What Do You Do if You Lost Your Hardware?

During any typical business week here, at comfyco.com, it's not uncommon for us to receive calls from individuals encountering a familiar issue. If you've guessed it already, you're likely here because hardware for your furniture has gone missing during a move, leaving you with a pile of unassembled parts. While the instinctive reaction for most people is to go online, search for the same or similar model numbers, and attempt to acquire replacement hardware or specifications, this might not be the most effective course of action. Here's why:

• Variability in Hardware Specs: In many cases, furniture factories don't maintain a comprehensive record of the hardware specifications for each product, and these specifications can even change from one production batch to another.
• Limited Availability of Separate Hardware Packs: Obtaining hardware packs as separate items for purchase is not always an option, and furniture retailers (and even factories) cannot assist you in acquiring replacement hardware, even if they desire to do so.

So What Do You Do?

Surprisingly, the easiest and most straightforward solution is to take the furniture piece you're missing hardware for to the nearest hardware store. We recommend opting for a smaller, local hardware store over the larger, well-known chains. The personnel at smaller stores are typically more hands-on and willing to provide direct assistance. While you may spend a few extra dollars on a collection of new bolts, the convenience outweighs the cost.

Most furniture hardware is relatively standardized, meaning that if a bed has openings for 16 bolts, they will likely all be of the same type. In this case, you don't need to bring the entire king bed headboard to the store; a smaller piece like the footboard or a single rail will suffice.

Write down all quantities, sizes, before coming to a store. If different parts have visually different hardware, you'd need to make a note of each one.

Trust us, there's no more straightforward solution than visiting a hardware store with the furniture piece(s) you need to assemble. While it may be inconvenient, there's simply no easier way. By the way, we understand handling furniture pieces might be not an option at all: in this case take picture of every part and come to the store w/ these pictures. Physical piece will be better obviously since you can try 'hardware on'.

What if you need a set of specific hardware for antique or vintage furniture which is not being produced anymore?

This is a tough one, however there are folks who specialize in exactly that! First of all, there are furniture restoration professionals who can help and can manufacture pretty much any style hardware that you would require. Secondly - you can try Facebook groups, try to search for 'furniture restoration', 'furniture hardware exchange', and so on. You might have to spend some time finding a picture or explaining on what you need if you have no exact picture of your old hardware, though.

What if you lost some drawer pulls, knobs or handles?

This is actually might be easy replacement. Replacing drawer pulls is relatively easy task. First of all, you can try places like Amazon or Ebay, which will be the most affordable options most likely. In worst case scenario you might need to drill bigger holes - but most likely any replacement set will do. What's best - you can change the whole style of your furniture by doing this, getting modern hardware instead of antique or vise-versa. Or you can go fancy and get some nice drawer pulls replacement from leather on Etsy, for example. Options here can be very creative and literally - endless.

Never Lose Hardware Again!

Now, how can you prevent this problem from happening again? Here are simple and effective tricks to ensure you never lose any hardware. It only takes an extra minute, but it's well worth the effort, especially since movers may not be as careful as you'd like them to be.

1. Group and Secure Hardware: Gather all the hardware pieces, including bolts, screws, nuts, and so on, and pack them into a single bag made from moving tape. It might not look pretty, but the key is that moving tape is adhesive, ensuring that the hardware stays put.

Just take all bolts, screws, nuts, etc. + tape them to one tape 'bulb'

2. Attach to Furniture: Once the hardware is securely bundled, ensure there are no openings in the packaging, and then tape this "cocoon" directly to the piece of furniture it belongs to. For a bed, affix it to the headboard, or for a dining table, include it with the legs. The important thing is to secure it in a way that prevents it from getting misplaced.

You should get something like this for every piece of furniture (this thing should be attached to packed furniture piece)

3. Larger Quantities of Hardware: If you have a substantial amount of hardware (or just for more secure approach), consider this handy trick: take an empty tape roll, tape one end of it, place all the hardware inside, and tape the other end shut. Once it's ready, attach this rounded taped all around piece to the corresponding piece of furniture.

Taped 'storage' for hardware is hard to miss once it's attached to your furniture piece. For this particular picture we've had quite a bit tape left on a roll as it is just an example :)

By following these simple steps, your hardware will remain securely attached to your furniture pieces, ensuring that you never lose them during a move.