Let’s be honest—moving is a hassle and a half. Between packing everything into boxes, padding your furniture with moving blankets, and hauling all your stuff to the new place, anyone would be exhausted. Of course, at that point, you’re only half done. You still have to recover from the travel, unpack all the luggage, place your furniture and decor around the home and restart your utilities. It’s no wonder that moving is considered one of the most stressful events in a person’s life.
Backing up a bit, though, let’s take a moment to talk about that first step—the pack and travel part. Let’s say, for example, that you didn’t sell all of your living room furniture ahead of the move. For instance, you may have kept a particularly long couch, or an ottoman bench with arms (complete with pillows) that you love. Maybe you refinished that ottoman as a DIY project and took it from a more simplistic style to a contemporary look. Why should you get rid of it? It’s got that storage space you’ll be needing, and an ottoman can give you extra seating in a pinch, too.
How, though, do you get this well-loved ottoman to your new place? It may be the perfect size for your foyer, but it’s not exactly the perfect size for your sedan or SUV. Getting this and other large items to your new place doesn’t have to be hard. Here are a couple of options that you have for tackling the hassle of moving big things.
You can treat this as a DIY project as well
One way to go about solving the trouble of large items is to do it yourself, just the way you fixed up that storage bench and gave it a refined flourish. In this case, that would mean making a reservation for a van rental that you’ll drive to your new location. There are plenty of cargo van rental companies out there, and there’s a rental truck for every situation. If you’re not moving much and just need a pickup, you can find a great price on one of those. If you need a truck with more interior space, there are larger rental cargo vans as well. It’s a matter of an email address, a credit card, and plenty of upper body strength. If you have a large group of friends you could ask to help you haul things to the rental van, all the better. Just don’t forget to grab them a six-pack of beer to celebrate your moving success.
You can hire movers to take care of it for you
Not excited about van rental? Well, you can always go the traditional route of hiring movers to load the large items into a truck. This will be more expensive, but it may save you some hassle—especially if you’re planning on turning the move into a road trip or an opportunity for a family vacation. Some movers may have iffy contracts, so don’t forget to read the terms of use closely before signing, even if they’re offering a great price for their service.
Do you have a friend with a pickup?
The middle ground between these two options is to call on the friend you may have who has a pickup truck. Anyone with a pickup truck is probably used to people counting on them to show up, driver’s license in hand, to move their creature comforts to a new locale. To sweeten the deal, offer to take them out to dinner or do something else to make your pal feel appreciated. In the end, this may be a win-win. You’ll get to bring your ottoman, sofa, armoire, and other furnishings to your new place, and you’ll get to have dinner with a friend as well!