When you are storing furniture during a remodel, the safe plan is to move everything out of the rooms being worked on, and out of the path the contractors use to reach them, before demolition starts. For a single-room project such as a bathroom, that may only mean shifting a few pieces into another room. For new flooring that runs through the house, or a whole-house remodel, most of the furniture should go to a climate-controlled storage warehouse: packed and inventoried before work begins, held month to month, and delivered back after the final cleaning.
Decide by the scope of the remodel
Where to put furniture during a remodel depends on how much of the house the work touches. Count the rooms the crew will work in, then add every room they will walk through or stage materials in.
| Remodel scope | What usually goes to storage | What can often stay |
|---|---|---|
| One room (bathroom, bedroom, home office) | Often nothing, if the furniture can go into another room | Furniture in rooms on the far side of the house, covered and behind a closed door |
| Kitchen | Everything from the cabinets and pantry, the dining set, and anything in the rooms next to the kitchen | Bedrooms and rooms on another floor, if the crew will not pass through them |
| Flooring across several rooms | Nearly all furniture in every room getting new floors, plus rugs and floor lamps | Rooms with no new flooring that are closed off from the work |
| Whole house | The household: furniture, boxed contents, art and electronics | Only what you take with you to your temporary home |
A kitchen remodel empties every cabinet, drawer and pantry shelf. Those boxes tend to end up stacked in the dining room or garage, in the crew's way and in the dust for the whole project, so send them to storage with the dining furniture.
The new floor goes under where the furniture sits, so every piece in those rooms has to move, and an open floor plan or a long hallway can tie several rooms into one job. Shuffling furniture from one half of the house to the other only works if the installer can do the house in stages, and it means moving the heaviest pieces twice.
For a whole-house remodel, plan a full pack-out to storage and a full delivery back, and if the work will run for many months, read our page on long-term household storage.
What to clear out and what to protect in place
Clear out anything that is hard to clean once dust gets into it: sofas, upholstered chairs, mattresses, rugs, curtains, clothing and linens. Fragile and valuable things should go too, including art, mirrors, glassware, collections, televisions and computers. So should the furniture along the contractor's path, where ladders, lumber and tile boxes pass by all day.
Some things are reasonable to protect in place: built-ins, very heavy pieces in rooms the crew will not enter, and furniture you need if you are living there during the work. Cover them with plastic sheeting, tape the edges, and keep the door closed. Plastic slows dust, though fine dust can still get under the edges over weeks of work.
Dust and contractor access
Demolition, drywall sanding, tile cutting and floor sanding all make fine dust that travels well past the room being worked on. It settles into fabric and rugs and gets pulled into electronics through their vents. Contractors also need clear paths to carry materials in and debris out, and furniture left in a hallway gets bumped.
If your home was built before 1978, ask your contractor about lead-safe work practices. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, paid work that disturbs painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home must be done by a certified firm. For homeowners doing their own work, the EPA recommends containing the work area so dust cannot escape and covering floors and any furniture that cannot be moved with heavy plastic and tape. The less furniture there is in the house, the less there is to cover and clean afterward.
Plan for the schedule to move
A remodel's finish date depends on things outside your control, such as inspections, materials arriving, and what the crew finds once walls and floors are open. Choose furniture storage during a renovation that does not penalize you when the job runs over.
Our storage is billed per vault, per month, month to month, with no minimum commitment. You keep it for as long as the work takes and release it when the house is ready. Labor for the pack-out and the delivery is quoted separately, and we quote against your actual inventory. The moving and storage page walks through the full pack, store and deliver process.
Make an inventory and label boxes by room
Our crew inventories every piece at pickup, so there is a record of what went into storage. For the boxes, label each one with the room it goes back to and a short list of contents, written on two sides. If the remodel changes the layout, such as a pantry moving or a home office becoming a bedroom, label for the new room so the crew can put each box where it belongs on delivery day.
A simple floor plan of where the furniture should go in the finished house helps too. Hand a copy to the crew on delivery day so each piece goes straight to the right room. If you would rather not pack the kitchen and fragile items yourself, our packing service covers full or partial packing. Either way, set aside everything you will need during the remodel before the crew arrives, and plan on the rest staying in storage until delivery.
Schedule the pack-out before demolition and the delivery after final cleaning
Set the pack-out for a few days before demolition so nothing is left in the house when the dust starts, and plan one to two weeks ahead to book a local move. Give the contractor your pack-out date so the debris bin and the first material delivery do not arrive on the same morning as the moving truck.
Schedule the delivery after the contractor is finished, the final cleaning is done, the paint is dry, and any new floor finish has had the time your flooring installer recommends before furniture goes on it. Furniture moved back early ends up in a dusty house. Our crews lay floor protection on every job at no extra charge, which matters on new floors.
Tell us early if the driveway will be full of contractor vehicles or a debris bin. For San Jose addresses, we file the tow-away permit application for you.
Wood, upholstery, electronics and art
Over a remodel that runs for months, storage conditions matter. Solid wood can crack or warp when temperature and humidity swing. Upholstery and mattresses absorb dust and odors. Electronics, framed art, photographs and books all hold up better in steady conditions. A garage is a poor place for any of them during a long project, and it is often where the contractor wants to stage materials anyway.
Remodel storage in San Jose
Storage during a home renovation with Silicon Valley Moving & Storage starts as a standard move. Our crew inventories, wraps and loads your belongings at the house. The truck goes to our warehouse at 186 Barnard Ave in San Jose, where the crew unloads everything into sealed, labeled vaults. The vaults never leave the building, and when the house is ready we deliver on your schedule. Every crew member is a W-2 employee.
The warehouse and vaults are climate-controlled with stable humidity. The warehouse is built to fire and military code, with daily cleaning and pest control, and monitored 24/7 with controlled access and on-site security. Our storage page has the details.
Quick answers
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Where should I put furniture during a remodel?
Out of the rooms being worked on and out of the contractor's path. For a small project, a closed room elsewhere in the house can be enough. For new flooring across several rooms or a whole-house remodel, a climate-controlled storage warehouse keeps the furniture away from the dust until the final cleaning is done.
How long can I keep furniture in storage during a renovation?
As long as the work takes. Silicon Valley Moving & Storage bills storage per vault, per month, month to month, with no minimum commitment, so you can keep it until the remodel is done. Pack-out and delivery labor are quoted separately, and the quote is based on your actual inventory.
Do I have to pack everything myself before the furniture goes to storage?
No. On every storage pickup our crew inventories, wraps and loads the furniture at your home. Our packing service can also pack the boxed contents, either the whole house or only the kitchen and fragile items.
What should I keep out of storage during a remodel?
Anything you will use before the work is finished: medications, important documents, work equipment and chargers, and clothing for the months ahead. Set these aside before the crew arrives, since the storage vaults are sealed once they are loaded.
Planning a kitchen, flooring or whole-house remodel? Request a free storage quote or call us at (408) 941-0600. We will quote the pack-out, the vaults and the delivery against your actual inventory.
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program and Frequent Questions About Information for Do-It-Yourselfers & the RRP Rule. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the EPA and your contractor.