose a real challenge. This option may work out cheaper, but unless it goes very smoothly, it could cost you more in the long run.
The plus points are that you’ve got more control over the process and it should cost you less, but also beware of unforeseen costs, like truck insurance, fuel or extra packing equipment. If your rental vehicle isn’t big enough for the job, you may end up spending more on extra trips. Provided these points are considered, moving yourself could be the best option.
Packing and moving your lamps
Most people will at least be moving table lamps, lampshades and light bulbs, and some will be moving floor lamps. You may even need to pack a chandelier, which obviously takes a lot more effort. Here are some general tips on packing your lamps for moving:
Table and Floor Lamps
Remove the bulb and shade from either kind of lamp. With table lamps, wrap the cord around the base. Secure the plug within the cord wrapped around the base. Roll the lamp base in a few layers of bubble wrap, ensuring both ends are protected. With floor lamps, if you can take it apart and pack each part in its own bubble wrap, this is much easier. If you can’t take them apart, wrap them in moving blankets and tape them up tightly with packing tape.
Pack the bubble wrapped bases or parts in either single cardboard boxes, or place several lamps/parts in one box, with extra padding between them to limit movement. Tape the box bottom thoroughly. For blanket-wrapped lamps, load them between sturdy furniture items or place them against a wall.
Lampshades and light bulbs
Lampshades can be stacked inside each other, once individually wrapped in plain paper. Place them bottoms down in a suitable box. Light bulbs can all be placed in one box – ideally one with compartments. Wrap each bulb individually in bubble wrap and tape them, ensuring that they don’t have space to move around in the container. Don’t forget to mark the packing boxes ‘fragile’ and load on top of other boxes.
Dependent on the kind of lamps you’ll be moving, you may want to consider packing these yourself. As they are delicate and probably valuable, it’s better to at least oversee the packing. With a little care and precision, your lamps should arrive at the new destination intact.
