Moving House? Keep Every Sofa Cover Piece Accounted For

Start with the cover pieces you actually own

Include the decorative seat, back, arm and throw pieces you normally remove. Leave factory upholstery in place; this worksheet is not an instruction to dismantle the sofa. Put loose scatter-cushion covers on separate rows if you want them included, and say so at the top.

MetroMovers discusses keeping removed cushions and covers together during a move. MetroMovers couch-moving guide Grace describes furniture blankets as part of transit protection. Grace furniture-removals guide Treat that protection as a separate job from accounting for your everyday decorative textiles. For the broader move or a storage gap, see how to store a sofa between moves.

Count physical pieces, rather than seats or order lines. One piece might cover more than one seating position; a past order might contain several separate items. Our sofa seat-cover pieces guide explains that distinction.

Give each piece an identity that survives the move

Choose one viewing direction and write it down: for example, standing in front of the sofa, looking towards the backrest. Draw a quick outline and name the positions. L1-SL could mean lounge one, left seat; L1-SR, right seat; L1-B1, backrest piece one. These are your own codes, not product or furniture-manufacturer labels.

Give each physical cover a permanent piece ID, such as P01, alongside its position code. P01 stays P01 even if you rearrange the lounge. Use separate rows for identical covers. Record the product name, colour and size option from your own order or label. If a detail is unknown, write “unconfirmed” rather than filling it from a similar-looking listing.

Take a reference photo of each piece in position and give the file a matching name. Photograph its care label too, where present. Keep the piece ID on a separate card with that piece or its packaging; there is no need to stick a label to the textile or remove the original care label. Keep fitting instructions with the same references.

A worked example: three pieces, two found

This invented household owns three Alessia pieces. The sizes below identify its existing items; they are not a shopping list or a recommendation for your sofa. SL and SR follow the front-view convention above. B1 is the household's chosen backrest position.

On a phone, swipe the table to see each column.

The packed total is three and the unpacked total is two. C03 is complete, but opening C03 does not account for B1: its recorded carton is C04. The next person has a specific place to check, rather than searching every box labelled “lounge”.

If B1 turns up, change its unpacked count to one and note where it was found. If it was moved into another carton during packing, correct the carton reference as well. Keep the row until the discrepancy is explained; do not quietly reduce the original packed total.

Copy or print your own inventory

Before completing the rows, add: sofa/room name, viewing direction, this delivery, photo-folder name and sheet date. List which piece IDs are expected in this delivery and their total. Include spares coming with you, even when they are off the sofa. Mark pieces staying behind or travelling later separately, with their location and who has them; they should not inflate this delivery’s missing count.

Copy the table into a document and add rows, or print it to complete by hand. On a phone, swipe to see every column.

For each row, enter 1 when that particular piece is counted at the relevant stage. Enter 0 when checked and absent; a blank means not checked yet. A piece already missing before packing needs a note, so it is not mistaken for a loss during the move.

Below the table, leave space for exceptions, packed check/date, arrival check/date and next action. These notes matter when the numbers do not match.

Make the handover usable by someone else

Mark the carton reference only when the piece goes into that carton. If a cover is still on the sofa or waiting with laundry, leave its packed count unchecked and record its location in the exceptions note. A planned carton is not evidence that an item is inside it.

Give the person unpacking the inventory, the viewing-direction sketch and access to the labelled photos. Put the sofa name and relevant piece codes on the carton list, too. “C04 contains P03, from L1-B1” is more useful than “miscellaneous linen”.

If two people share the job, nominate one copy as the working list. Date changes and pass on unresolved rows explicitly. A message such as “P03 is still with the laundry; Sam will check it tonight” identifies the piece, its last known location and the person handling it.

Check the pieces before you reset the lounge

Work through the rows as cartons are opened. Match the code, actual piece and photo before marking it unpacked. Then compare the packed and unpacked totals. Equal totals are only a useful cross-check: two copies of the wrong piece can still hide a mismatch.

For an unresolved row, check its named carton, any recorded carton change and the exceptions note. Look for a separately listed spare or a piece left in use. Record what you find rather than guessing from colour alone.

When every row is accounted for, use the position photos and the cover's fitting information to reset the lounge. If the new arrangement differs, keep the piece IDs and update only their positions on the map once the count is settled. Save that completed list with your cover information for the next changeover.