So my sister called me last week in full panic mode. She’s moving and she has this chandelier that used to belong to our grandmother. Huge. Crystal everywhere. Heavy as hell. She’s like “what do I do with this thing” and honestly I didn’t have a good answer because I’ve never moved one either.
So I started asking around. Talked to some movers. Talked to a guy at a storage place. Even called an electrician friend who does this stuff for a living. And I learned a lot. Some of it scared me. Some of it made me feel better. But all of it was useful.
So here’s what I found out. I’m just gonna tell you everything I learned because you’re probably in the same boat my sister was in and you need real answers from someone who actually asked real people.
The Electric Part Freaks Me Out
First thing. Don’t touch the wires. Please. I know you think you can handle it. I know you’ve changed lightbulbs before. This isn’t that. Chandeliers have weird wiring sometimes and if you mess it up you could get shocked or start a fire or just have a chandelier you can’t ever hang again because you don’t remember what goes where.
My electrician friend said he gets calls all the time from people who tried to do it themselves and now they have a tangle of wires and no idea what’s what. He charges extra for those jobs because they’re a pain to figure out.
Just pay someone. It’s like a hundred bucks. Maybe a hundred fifty. Worth every penny.
But before they come, do me a favor. Take pictures. Lots of them. Every angle. Up close. Far away. The ceiling plate. The chain. The wires before you touch anything. Where the crystals are. Everything.
My sister thought she didn’t need pictures. She thought she’d remember. She didn’t remember. Not even close. She had to track down the previous owner on Facebook and ask if they had old photos of the dining room. Embarrassing and also she was lucky the previous owner even answered.
Taking the Crystals Off Is Going to Take Forever
This is the part that makes people want to quit.
If your chandelier has crystals, you have to take them off. No exceptions. I know it’s tedious. I know your fingers get tired. I know you’re looking at like fifty little glass teardrops and thinking “there’s no way I’m doing all of that.”
But here’s what happens if you don’t. You wrap the whole thing in a blanket. You move it. The crystals swing. They hit each other. They crack. Or the little wire thingies break and the crystals fall off and roll around inside the box and scratch up the metal frame. Then you have a chandelier that looks like it went through a war.
So just sit down. Put on a movie. And take them off.
Now the wrapping part. Do not put them all in a Ziploc bag. That’s what my sister wanted to do. I literally grabbed the bag out of her hand. Crystal on crystal inside a bag is bad news. They scratch. They chip. You’ll have little tiny chips and you won’t even notice until you put the chandelier back up and then it’s too late.
Wrap each one. I know. Each one. I use paper towels because they’re cheap and they don’t leave little fuzzy bits like tissues do. Just roll each crystal up in a paper towel. Then put them in a plastic container. Like a shoebox or a Tupperware. Layer them with bubble wrap or paper towels in between. When you shake the container, nothing should move. Nothing.
My sister told me I was being dramatic. Then she found a crack in one of her crystals later. Just one. But you know what? That one crack is all you need to make the whole thing look off. She had to order a replacement from some place in Italy. Took three weeks. Cost her forty bucks for one piece of glass. For one. And she was lucky they even had that style anymore.
The Frame Is Less Scary But Still Annoying
Once the crystals are off, you have the metal part. This is the actual chandelier without all the dangly bits.
If the arms come off, take them off. It makes everything smaller and lighter. But label them. Put a little piece of masking tape on each arm and a matching piece on the base. Arm one goes here. Arm two goes there. That way you put them back in the exact same spots.
Because if you mix them up, the chandelier hangs crooked. And you will notice. Every day. Every single time you walk in that room. You’ll be like “why is it leaning” and then you’ll remember you didn’t label anything and now you have to take it down and start over.
If the arms don’t come off, that’s fine. Just wrap them. Use bubble wrap. The big bubble kind. Not the little bubble stuff. The little bubbles are for mugs and plates. The big ones actually protect heavy things.
Wrap each arm until you can’t see it anymore. Wrap the center rod. Wrap everything. I buy a roll of that stretch wrap stuff too. The clear plastic that movers use. You can wrap the whole frame in it and it holds everything tight so nothing moves.
The Box Is More Important Than You Think
Okay so now you need a box.
And I’m gonna be real with you. The boxes you saved from your Amazon orders are not gonna cut it. Chandeliers are heavy. The metal frame alone can weigh thirty pounds. Put thirty pounds in a flimsy box and the bottom falls out. I’ve seen it. My friend’s brother moved and put his chandelier in a regular box. The bottom fell out. The chandelier hit the floor. You can guess how that ended.
You need a double-walled box. They’re thicker and stronger. You can get them at moving supply stores or sometimes storage places sell them. The facility I use sells boxes and packing supplies which is convenient because I hate driving all over town for this stuff. I think most storage places do that actually.
Get a box that fits with room to spare. You need like two or three inches of space on all sides for padding. If the box is too tight, you can’t get enough padding in. If it’s too big, the chandelier slides around.
Packing It Is the Scary Part
Put a thick layer of packing peanuts or crumpled paper at the bottom of the box. Like three inches thick. Then lower the chandelier in gently. Don’t drop it. Please don’t drop it.
Now stuff packing peanuts around the sides. All around. Get in there with your hands and really pack it in. The chandelier should be suspended in the middle of the box. Nothing should touch the sides. Nothing should touch the bottom. Nothing should touch the top.
When you think you have enough padding, close the box and shake it gently. If anything moves, open it back up and add more. Keep doing this until there’s zero movement.
Tape the box. Use packing tape, not duct tape. Run tape along all the seams. The bottom too. I’ve seen boxes bust open because someone only taped the top and the bottom gave out.
Where to Put It
Now you have to figure out where this box is going to live.
Here’s the thing about storage. Not all storage is the same. My sister almost rented this cheap unit that was basically a metal shed outside. I had to talk her out of it. Because those units get hot in summer and freezing in winter. The temperature changes make the metal expand and contract. Condensation happens. Moisture gets in. Metal rusts. Wood warps. Crystals get foggy.
And the humidity? Don’t even get me started. High humidity ruins everything. It makes adhesives fail. Those little crystals that are glued in place? They’ll fall right off.
You need climate control. I know it’s more expensive. But think about what that chandelier is worth. The extra twenty bucks a month or whatever is nothing compared to replacing it.
The storage place I use is Nearby Storage Rentals and they have climate-controlled indoor units. The temperature stays the same year round. No humidity problems. I put my sister’s stuff there and she’s happy with it.
How to Put It in the Unit
When you get to the storage unit, don’t just toss the box on the floor.
Store it upright. The chandelier was designed to hang straight down. The weight works better that way. If you lay it flat, gravity is pulling sideways on the arms. Over time that can weaken them.
Mark the box. Big letters. FRAGILE. THIS SIDE UP. Write it on all four sides. Use a permanent marker so it doesn’t rub off.
And don’t put heavy stuff on top of it. I know it’s tempting to stack boxes to save space but that chandelier box needs to be on top of the pile or off to the side where nothing’s going to land on it.
Insurance
I hate talking about insurance. It’s boring and nobody wants to think about their stuff getting broken. But you should check if your homeowners or renters insurance covers items in storage. Most people think it does and they’re wrong.
When my sister rented her unit, they offered a protection plan. It was cheap. She got it because I made her. She’s glad she did because she’s a disaster magnet. Not that anything happened to her chandelier. But she broke something else and the protection covered it.
So just get it. It’s not a big deal. It’s like a few bucks and it gives you peace of mind.
When You Get It Out
When you come back for your chandelier, take your time getting it out. Don’t just rip the box open like it’s Christmas morning. Carefully pull everything out.
Check the crystals. Make sure none cracked. Check the metal for any tarnish. If you used climate control it should be fine. But check anyway.
Then call the electrician again for the reinstall. I know you think you remember how the wires go. You don’t. Nobody does.
Look, You Got This
I know I probably scared you with all this. But honestly it’s not that bad. It’s just tedious. Take your time. Wrap everything. Label everything. Put it in the right kind of storage.
My sister’s chandelier survived the move. She got it back up in her new house and it looks beautiful. She called me after and thanked me for making her listen. She was mad at me the whole time we were packing it. All the “this is ridiculous” and “you’re being so dramatic.” But now she’s happy.
You’ll be happy too. Just do it right.
And if you need a storage unit, come to Nearby Storage Rentals. They have the climate-controlled units and they sell boxes and packing supplies so you can get everything in one place. The guys there actually know what they’re talking about too. They helped me figure out what size box to get and everything.
Alright that’s all I got. Good luck with your chandelier. You’re gonna be fine.
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