I'm Seth Peek, owner of Peek Painting. I've been painting since 2004 and founded Peek Painting in 2018 to bring homeowners across San Luis Obispo County and the Central Coast cleaner results and finishes that actually hold up to our sun and coastal air.
Since then, my team and I have completed 1,300+ residential and commercial projects. We now take on around 300 a year. I write these articles to share what two decades on the ladder have taught me about prep, products, and getting paint to last.
If you’re wondering whether painters move furniture, ours do: the crew moves it, covers it and puts it back as part of every interior painting job.
A lot of the homes we paint are small coastal cottages and condos with no spare room. Many are second homes or rentals, and the owner is hours away while we work.
Here’s how we’ve handled both.
Where the Furniture Goes
Where to put furniture when painting depends on the house. Most of the time it goes to the middle of the room under plastic, so we can reach every wall. If the next room isn’t being painted, larger pieces go there.
A garage or covered patio comes next, and only with the furniture wrapped and up off the concrete. Mornings here are damp from the marine layer, so we don’t leave upholstered or wood pieces outside overnight.
On this job the fog hadn’t lifted when we started, so the living room set went to the garage instead of the patio. We laid cardboard down first and wrapped every piece before it went in.
Small Coastal Homes With Nowhere to Put It
In a cottage or condo, there’s often no middle of the room and no spare room either. So we paint the room in halves: everything slides to one side, we paint the open walls, then we swap. When a home has a few small rooms, we rotate, moving one room’s furniture into the room we just finished.
This oceanfront condo in Cayucos had one narrow sitting room with a sofa, chair, side table and lamp, and nowhere else to put them. We pushed it all against one wall, hung plastic over the top and started rolling the open side.
Once that side dried, we moved everything across and painted the wall behind it. The blue walls became a clean white, and every piece went back where the owner had it.
Second Homes and Rentals: Painting While You’re Away
Plenty of the homes we paint in Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay and Pismo belong to owners who live elsewhere or rent them out. When the owner can’t be there, we set up access ahead of time and schedule the work between guest bookings.
Before we move anything in a room, we photograph it. The owner of this vacation rental had every bedroom staged for guests, down to the throw blanket in the basket, so we took pictures from the doorway before touching a thing.
When the painting wrapped, we walked each room against those photos before locking up. We share the photos and progress pictures with the owner, so they can follow the job without driving over.
Protecting Floors While Things Move
Floors get scratched while furniture moves, not while walls get painted. Heavy pieces go on felt sliders before they budge, and we lay protection where they’ll sit.
This armoire was too heavy to carry out of the room, and it sat on hardwood. We slid it onto floor protection and taped the edges down.
What We Leave for You
We move furniture, not your belongings. Before we arrive, we ask you to pack up valuables, electronics, art and anything sentimental, and to empty shelves and drawers so the pieces are light enough to move safely.
Wine gets its own plan. Plenty of homes around Paso Robles have a wine rack or fridge, and moving a full fridge shakes the bottles. This homeowner’s fridge was built into the counter, so we left it running in place and covered everything around it. Built-in cabinets stay put too, and painting them is its own job with its own cabinet coat count.
Does It Cost Extra or Add Time?
Moving everyday furniture is included in our price. What adds time is volume. In a small condo it barely registers; in a full house packed with furniture, it can add a day.
Painting a house with furniture in it takes longer than painting an empty one, because every room gets moved, covered and put back. Pianos, safes and anything that has to come apart are the exceptions, and we’ll flag them at the estimate.
FAQ
Do I need to be home while you paint?
No. Many of our clients aren’t. We just need a way in and a way to reach you with questions.
Will you put everything back where it was?
Yes. We photograph each room before we move anything, so it all goes back the way you had it.
What if something gets damaged?
We take care to avoid it, and if something does get damaged while we’re moving it, we make it right.
Can you paint around a vacation rental’s booking calendar?
Yes. We can schedule the whole job between bookings or split it into phases, room by room.
Do you take down curtains, blinds and wall art?
We take down curtains and blinds on the walls we’re painting and rehang them when we’re done. Valuable or sentimental art is best taken down by you.
Book a Painter Who Handles the Heavy Lifting
So, do painters move furniture? Ours do, and they put it back. If you’d rather not move a thing yourself, ask for a free quote. We confirm quotes within 48 business hours, and every job is backed by our 9-year labor and materials warranty.
