How Many Boxes You Need to Move a Flat

How many boxes you really need to move a flat

The number of moving boxes is harder to estimate than you'd expect. Most people buy roughly half of what they end up using, and on the last evening they're packing the remainder into bags and bin bags. Yet the quantity can be estimated in advance quite accurately. Don't look at square metres, but at the furniture and what's in it.

A rough estimate by room

Allow fifteen to twenty boxes for each lived-in room. A studio flat usually fits into twenty to thirty boxes, a 2+kk flat (two rooms plus a kitchenette) needs around forty, and with a 3+1 (three rooms plus a separate kitchen) you commonly get to sixty to eighty. But what matters most is how long you've lived there. A family that has been in one place for ten years will use considerably more than a student after two years.

The kitchen is a chapter of its own. Even a small kitchen will fill ten to fifteen boxes. Crockery, pans, food and small appliances take up a surprising amount of space and have to be packed more loosely, because padding goes between them.

Bookcase and wardrobe

One metre of books on a shelf corresponds roughly to one small box. Measure the total length of filled shelves in metres and you have the number of boxes for books. Don't put books in large boxes; the weight grows faster than the volume and the bottom will give way.

Work out clothes by the width of the wardrobe. A metre of hanging clothes corresponds to two to three boxes if you fold them. Count winter coats, duvets and pillows separately; they swallow up large boxes of their own.

What doesn't need to go in boxes at all

Leave chest-of-drawers and bedside-table drawers full. Just secure them with tape or stretch film and the whole piece travels with its contents. This easily saves you five boxes, and time when unpacking too, because things stay together.

Don't refold clothes on hangers. Slip ten items into a bin bag with a hole for the hooks, and in your new flat you just hang them up. It's worth compressing duvets and pillows into vacuum bags; otherwise they take up the volume of several boxes.

Don't forget the cellar and balcony

People almost always leave spaces outside the flat out of their estimate. A cellar, pram store, balcony and pantry can easily add another ten boxes. Go through them before you order materials.

Add a tenth to the final figure as a reserve. Extra flat-packed boxes don't bother anyone; missing boxes on moving day are hard to sort out. You'll find more practical guides on our blog.

Which box sizes to choose

Three sizes cover everything

Don't buy ten different sizes. You'll manage with a small box for books and heavy small items, a medium one for crockery and the kitchen, and a large one for textiles, duvets and light, bulky things. Uniform sizes have one more advantage: they can be stacked on top of each other and save a lot of space when loading the van.

A large box doesn't mean more weight it can carry. Ordinary single-wall cardboard can handle around twenty kilograms, double-wall a little more. But the main limit is you. A full large box of books can't be carried even by two people, and you won't get it up the stairs.

Special boxes only where they pay off

A wardrobe box with a hanging rail makes sense for suits and coats. For T-shirts and jumpers it's an unnecessary expense; folded clothes will arrive just as well in an ordinary box.

Glass dividers mainly save time. If you have dozens of glasses, they replace wrapping in paper by hand and packing goes noticeably faster.

How much tape and material to buy

Allow one roll of packing tape for every ten boxes. Each bottom is taped in a cross and the top once more, so consumption adds up faster than you'd expect. Better to buy one roll too many, plus a tape dispenser; tearing tape by hand stops being fun after the fiftieth box.

Estimate packing paper by your fragile items, not by the number of boxes. A kilogram of paper is enough for roughly one box of crockery. Besides that, have two thick marker pens and a snap-off blade knife ready.

Labelling and loading order

Label boxes on the side, not on top. You see stacked boxes from the side; the top is covered. The label should show the destination room and a brief note of the contents, not a long list. Colour-coded tape by room speeds up unloading even more.

Mark one box as your first night box. It should contain chargers, toilet paper, soap, towels, medicines, a box cutter and basic crockery. It's loaded last and unloaded first.

Load the boxes only after the furniture. Heavy boxes of the same size go at the bottom, light ones on top, and gaps are filled with soft textiles. A box that isn't full will collapse under the weight, so top it up with blankets or paper.

The number of boxes also affects the size of the vehicle. Sixty boxes plus furniture won't fit into the smallest van, and two trips take more time than one larger van. You can compare the dimensions of the cargo areas in our fleet, and you'll find the rental terms in the FAQ.