The framed photograph of your grandparents’ farmhouse. The oil painting you brought back from Door County, WI. The oversized mirror that has hung in your Milwaukee dining room for years. Wall art and mirrors are among the most nerve-wracking items to pack for a move. They can break easily; they carry meaning a replacement check will never cover, and their shapes are awkward. With the right supplies, you can pack them for a household move and have them arrive at your new home in New Berlin or Appleton exactly the way they left.
Start With a Real Inventory
Walk every room and photograph each piece of art or mirror you plan to move. Note approximate dimensions, whether the frame is wood or metal, and any existing damage. If something arrives broken, you have proof of its condition before the move. For higher-value pieces, request written appraisals or keep the original bills of sale. Check with your homeowners insurance whether the policy covers art in transit, or whether you need a separate rider.
Buy the Right Supplies
Bubble wrap, packing paper, painter’s tape, corner protectors, and rigid picture boxes are the core kit. For anything with a glass front, run a large X of painter’s tape across the glass. It will not prevent a break, but if the glass cracks, the tape holds the shards together and keeps them off the artwork behind. Never place tape on the frame or a painted surface. Picture boxes come in adjustable sizes; select a box with an inch of clearance on every side. Check with your moving company for supplies.
Pro Tip: For mirrors and framed art larger than 36 inches on the longest side, buy telescoping mirror cartons designed to expand. Standard picture boxes bend and fail on oversized pieces, and a bent carton in the truck is a broken piece on arrival.
Pack Each Piece Individually
For framed art with glass, place the piece face down on a layer of bubble wrap, wrap the frame, then double-wrap the glass side. Corner protectors defend the corners, which take most of the impact in a bumped box. Canvas paintings need different handling. Cover the painted surface with acid-free glassine paper first, then wrap in bubble wrap with the bubbles facing outward. Bubbles pressed against oil or acrylic paint can leave impressions on soft areas. For mirrors, tape an X on the surface with painter’s tape, wrap in a moving blanket, add bubble wrap, and slide the piece into a mirror carton with foam corner blocks. Label the box “GLASS” and “THIS SIDE UP” on multiple sides.
Load and Transport With Care
Framed art and mirrors travel best standing upright, on edge, packed vertically against the truck’s interior walls. Setting them flat makes it easy to pile other boxes on top, creating a major risk of breaking the frame. If you are working with Schroeder Moving, our crews load fragile pieces last, so they come off the truck first. Between homes in Milwaukee, Waukesha, or up in the Fox Valley near Neenah and Kaukauna, temperature swings can affect artwork. Panel paintings, antique frames, and works on paper are especially sensitive.
Pro Tip: Photograph the arrangement of art on each wall before you take pieces down. When you unpack in your new home, you will have a reference for where each piece lived, which speeds up decisions about where to hang it in the new layout.
Special Cases Deserve Special Handling
Museums have long relied on custom crating for the most valuable works, and the same practice makes sense for oversized, extremely fragile, or high-value pieces in a household move. The American Institute for Conservation publishes public guidance on caring for cultural property that applies to heirloom art as much as museum collections.
Antique gilded frames, oversized beveled mirrors, and stained glass benefit from custom-built wood crates. A professional special products crew can build one to the piece’s exact dimensions and cushion the interior with foam blocking.
Unpacking at the New Home
Do not rush to unpack art and mirrors on the first day. Let the boxes sit in the room where each piece will hang so the artwork acclimates to the interior temperature and humidity. Inspect each piece as you open it, and photograph any damage before removing it from the packing materials. Save your inventory list and photos for at least 30 days after the move, in case you need to file a claim.
Trust Your Wisconsin Family Heirlooms to a Team That Knows Them
Since 1947, Schroeder Moving has been helping Wisconsin families safely move the pieces that matter most. From framed photographs to oversized mirrors and heirloom paintings, our packing crews treat every piece with the care it deserves. From Appleton to New Berlin, get a free quote and let us protect what hangs on your walls.