How many moving boxes do I need?

How the calculator estimates the number of boxes

The numbers in the table are averages by home size: a home the same size can need a lot fewer boxes or a lot more, depending on what’s stored in it.

That’s why the calculator asks how much stuff you have. With not much, it stays at the low end of the table; with a lot, at the high end. Then it adds 10% for what only turns up at the end — there’s always more than it looked like.

Before that margin, the table puts a studio or 1-bedroom apartment at about 17 to 23 boxes, a 2-bedroom apartment or house at 33 to 43, and a 3-bedroom house at 53 to 64. It has no row for a 4-bedroom house: choose “4 bedrooms or more” and the calculator shows the 3-bedroom high end, margin included, with a plus sign — from there, add the extra bedrooms room by room.

The calculator counts bedrooms only — not the living room, kitchen or bathroom.

What goes in each size

• Small, about 40 × 30 × 30 cm (16 × 12 × 12 in) — books, dishes, tools: anything heavy. The heavier the contents, the smaller the box.
• Medium, about 55 × 35 × 35 cm (22 × 14 × 14 in) — kitchen things, clothes, toys, most of the house.
• Large, about 60 × 40 × 40 cm (24 × 16 × 16 in) — only what’s light and bulky: bedding, pillows, duvets.

Sizes vary a little from store to store; what matters is the proportion between the three. A full box shouldn’t weigh more than about 15 to 20 kg (35 to 45 lb) — any heavier and nobody’s carrying it up the stairs.

Besides these, it helps to have boxes made for the job: wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes, and dish boxes with dividers. How to pack each thing is in the packing guides.

How to know how many boxes you really need

No table knows your home. If you want a more accurate number, walk through the rooms and count the closets, the shelves and the full drawers: that’s what fills boxes, not the floor area. And get a few extra — it’s easier to give away the leftovers than to stop halfway because you ran out.