Planning Ahead: How Many Boxes Do You Need to Move?

September 14, 2021

You’ve found the perfect place. You’re starting to plan for the practicalities of relocation. You’re even starting early (right?) and getting some supply lists together. One of the major elements, of course, is packing supplies.

If you’re gathering free boxes, the last thing you want to do is run out. If you’re purchasing your moving supplies, you don’t want to invest more than you have to. But estimating just how much you’ll need for what you have can be overwhelming.

How do you determine how many boxes you need to move?

Only Pack What You Need

With any move planning, one of the first things on your list should be to downsize. Before you collect boxes, it’s best to understand just what you have to pack.

Take inventory of what you’ve got and separate what you’d like to get rid of. Separate your piles for giving away, donation, sale, and trash. This will help you get an idea of what you have that will come with you.

We’ll cover a few different ways to estimate your boxes and one of those is based on the size of your home. Downsizing your belongings helps you fine-tune.

How to Estimate the Number of Boxes You Need to Move

Once you’ve pared down your belongings to only the stuff you want to take with you, you can start to estimate the number of boxes you need. Of course, there are different types of people in the world. Are you a minimalist? A packrat? Somewhere in between? You’ll need to account for your habits in collecting and saving things, of course.

On average, you can expect to need roughly the below count of boxes for the following home sizes:

Studio Apartment

Small boxes: 13
Medium boxes: 10-15
Large boxes: 5-6
Extra large boxes: 3-7

One Bedroom

Small boxes: 15-20
Medium boxes: 18-30
Large boxes: 10
Extra large boxes: 5-10

Two Bedroom

Small boxes: 35
Medium boxes: 25-35
Large boxes: 15
Extra large boxes: 6-10

Three Bedroom

Small boxes: 40
Medium boxes: 35-45
Large boxes: 20
Extra large boxes: 10-15

What About the Rooms?

For some, it’s easier to get your head around the number of boxes you need to move by considering it room by room. On average, you’ll want about 10 small, 8 medium, and 5 large moving boxes per room. Of course, that varies based on which room we’re talking about. Here’s a list of boxes per room to help you out:

Kitchen

The average kitchen is about 160 square feet. If your kitchen is roughly this size, you’ll need about 4-6 dish boxes, 2 extra large boxes, 4 large, 5 medium, and 3-5 small boxes.

Living Room

The average living room is fairly easy to pack up - that is, unless that’s where you keep your trinket collection or library. On average, you’ll need 1-2 extra large boxes, 2-5 large, 3-4 medium, and 2-4 small boxes to do the job.

Dining Room

If you keep your precious plates and breakable serving ware in the dining room, get dish boxes to ensure they’re protected. For the rest, grab 1-2 medium and 1-2 small boxes.

Master Bedroom

This room tends to need the most boxes of all of the bedrooms. The amount of boxes you need also depends on the size of your clothing collection, of course. Wardrobe boxes will help you pack and move your clothes while leaving them on their hangers, saving you time in packing and unpacking. For everything else, estimate 5-10 large, 5-6 medium, and 1-3 small boxes.

Remaining Bedrooms

Each bedroom will require a different number of boxes depending on who lives there. A rough guide is to have 2-4 wardrobe boxes, 3-5 large, 3-5 medium, and 1-2 small boxes to pack it all.

Bathroom

The average bathroom has a lot of small items and perhaps some appliances like curling irons, hairdryers, and electric shavers. Grab a medium box and 2-3 small-sized boxes for your bathroom.

Save the Hassle

If all of this planning feels overwhelming, you’re not alone! That’s where full-service movers come in. Full-service movers will handle all of the work for you. They’ll bring all of the packing supplies to your home and pack everything up. Once they move you to your new home, they’ll handle the unpacking too. They’ll even take all of the moving supplies away with them, saving you the disposal effort!

When it’s time to get packing, The Box Store is there for you. Whether you need a couple of small boxes or enough for your house and then some, we have them. The Box Store has boxes and containers in a variety of sizes. We also have all of the packing supplies you need for a smooth move.

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