Imagine if there was a service that would manage your entire move, unpack your stuff, and design + furnish your new apartment—all before you arrived.
OUR COMPREHENSIVE MOVE-IN AND DESIGN SERVICE
The process is the same as our White Glove service, but beyond creating the design plan and handling the ordering and final setup for your brand new apartment, we also manage the entire move.
$4500
Exact fee to be based on scope of execution: apt type, order volume, estimated install hours, etc.
LET’S DO THIS(And by do this we mean sign up for a free consultation + project quote)
In-home style + need assessment
Joint review of digital style questionaire
Visit + survey (measurement) of future apartment
Detailed (to scale) floorplan layout
Inspiration style image board
Specific furniture + accessory recommendations
Two (2) rounds of design plans
Complete inventory of existing apartment
Order placement
Delivery management + scheduling
Move management + scheduling
Proper disposal of discarded furniture
Install + assembly of orders
Final styling of apartment
Since 2010, Cool Hand Movers has been serving New Yorkers, dedicated to removing the stress and chaos that often comes along with a move. They handle the heavy-lifting, the traffic jams, and even your packing so that you stay focused on how good your new place will be.
An emphasis on quality over volume make them the perfect Upstairs partner. With our powers combined, this move will be unlike any other.
You bet you can. Click on one of the links above to submit some info on your move, and we’ll be in touch to set up a time to chat. We’ll have a consultation around what you’re looking for from a design perspective and get additional background on the move itself. And of course we’ll answer all questions you may have. Following this, we’ll send over a detailed quote for the project. If everything looks good, we’ll collect a deposit, lock in the dates and start prepping for the move of your dreams. This step is commitment-free.
Yes, but you probably won’t have all of your furniture by then. The move will be handled, every inch of your new apartment will be designed, all new furniture and fixtures will have been ordered, but lead times may mean that it takes another week or two for everything to arrive. The nicer the furniture, the longer it generally takes to arrive. But we’ll do our best. Depending on the timeline we can always fill the space with a stopgap sofa if needed (via some of our favorite furniture rental startups)
During the first part of the project we'll agree on what new furniture is needed, and what your budget is. Once you sign off on the items, we'll start purchasing, and planning for move-in date delivery. When it comes to smaller accessories and items, we'll pay, and then share furniture-specific invoices. If items are above a certain price-point (generally over $2500), we will ask for a credit card authorization form, so that we can purchase directly. Two things to note: (1) Our purchasing and management fees are built into the overall Designed Move price. (2) And when possible, we'll simply pass you our trade pricing—which can be anywhere between 10% to 40%. Designers often pocket this discount—and are therefore, incentivized to push the budget higher and higher. We prefer to just charge for our time.
Once we’ve had a chat and feel good about everything, we’ll send over an email confirming that we’re moving forward. That will include the overall project fee (and breakdowns), timeline, terms and conditions and a project deposit invoice. Once the deposit is received, we’ll be off to the races. About a week into the work we’ll email our first design invoice covering the creative portion of the project. New furniture and accessory purchases will be invoiced in batches as they take place. Immediately following the actual move and set up, you’ll receive your final invoice for the remainder of the bill.
You know it. We do not charge any additional fees for providing Certificates of Insurance. Each building has its own set of requirements for these custom documents that extend our insurance to their property. You can either connect us with your building management or request (and forward) a PDF sample from them.
To get doubly serious for a second… By federal law, your items are only covered at the “released value” of 60 cents per pound per article. Standard moving rates do not include “retail-value” or “declared-value” insurance coverage. Although we are legally exempt from making out-of-pocket payments for mishaps that may occur on a move, if there is a reasonable complaint about a damaged item that our movers didn’t properly wrap or clearly mishandled, we will work with you to find a reasonable solution. (This is a highly unlikely scenario, because our movers do great work!) If you are interested in purchasing additional coverage, we can refer you to our third party vendor. Depending on the item, there may be additional fees to meet their packaging standards for eligibility for coverage, for example, if the item requires specialized wood-crating. Please inquire if you would like to receive a quote for this type of coverage and we will make an email introduction.
We will get into these specifics during our initial consultation. There are a few ways we can go but ideally we’re handling most of the packing and unpacking—that’s why you would sign up for this type of service. Clothing can be a different story—as we know that people sometimes have very specific needs and organizing methods. We’ll work with you to create a schedule and system for move prep that works for you and removes as much (if not all) stress from the experience.
Great question. There are certain items that moving companies are not liable for under any circumstance. Included in this category are: (1.) “Items of extraordinary value,” which include jewelry, paper currency, and valuable personal documents such as birth certificates and passports. Customers should transport these items. (2.) Furniture made of press-board, particle-board or engineered wood that can fall apart during the course of a move without mishandling. The most common example is certain types of IKEA furniture just aren’t built to be moved. (3.) Damages to items in boxes that the movers not pack, unless there is clear evidence that the box was literally dropped during the move. We have no control over the level of care that you put into packing your own boxes. (4.) In the event that you did any disassembly on your own (beds, cribs, etc.) you are responsible for holding onto the ziplock bag (we recommend a ziplock bag) of screws, nuts, and small pieces, or packing them into boxes. We can only take responsibility for those items if we disassembled the piece of furniture.
Our upfront work together should ensure that there aren't any moving day surprises—and therefore, no new fees. Before the project officially kicks off, we'll have a clear idea of all the (literal) steps involved in getting your stuff from apartment A to apartment B. We'll then agree to that all encompassing fee and what it includes. By managing the move and prep, we can avoid the common moving surprises: extra distance from trunk to building, incomplete packing and organization pre-move, etc.
We will be in fairly close contact during the design + planning phase of this project, so we’ll ideally be aware of any potential schedule changes way ahead of time. That said, we know that last minute life switch-ups can happen. We always try to be as accommodating as possible when our clients need to reschedule, but if something happens within a week of planned move, we’ll need to keep the moving deposit ($150) and charge a new one—as our moving partner has already committed a truck + movers to that date.
Any other questions? Send them our way:
studio@upstairs.design
Are you a real estate or building management company looking for help moving units? Submit your info and we’ll send you our real estate partnership overview.
Are you a real estate or building management company looking for help moving units? Submit your info and we’ll send you our real estate partnership overview.
© 2020 ABM Design, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
As you spend more time than ever at home, it may becoming clear that an upgrade is order.
Your sofa just isn`t equipped for this many hours of use. The movie posters are starting to feel dated. The coffe table monitor setup isn`t working out as planned. The apartment just needs some love and life-especially with this new remote forever reality.
Whatever the nedd, we got you. And while on-person chats are always preferred, we`re are offering video consultations until it`s safe to hang out IRL againg.
