Moving Day Complete - Anyone want to buy a sofa?
We hired movers to do the last leg of the move out of my condo and they completed this yesterday. There were 10 pieces of furniture and 3 mirrors that had to be moved down 3 flights of stairs, into the moving truck driven to Glen Ellyn and then loaded in Steve's parent's basement for storage. All this took about 4 hours and cost $719.00. I think it was worth every penny.
Three guys from All American United Moving in Elmhurst showed up on time and got going quickly. They were very good at this and made moving large furniture look easy. They did seem to have trouble with looking at the best way to fit furniture through tight doorways based on the shape because they would back in and out a few times before they got things through, but other than that it was really happening quite quickly. They wrapped the sofas in burlap wraps and then added a wide plastic wrap over it to protect them. Then they also used a long fabric strap to hold pieces when one person was higher on the stairs than the other or to hold it up on their back. It was quite humerous that the smallest of the 3 guys had my piano roll cabinet srapped to his back and walked it down like a backpack. I took some pictures, I may make a collage and post to flickr later this week.
The thing about moving is that it is so exhausting with all the time it takes and the trips back and forth. We initially packed up a lot of clutter and some small furniture to stage the condo back in November, these items are stored in Steve's parent's basement. Next, we probably made 4 trips to my place to bring things over initially in February that were essentials (like Zeus' litterbox and my clothes). We also probably have made at least 6 trips with both Steve's car and mine with a lot of other things that can be integrated in to his house (plates, pots, pans, books, small furniture) and my parents and brother helped pack and move a large load last weekend to storage in the basement too. All in all, we're tired out and nobody wanted to move anything else. So, we got movers for the big empty furniture and Steve and I carried the drawers to the bedroom set in our cars (because the bakelite handles are brittle and easy to break).
There were some tricky moments, where the sofa and the buffet didn't want to fit through doorways or around corners of the stairway. The guys couldn't believe that Mike and my brother got that sofa upstairs and that my uncle got the 7 ft long buffet up the stairs strapped to a hand cart. They asked if any of them wanted to work for them based on that knowledge. They also agreed that my "small" move was about as difficult as the baby grand piano that they moved the day before. The truck also was tricky to get in the driveway of Steve's parent's house. It almost hit the power lines and was hitting the tree a lot too. The narrow one lane driveway was also tricky because they had to back in and the truck almost took the entire width. Steve's mom's flowers were dangerously close to being run over.
And now it's done, the basment is full and everyone is happy. My place looks a lot bigger when it is empty but it also looks cold and sterile. I am suprised how much the furniture in the warm tones really changed the feel of the place. How much it changed from a box on the 3rd floor to a home when my furniture was there. I especially like that even though people said it could not happen, the large formerly built in buffet survived the trip out and into the basement. It will hopefully get refinished when we find a house to buy and be put in place permanently, but it is beating all odds already. It is such a neat piece of furniture that my great grandparents had and might get to live on in a modern setting someday. If nothing else it is a conversation piece and a historical artifact. It is really only still around because of the generosity of several people helping move it and the movers willing to move it again now.
The Sofa on the other hand is still something I would like to sell. It is oversized with large arm rests which are pretty but not practical. I am sure that it would fit better in someone's house than it does in their basement. And the matching chair can go with it.
But...I am not looking forward to moving it, or anything else again.
Later in the evening Steve and his dad strapped the mattress/inner spring to the top of the SUV and drove that over to our place. His old mattress was like sleeping on a marshmallow. Mine is a lot newer and more supportive. With that in place, I think I had the best night's sleep in a long time.
Three guys from All American United Moving in Elmhurst showed up on time and got going quickly. They were very good at this and made moving large furniture look easy. They did seem to have trouble with looking at the best way to fit furniture through tight doorways based on the shape because they would back in and out a few times before they got things through, but other than that it was really happening quite quickly. They wrapped the sofas in burlap wraps and then added a wide plastic wrap over it to protect them. Then they also used a long fabric strap to hold pieces when one person was higher on the stairs than the other or to hold it up on their back. It was quite humerous that the smallest of the 3 guys had my piano roll cabinet srapped to his back and walked it down like a backpack. I took some pictures, I may make a collage and post to flickr later this week.
The thing about moving is that it is so exhausting with all the time it takes and the trips back and forth. We initially packed up a lot of clutter and some small furniture to stage the condo back in November, these items are stored in Steve's parent's basement. Next, we probably made 4 trips to my place to bring things over initially in February that were essentials (like Zeus' litterbox and my clothes). We also probably have made at least 6 trips with both Steve's car and mine with a lot of other things that can be integrated in to his house (plates, pots, pans, books, small furniture) and my parents and brother helped pack and move a large load last weekend to storage in the basement too. All in all, we're tired out and nobody wanted to move anything else. So, we got movers for the big empty furniture and Steve and I carried the drawers to the bedroom set in our cars (because the bakelite handles are brittle and easy to break).
There were some tricky moments, where the sofa and the buffet didn't want to fit through doorways or around corners of the stairway. The guys couldn't believe that Mike and my brother got that sofa upstairs and that my uncle got the 7 ft long buffet up the stairs strapped to a hand cart. They asked if any of them wanted to work for them based on that knowledge. They also agreed that my "small" move was about as difficult as the baby grand piano that they moved the day before. The truck also was tricky to get in the driveway of Steve's parent's house. It almost hit the power lines and was hitting the tree a lot too. The narrow one lane driveway was also tricky because they had to back in and the truck almost took the entire width. Steve's mom's flowers were dangerously close to being run over.
And now it's done, the basment is full and everyone is happy. My place looks a lot bigger when it is empty but it also looks cold and sterile. I am suprised how much the furniture in the warm tones really changed the feel of the place. How much it changed from a box on the 3rd floor to a home when my furniture was there. I especially like that even though people said it could not happen, the large formerly built in buffet survived the trip out and into the basement. It will hopefully get refinished when we find a house to buy and be put in place permanently, but it is beating all odds already. It is such a neat piece of furniture that my great grandparents had and might get to live on in a modern setting someday. If nothing else it is a conversation piece and a historical artifact. It is really only still around because of the generosity of several people helping move it and the movers willing to move it again now.
The Sofa on the other hand is still something I would like to sell. It is oversized with large arm rests which are pretty but not practical. I am sure that it would fit better in someone's house than it does in their basement. And the matching chair can go with it.
But...I am not looking forward to moving it, or anything else again.
Later in the evening Steve and his dad strapped the mattress/inner spring to the top of the SUV and drove that over to our place. His old mattress was like sleeping on a marshmallow. Mine is a lot newer and more supportive. With that in place, I think I had the best night's sleep in a long time.