With more people now working from home than ever before, an office chair has become a vital piece of kit for many households, not only offices. When it comes to your house move, the last thing you want is for your chair, sofa or a bed to become a casualty so, in this article, we’re sharing our practical guide to packing your office chair for moving.
The anatomy of an office chair
Unlike the type of chair that you might have in your sitting room, an office chair is made up of a number of parts – many of which are moveable and / or adjustable. In many cases, an office chair will have a pneumatic system for adjusting the height of the seat, a gizmo for adjusting the headrest and roller wheels which enable you to move the chair around while working. Because of this, there’s quite a lot that can go wrong when moving your chair and, so, care needs to be taken.
How to pack office chair for moving
There are a few steps to follow when packing an office chair for moving and we’re going to take a look at these here:
What you’ll need
Before getting started on packing an office chair, you’ll need to be able to get your hands on:
– Some tools for disassembling – usually a spanner and a screwdriver
– Large sturdy boxes
– Bubble wrapPacking tape
– Labels
– Markers
– Small bags or containers for screws and other small parts
– How to pack office chair
Making sure that you have all of these items ready will help to speed up the process (and limit the frustration!)
Taking your seat apart
Your first task is to figure out if your chair can be disassembled and, if so, which parts. This information will usually be on your user’s manual however, if you no longer have this, you should be able to find instructions online by googling the make and model of your chair.
Disassemble the chair as carefully as you can – you might want to video this process for reference when you get to your new home. Place any small or fiddly parts such as screws into small bags or containers to make sure that they don’t get lost during the move. If you’re a little nervous about doing this yourself, you can usually find video tutorials online that will help you on your way.
Packing the pieces
Next, it’s time to pack up the individual pieces of your chair ready for your move.
Your chair is made up of different parts – all of which need a different kind of care which we’ll explain here:
– The base and wheels – This is probably the bulkiest part of your chair and will therefore need a large box. Place some bubble wrap in the bottom of the box before placing the base on top. Then fill in all of the gaps with bubble wrap and seal the box securely. Finally, label your box clearly.
– The seat – Your chair’s seat will usually be constructed from fabric or leather and is therefore one of the most delicate parts of your office chair. Wrap the seat securely in several layers of bubble wrap before placing into an appropriately sized box and sealing and labeling.
– The headrest – This part of your chair needs to be packed carefully by wrapping in bubble wrap and then packing snugly into its own box before being sealed and labeled.
– Fixings – After disassembling your chair, you will probably have been left with a number of screws, bolts and other tiny items which you should have placed into bags or containers. It’s important not to lose these items and so we recommend that you either tape them securely to another part of your chair – for example; the bottom of the seat or, alternatively, keep them somewhere safe like a handbag.
Transporting your office chair
If you’ve packed up the parts of your office chair securely, they should not be at too much risk of damage during transit. Having said that, too much ‘shake, rattle and roll’ is not good for your chair and so you should ask your moving personnel to place the boxes of parts securely in the vehicle in a way which limits movement while in transit.
Reassembling your chair
Once you reach your new home – and your new home office – it’s time to put your office chair back together. Remember when we advised you to video the process of disassembly ? This is where your video will come in handy in helping you to put the chair back together with minimal fuss.
Once you’ve put your chair back together, give it a wipe down to remove any dust accumulated during the move and then test it by sitting down lightly to ensure that it has been reassembled correctly.
Sitting pretty
If you work from home your office chair is an essential piece of kit and the last thing you want during a house move is to discover that it has been damaged or parts have been lost. For this reason, we’ve put together this guide to help you get back to business as soon as possible following your house move.