Today we want to talk about the top essentials we can’t live without on our Furniture Install days! After a busy end of 2022 with furniture installs across a range of our projects from New South Wales to Noosaville – we know that having all the necessary essentials and organisation is key to a smooth furniture handover!
Install Day is where it all comes together for a lot of our projects. Any construction scope is complete, and we’re ready to install the furniture, rugs, linen, art, styling and anything else we’ve sourced for our clients to make their spaces complete. Prior to install day, we quality check absolutely everything and make sure all the procurement, logistics and deliveries are organised to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day/s.
So, if you have ever wondered what essentials we bring along with us in our install toolkit, this one’s for you (perfect to kick start your new year organisation for all our fellow interior designers + stylists, or even if you’re preparing to move house this year!)
So here are our non-negotiable essentials for our furniture install days:
1 – Our trusty tape measure
It’s important for us to get all your furniture and rugs in exactly the right place. We are meticulous in creating our spatial layouts and custom designs, so it’s important to us to execute them to perfection! Plus they are always handy when double checking all the items that are arriving via delivery on the day (especially anything custom!).
Dining rooms are measured out to ensure all pieces are placed according to the plan with efficient egress around. Our below Varsity Lakes project with everything in the right place.
2 – Felt & rubber furniture pads
These little babies are critical to ensure we aren’t damaging anything (and our clients don’t in the future either) once we install all the pieces for our interiors. Perfect for dining or armchairs, and also any textured ceramics on timber table or console tops!
The dining room from our Southbank Apartment project below was triple checked to make sure everything was protecting the beautiful timber floors!
3 – Fresh Flowers & Coconut Fibre
We absolutely love fresh flowers & indoor plants so include them in our interiors whenever we can! Therefore organising your plants and flower order for the day ahead of time is important – plus we love to hit the flower market with plenty of clear inspiration imagery for the home to ensure we don’t get overwhelmed when selecting! Another must for our plants is coconut fibre. Trust us – the coconut fibre helps to hide the unsightly plastic pot inside the planter and really finishes off the overall look. The entrance to our Bayview One House wouldn’t have been complete without the amazing injection of greenery with this indoor palm.
4 – Adhesive cord clips
Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter how much planning we do, sometimes the cord just can’t be concealed! So we are firm believers in smart cord management to make sure a stray cord doesn’t take away from the beautifully designed pieces. This is where adhesive cord clips are super handy as they can be discretely placed at the back of a console, desk or beside table to visually hide any cords!
This Flos Lamp from Living Edge at our Woolstore Apartment brings this space alive, and sits seamlessly on this fine framed console.
5 – Boom Box (& a sense of humour!)
Another highly important one for us is – a portable boom box for all the tunes! It can be a long day (or days) so keeping the vibes high with some good music (and a touch of dancing) really helps to keep the day fun. Plus music is scientifically proven to improve your mood, so hit play on those tunes and bring your best sense of humour. And of course – don’t forget the charger!
6 – Spare Light Bulbs & Batteries
As we all know, light bulbs and batteries come in ALL shapes and sizes. This is another case were checking the tech specs ahead of time saves us! We also keep a few of the common sizes / shapes / types in our toolkit to save from any unnecessary Beacon Lighting trips on the day! We think you’ll agree the stunning lights in the powder room of our Varsity Lakes House make this room super special.
7 – Cleaning Kit
This one is a bit self-explanatory but is a must to be able to leave everything shimmering clean on install day. We opt for organic cleaner for glass & surfaces, biodegradable wipes and a trusty magic eraser when installing at our clients’ houses to ensure there’s no nasty chemicals that could damage any stone, timber, metals, etc. Plus this cleaning kit is super handy on photoshoot days when you want everything to look flawless!
8 – Dyson Vacuum
It’s fair to say, the Dyson makes our lives easier every day and especially on install day! With lots of cardboard boxes, wrapping, tape and styrofoam packaging floating all over the place from all the deliveries on the day it can make quite the mess. So a quick vacuum (or 5) helps in delivering a clean and polished end product for the clients.
Technically, we don’t put this in the Install box, it gets put in the car with us as precious cargo. (Well, sometimes we leave it behind and need to do an emergency run to go back and get it, but that’s a story for another day!)
Our Main Beach Apartment living room, Dyson’d to perfection.
9 – Iron / steamer
Have you ever wondered how the sheets in magazine photos are always perfect? Yes – we do indeed iron or steam them all! And yes it does sometimes take X3 designers on site to complete all the bed making in a full home! But it’s all worth it when the bedrooms look like this one in our Ascot House Guest Suite.
10 – Plenty of snacks & pre-ordered lunch
It can be easy to get swept up in the flurry of the day and all the ‘to do’s’ you’ve got to tick off, but keeping your body fuelled and hydrated is essential in functioning at your best! So pack plenty of on the go snacks, water bottles and organise a pre-ordered lunch for delivery to keep you going.
11 – Printed floor plans, selections & delivery run sheets
Last but definitely not least – a printed copy of all the relevant paperwork + plans for each room!
Clear floor plans and itemised lists help us to stay organised and on track for what can be a busy and sometimes stressful day of deliveries and ‘moving in’ for all the pieces we have curated for our clients. While we quality check and label everything for installation, it can be super handy to have a list and printed visual of all the items and where they go for the many delivery drivers who will need clear direction as they arrive and unpack. It will also serve as a great checklist to ensure nothing is missing!
Some of our projects have a lot of elements to install, so these printed lists and delivery run sheets containing order references and contact details are an essential! Making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible on installation day comes down to being extremely organised.
