Moving from a Villa to an Apartment

Who this page is for

Anyone moving from a villa or large house into an apartment, within the same city or between Eastern Province cities: parents whose children have married and moved out, couples wanting a lower-maintenance home, an employee renting a temporary apartment in a new city, or a family that has sold the villa. The opposite move has its own page, apartment to villa moves, and the challenge there is completely different.

The core problem: more furniture than space

A villa often has a men’s majlis, a women’s majlis, a living room, several bedrooms, a maid’s room, a store room and a roof. An apartment has one living room and three or four bedrooms. Move everything and the apartment fills with pieces that have no place. So the first step is not moving, it is deciding:

• What moves: the bedrooms you will use, one sofa set that suits the living room, the dining table if it fits, and essential appliances.
• What is stored: pieces with sentimental or real value you want for a future home; see furniture storage.
• What is sold or given away: duplicates and bulky pieces that will never enter the apartment.

Lifts and corridors: measure first

Most moving-day surprises come from measurements. Before the date, measure:

1. The lift door width and the cabin depth and height.
2. The apartment door, the inner corridor and any tight turns.
3. Your longest pieces: the big sofa, wardrobe, headboard, dining table.

Pieces that can be dismantled are dismantled to pass. Very large solid items that cannot be taken apart and will not fit the stairs or lift are flagged in advance, because we do not use external hoists. For buildings without a lift see moving without an elevator.

The Arabic majlis in an apartment

A common question: what happens to the majlis? Floor seating can be split, so part of it can furnish one apartment room while the rest is stored. Large majlis sofa sets may not suit an apartment living room. See majlis furniture movers for how we fold and wrap seating.

Kitchen and appliances

Villa kitchens are usually bigger, sometimes with two fridges, a freezer, a dishwasher and several ovens. The apartment may not have room for all of it, or may come with a fitted kitchen. Choose appliances based on the apartment kitchen’s space and connections. See kitchen packing and moving and appliance movers.

Moving day with a clear plan

For downsizing moves we sort items in the villa before loading: everything going to the apartment is marked with one colour, everything going to storage with another. We then load by destination so stored items never get mixed with apartment items. In the apartment we place pieces according to the agreed plan and assemble bedrooms first.

Within a city or between cities

We handle villa-to-apartment moves within Dammam, Khobar, Jubail, Qatif and Al Ahsa, between these cities, and from the Eastern Province to anywhere in the Kingdom. For city-specific apartment moves see apartment movers in Dammam and apartment movers in Khobar.