How to stack furniture safely in storage
Stacking is how you fit a home’s worth of belongings into a storage unit. Done well, it doubles the useful space. Done badly, it crushes boxes, scratches furniture, and creates a column that topples when you open the door. These rules keep your things, and you, safe.
The core rules
1. Heavy at the bottom, light on top
Put the heaviest, sturdiest items on the floor: dressers, solid wood tables, appliances, and boxes of books. Lighter items go above. Reversing this crushes the lower layer and raises the center of gravity of the whole stack.
2. Support most of the footprint
An item should rest on something solid across most of its base. As a working rule, at least 60 percent of its footprint should be supported by the floor or by the top of the item beneath. Less than that, and the item can rock, slide or tip, especially when you move something nearby.
Practical consequences:
- Do not balance a large box on a smaller one.
- Do not bridge a box across a gap between two pieces of furniture unless both sides carry it.
- Align box columns so corners sit on corners.
3. Match surfaces to loads
Not every surface can carry weight.
Good bases: dressers and chests with the drawers closed, solid wood tables (top side up, legs removed if possible), washers and dryers, sturdy plastic totes, filing cabinets.
Poor bases: sofa cushions and upholstered chairs, mattresses, glass or marble table tops, anything with a veneer that can crack, lamps, and lampshades.
4. Keep stacks below a safe height
Do not stack higher than you can comfortably lift down without a ladder, and keep a gap below the ceiling. A typical indoor unit is 8 feet tall, but a stack you can safely reach is usually closer to 6 feet. Heavy items should never be above shoulder height.
5. Build stable columns
Uniform boxes stack straight. Mixed sizes create overhangs and weak points. Build columns of the same box size, tape boxes closed so lids do not cave in, and fill each box so it does not crush.
Item by item
Mattresses
Store mattresses on their long edge, flat against a wall, in a mattress bag. Do not lay heavy items on a mattress or fold it. Storing a mattress on edge also saves a large amount of floor space: a queen lying flat covers more than 30 square feet.
Sofas
Store sofas on their feet, back against a wall. You can place light, soft items such as cushions or pillows on the seat, but not boxes. Standing a sofa on end saves space but can stress the frame and should be avoided for long rentals unless the manufacturer allows it.
Dressers and chests
These are excellent bases. Remove or secure the drawers, and stack medium boxes on top. Use a blanket between the dresser and the boxes to prevent scratches.
Tables
Remove the legs if you can and store the top on edge, protected by a blanket. A sturdy table left assembled can carry boxes on top, but never on a glass top.
Appliances
Washers, dryers and chest freezers can carry light boxes. Keep heavy items off refrigerators, which are tall and easy to tip, and leave fridge and freezer doors slightly open to prevent mildew.
Mirrors, art and glass
Wrap them and store them upright, on edge, between two solid items or in a dedicated box. Never lay them flat or stack anything against their faces.
What never to stack on
- Glass of any kind
- Mattresses and upholstered furniture
- Electronics and televisions
- Lampshades and light fixtures
- Anything already showing cracks or loose joints
Leave room to move
A safe stack is one you can get to. Keep an aisle so you are not climbing over furniture to reach the back, and keep the heaviest boxes on lower layers where you can slide them out rather than lift them.
Check before you load
It is far easier to fix a bad stack on a screen than in a hot storage unit. The planner stacks items automatically when you drop one onto another, and it warns you when an item is less than 60 percent supported, sticks through the ceiling, or collides with something. Try different arrangements until every warning clears, then print the plan and load in that order.
Ready to plan your unit? See pricing, or read our guide to packing a storage unit for the full loading order.