One of the first steps professional painters recommend before starting a painting project is moving the furniture out of the room. Learn a few furniture moving tips from professional painters to make this task easier.

1) Never ignore safety.

Don’t try to move something by yourself that is too heavy for you. As a DIY painter, you don’t want to lose all the savings of doing your own painting by injuring your back. Use techniques that protect you from injury.

For example, slide furniture instead of lifting it. Once a piece of furniture reaches a certain weight, it makes more sense to slide it. Lifting more than you should is a major cause of back injuries. Putting pieces of cardboard beneath the legs of a sofa or bed can help it slide instead of digging into the floor or carpet. You can also place furniture sliders under the legs of furniture pieces so it’s easier to glide the piece out of the room or into the middle.

2) Work as a team.

Moving furniture alone is a recipe for trouble. Every DIY painter who needs to move furniture around should find someone to help with this task.

3) Use a hand truck.

If you don’t own a hand truck or furniture dolly, rent one from a moving company or home improvement store. Refrigerators and similar pieces are much easier to move with a hand truck. Cabinets and bookcases may be easier to move with a furniture dolly. It’s a lot easier to move a mattress out of a room on a dolly as well, despite the fact that sliding usually works as well.

4) Transfer the contents of heavy pieces of furniture into boxes.

When you are moving furniture, you want to protect it from damage. It’s amazing how many people try to move a heavy piece of furniture when it’s packed full of stuff. That’s just asking for something to fall.

Take the books out of the bookshelf and pack them into boxes. You can always label the boxes so the books go back to the same shelf. Not only will removing the books make it easier to move the bookshelf. It will also ensure you don’t break something when a book tumbles out.

Do the same with china if you need to move a china cabinet. Not only will your china be protected, but it’s a lot easier to move an empty cabinet.

5) Protect the floor, carpet, walls and doors from damage.

Notice that we suggested you use something to help your furniture slide. Doing this protects the floor and carpet from tears and gouges. Wrapping a piece of furniture in a blanket can protect a doorway from damage (and protect the piece of furniture at the same time).

If you follow these 5 furniture moving tips for DIY painters, your ability to do a professional painting job will be enhanced. Have a room you can move around in makes it easier to do the job right.