How to prepare antique furniture for storage
Moving places – like setting on a journey for new employment in another city or another country surely means a lot of planning and organizing in advance. While you may be preoccupied with packing your things for the move, thinking about how to prepare antique furniture for storage might be of even greater importance. You know you invested a fortune in it or there are a few pieces you inherited from your parents/grandparents that have even an added emotional value to its worth. Luckily, there are a few major steps you need to follow to preserve both their beauty and their value.
Home storage
Whether you are planning to take some valuable paintings or other pieces of art with you, or store them somewhere with other antique furniture, it is good to check some rules of art handling. There are also a couple of questions you must know the answers to before you prepare antique furniture for storage and decide on the type of storage. One option is to store it in your own home storage room, while the other is to rent a storage unit available in your city. Both, of course, have their pros and cons, but before making a final decision, do think about the points that follow.
Short-term or long-term storage of your antique furniture
The rent price might be a discouraging factor when you think about renting a storage unit, but on the other hand, it may be well worth it. You need to do calculations of what is more affordable for you, considering closely the ratio of storage cost and antique furniture value. Keep in mind – the older the antique furniture is, the more valuable it becomes, so it might be wise to invest in its safe storage. What can largely influence this decision is whether you store the antiquities short-term or long-term as it can determine the storage price. In case you want to take some of the rare pieces with you, you may need to enquire about the transportation of antiquities, art, and other sensitive goods, and make sure everything reaches its destination intact and in good condition.
Your storage room condition
Storage units for rent usually provide a safe environment for storing a variety of items, including antique furniture of high value. You must make sure to check the space you planned for storage and tick the following off the list:
Clean and pest-free
The floor must be perfectly clean, the room pest-free. You don’t want to have any pests ruin the wooden or upholstered parts of your antique furniture.
Humidity and exposure to light
Being even more fragile than new furniture, it is extremely important that the room you store the antique furniture in is dry and dark without any exposure to direct light. Basements, garages, and attics immediately fall off the list for not being reliable when these two factors come into consideration.
Temperature variations during different seasons
Keeping in mind that the precious wooden parts of your antique furniture are very sensitive to low or high temperatures, regulating temperature in your storage room is simply a must. Extremely low temperatures can cause high humidity levels that may bring to change in the wood structure and thus ruin your precious antique furniture.
Safety – right security measures
It is always a good and safe solution to have the surveillance cameras and alarm systems installed to secure your storage room. Without it, chances are the stored antique furniture can become easy to steal.
Rented storage units
One simply must take into consideration the above-mentioned factors as they can largely influence the preservation of the antique furniture you store. Considering the value of any antique piece of furniture, which is usually very high, you must really own a perfect storage room to depend on its reliability. Whereas for moving your things you can hire a professional moving company such as ksemoving.com and plan your new life carefree and relaxed, making a decision on the ways to prepare antique furniture for storage and finding appropriate storage may require more thorough thinking and planning. Don’t despair – the problem can be solved for you – just rent a storage unit. It will prevent your antique furniture from deteriorating as these units often meet all the important storage requirements. They are:
- Clean
- Pest-free
- Environment-regulated
- Secured
Payment is often negotiable, so you can probably get an option to pay in monthly installments.
Prepare your antique furniture for storage
Before putting antique furniture in a storage unit of your choice, you might need to prepare the pieces in order to ensure their long-lasting protection. Firstly, make sure you treat and protect the wooden parts, including the frames hidden under the upholstery – you might require to wipe them softly before applying a protective furniture oil or wax. Ask some professionals for advice if you are not sure what is actually needed. Then pay attention to the upholstered parts and cover them with fabric allowing an uninterrupted airflow and avoid putting anything heavy on them as they can be easily distorted.
Once you have solved this, you can now concentrate on your moving and enjoy the process. It’s time to check a professional’s guide to moving abroad and make a list of other things you have to finish before moving.
Insuring antique furniture
Last but not least, insuring your precious stored antique furniture is a very good idea. You can require a separate policy from the insurance company or you can buy it from an insurance agency specializing in antiques. It is also advisable to make an inventory of the stored antique furniture with photos of it. This way, your antique furniture will be adequately insured and you can avoid unnecessary worries about any losses. Enjoy your new destination.
