Moving abroad: what to do with your furniture and your things at home

The short answer

If you're leaving for one to three years and don't know if you'll be back, sell what's easy to buy again, leave with family what they're happy to keep, and put the rest in storage. Storage runs month by month until you cancel, and you can have just part of your things back whenever you like.

I know a room that needs emptying: in June 2026 we collected over 200 parcels from students, mostly around Bocconi. A PhD in Zurich isn't a summer exam session, but the scene is the same: dates set by someone else, parents far away, and an armchair nobody knows where to put.

I sell storage, so I'm the innkeeper recommending the wine. That's why the table below also says when storage isn't for you.

Five options for your furniture, and when each one fits

None wins every time, and anyone who says otherwise usually sells one of them. Me included, but I did confess two lines ago. Usually you mix two or three: some listings online, some boxes at your parents', and something that isn't up for discussion (yes, I mean the armchair).

How long you'll be gone matters more than the price

One to three years is the worst bracket. Under twelve months you decide with a suitcase, over ten with a classified ad. In between you have to do the math, and nobody has ever done it gladly. Not even economics students at Bocconi, and I speak from experience.

To avoid guessing, split the house into three piles: what you'd buy again in a weekend, what you'd hate to buy again, what you'd never buy again. The first gets sold, the third gets protected, and the second is where you'll argue with yourself.

Grandad's armchair goes in the third pile, and we both know it. The catalog cube bookcase goes in the first, and it knows better than you do.

One more rule of thumb: if your new home abroad is already furnished, shipping is off the table, because nobody wants two sofas in one living room. If it's empty, buying everything at once hurts (your wallet and your back), and the middle pile shrinks.

Make an inventory before you sell anything

Before you post a single ad, write down what you own. It sounds like paperwork and it is, but from another continent the list is the only way to know the lamp is in box 7 and not in a dumpster.

That's why I'm offering a guide: «The moving and storage inventory», a printable PDF with a box-by-box table and a furniture page, family armchairs included. The box below sends it to you by email. If you need one for a furnished rental, there's the post on the home inventory template.

Then photograph your furniture before you pack it. After twelve months nobody remembers the scratch on the wardrobe, and you least of all.

The paperwork not to put off: AIRE, your lease and healthcare

This part is serious: furniture can wait, paperwork has deadlines. The sources are official, and for your own situation a professional always has the last word. That professional isn't me: I move boxes.

• **AIRE.** Anyone moving their residence abroad for more than 12 months must register with the Register of Italians Resident Abroad within 90 days of leaving. Since 1 January 2024 the fine runs from €200 to €1,000 for each year of missed registration.

• **Effects.** AIRE registration means removal from the Italian municipality's register and from the National Health Service. Before leaving, check the healthcare cover in the country you're going to.

• **Dates.** Registration takes effect from the day you submit the application: it isn't backdated.

• **Tax.** For the Italian Revenue Agency, being in the resident population register is a rebuttable presumption of tax residence: it holds unless proven otherwise. Your own case is for an accountant.

• **Lease.** If your Milan home is rented, reread the termination clause. The law on residential leases allows a tenant to withdraw for serious reasons with six months' notice. Whether a job abroad counts as a serious reason depends on the case and the contract.

From far away, storage is managed by writing to us

Storage has no end date: it runs month by month until you ask for redelivery, so it stays as long as you like. There's no deadline to remember from another time zone.

To close it, you ask for full redelivery from your account, with no cancellation fee. If the request arrives at least 5 working days before the renewal date, the following month isn't charged; if it arrives later, that month is due.

If you only need part of it, write to Smoves with what you want back: the rest stays in storage, under the same contract. Redelivery is booked and paid when you ask for it, with at least 48 hours' notice.

At the pickup, you or someone you've delegated must be there. If you're already in Zurich that day, a parent, a friend or a roommate will do, as long as they know which wardrobe is leaving and which one belongs to the landlord. A sticky note on the door saves you a very tense video call.

If your things later need to reach you, goods in storage can be shipped abroad too, on a quote. It's the «take it with me» option, but done afterwards: first you find a home, then you find out whether Grandad's armchair gets through the door. Better to find out with a tape measure than with a courier on the landing. The page on international moving covers it.

If you already know you'll be away for one to three years you can commit for more months, up to 36: the discount goes on the pickup, never on the rate. If you close earlier you give back the discount you've had, never more than the difference between what you paid and what you would have paid without commitment. Without commitment, storage stays month by month.

The warehouse is indoors, dry and access-controlled. It can't be visited, so no Sunday outings to say hello to the sofa. How you pay is on the pricing page: a monthly rate for the square meters you take up, and the pickup once.

In the field: someone else always sets the date

In June 2026 we collected over 200 parcels from students, mostly around Bocconi. All different, all with the same director: the lease ends, the flight leaves, the room must be emptied, and nobody asked the person leaving.

I've been there as an out-of-town student, with fewer parcels and a lot more panic, and the lesson holds for Zurich too: decide about the furniture before the calendar does. When the flight is in three days every piece becomes a bargain to close in a hurry, and Grandad's armchair ends up online with «collection today, open to offers».