Office move: how to organize it starting from the inventory, what to take to the new premises, what to dispose of, and where to keep desks and archive when the dates of the two offices don't match.
An office move is organized starting from the inventory: for every desk, cabinet and archive box you decide whether it goes to the new premises, gets disposed of or goes into storage for a few weeks. Then you set the dates, choose who dismantles and who transports, and tell staff, suppliers and clients. Storage is for when there's a gap between moving out and moving in.
We handle office moves ourselves, on a free quote and with one contact: pickup, dismantling and transport with our own team. How it works is on the page on moving companies in Milan. This guide dwells on the third column, storage, because it's the one people forget.
Before asking anyone for a quote, you need to know what's moving. A table with three columns is enough: take, dispose, store. The first decides the size of the move; the third avoids carrying into the new office things that don't have a place there yet.
| What | The question to ask | Where it often ends up |
|---|---|---|
Desks and chairs | How many workstations does the new office need, with hybrid work? | The ones needed on site, the rest in storage or sold |
Cabinets and drawer units | Do they fit the new floor plan? | On site if they fit, otherwise in storage until decided |
Paper archive | Which years are still consulted? | The current year on site, closed years in storage |
Electronics | Does it work, and is it needed? | On site; retired equipment goes to e-waste disposal |
Common-area furniture | Is the new layout decided? | In storage until the layout is set |
The order matters more than exact dates, which depend on how large the office is. This is the sequence that works even for a small office.
Set the dates: end of the old lease, availability of the new premises, any works. The gap between them decides whether you need storage.
Do the three-column inventory and measure the new floor plan.
Ask for quotes for the move, dismantling and, if needed, storage, with the list in hand.
Tell staff, clients and suppliers, and update the address wherever needed, including with public bodies: your accountant knows which notices apply to your company.
Arrange internet lines and networking for the new office: they're worth requesting among the first things.
Pack by room, with labels saying where each box goes in the new office.
On moving day keep one person at each office, with the list.
Afterwards, check the list: what arrived, what's in storage, what's left to dispose of.
It happens more often than planned: the new office has works that finish late, or the old lease ends early. Keeping desks and boxes in the corridors isn't a solution, because escape routes and emergency exits must stay clear (Legislative Decree 81/2008, art. 64).
That's where storage comes in. We collect furniture and archive from the old office, keep them in the warehouse with a code on every item, and bring them to the new office when it's ready, even just part of them. The monthly rate is paid month by month, and redelivery is requested with at least 48 hours' notice.
The same goes for furniture no longer needed every day, such as the extra workstations after moving to hybrid work: it can stay in storage until you decide whether to reuse or sell it. The full service is on the page on office furniture storage in Milan.
Is there a gap between one office and the next?
We collect desks, cabinets and archive, keep them with a code on every item and bring them back when the new office is ready. Invoiced.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Office furniture storageIt's the question that decides how many hours of work fall on your staff. With us, loading, transport and storage are always ours. We dismantle and reassemble furniture on a quote; packing done by us is an extra, and you pay for the time; if you'd rather pack in-house, boxes and tape can be ordered with the storage.
We take electronics switched off, with intact batteries: a swollen or damaged battery doesn't go into storage. How to close boxes properly is in how to pack your boxes.
At the pickup we need someone from the company, or a delegated person, to open up and show what to load. Access, hours and service elevators go in the quote notes, so we know them before setting off.
Three routes: sell it, give it to someone who'll reuse it, or dispose of it. For disposal, a business follows different rules from a household: ask your municipality's waste operator how bulky-item collection works for businesses.
If you haven't decided yet, storage gives you time: the extra chairs wait in the warehouse while you think it over, instead of being sold in a hurry on moving day and bought again three months later.
You pay a fixed monthly rate for the size you take, from 1 to 30 m², plus pickup and transport once at the start. Redelivery is paid when you request it. The figures are on the pricing page and in the online quote, invoiced; the other services for companies are on the business page.
Start from the inventory: for every piece of furniture and every archive box, decide whether it goes to the new office, gets disposed of or goes into storage. Then set the dates, ask for quotes with the list in hand, tell staff, clients and suppliers, and pack by room with labels showing the destination.
Yes, on a free quote, and you deal with one contact only: us. Pickup, dismantling and transport are done by our own team, in Milan and the provinces around it. If there's a gap between offices, the furniture stays in our warehouse until the new one is ready.
Yes. Binders and archive boxes are collected with the furniture, and each item gets its own code. When you need a document, you ask for the box that holds it and the rest stays in the warehouse.
You pay a monthly rate for the square meters you take up: it starts at 1 m², and the rate is fixed per size. The rate covers storage in the warehouse. On top, once at the start, you pay the pickup and the transport to the warehouse. The pickup price covers the stop at your place, not all the loading work: any time beyond that is shown as an estimate before you book and settled on the actual time, at €29 an hour per person VAT included. If you commit to more months, the discount goes on the pickup, not on the rate. Redelivery is not included: you book it from your account when you need it and pay for it then. Redelivery is worked out with the same engine as the pickup, at full price (the duration discount applies to the pickup only), and it depends on the day you pick, which you see before confirming. The base insurance limit is included in the rate. Paid separately, only if you ask for them: a higher limit (a monthly amount), packing materials and, on a quote, packing done by us and furniture disassembly. The online quote shows you the rate and the pickup before you book.
You can have just some of your belongings brought back and leave the rest in storage. You ask for it like a full redelivery — from your account or by writing to info@smoves.it, with at least 48 hours' notice — with one difference: there is no dedicated button for a partial redelivery, so you tell us what you want back and we arrange it together. Whatever you don't ask for stays in the warehouse, under the same contract.
Is there a gap between one office and the next?
We collect desks, cabinets and archive, keep them with a code on every item and bring them back when the new office is ready. Invoiced.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Office furniture storageHow many boxes you need for a move, from a single room to a three-bedroom: the table by home type, the right sizes, what goes in each box and how much it can weigh.
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Where to find moving boxes: the supermarkets and stores that give them away, the big stores and websites that sell them, swap groups, and when it makes sense to have them brought to your door with the move.
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