How to Pack for a House Move: A Room-by-Room Guide

Most people start packing the wrong way. They open a kitchen drawer, take out three things, get distracted by the loft, find a box of old photos, and three hours later nothing is packed and the kitchen looks worse than it did at breakfast. The trick to working out how to pack for a house move is the opposite: pick one room, finish it, label it, and only then move on. This guide takes you through the house in the order that actually works, with specific tips for each room.

Before you start, get the kit and the system right. The first ten minutes of setup save the next ten hours.

The packing kit you’ll actually need

Decent materials make the job faster and the boxes safer. For an average 3-bed house, plan for around 30 to 50 boxes plus the consumables. A useful kit:

• Small boxes (book size): for heavy items like books, glassware, tools, tinned food
• Medium boxes: the workhorse, used for most household items
• Large boxes: for light, bulky items like bedding, lampshades, pillows, soft toys
• Wardrobe boxes: tall boxes with a hanging rail, clothes go straight from the wardrobe
• Dish-pack boxes or cell boxes: for crockery and glassware, with internal dividers
• Bubble wrap and packing paper: paper for protecting flat items, bubble for fragile shapes
• Strong parcel tape and a tape gun: the cheap tape lifts off cardboard, don’t bother
• Two thick marker pens and a roll of coloured stickers for room-coding

Buy or hire from your removals firm rather than hunting supermarket leftovers. Double-walled cartons hold up under load, single-wall and reused boxes collapse halfway up the stairs. Our packaging materials range covers the standard sizes plus the specialist boxes most households need.

The packing rules that apply to every room

Five habits to settle on before you start. They apply equally whether you’re packing the kitchen or the loft.

1. One room at a time, fully finished. Resist the urge to “just box up the bookcase” in the lounge while you’re meant to be packing the spare room. Finish, label, stack, move on.
2. Heavy items in small boxes. Books in a large box turn into an injury waiting to happen. As a rough rule, if you can’t comfortably lift a packed box with one hand, repack into smaller boxes.
3. Label by destination room, not source room. Write where the box is going at the new house, not where it came from. “Master bedroom” or “kitchen” beats “spare room contents”.
4. Two-line labels. Top of the box and one side. Destination room plus a one-line description: “kitchen, baking gear and tins”.
5. Don’t pack what you can’t take. Aerosols, paint, gas canisters, garden chemicals, fireworks, fuel, lithium batteries above a certain size, perishable food, and live plants are all on most removals firms’ prohibited list. Set them aside as you work and dispose of, gift, or transport them yourself.

With the kit and the rules in place, work through the house from the rooms you use least to the rooms you use most. That usually means: loft and garage first, spare rooms next, then kitchen and main bedroom, with the bathroom last. The room order below follows that logic.

Loft and storage cupboards

Start where the inertia is highest. Lofts and storage cupboards are full of things you haven’t seen since the last move and won’t miss for a month, which makes them the perfect first room to pack.

• Open everything before you box it. Half the loft can usually go to charity or the tip, not the new house.
• Wrap Christmas decorations in packing paper and box them clearly; you’ll likely want them earliest of anything stored here.
• Suitcases earn their keep in a move: pack them with off-season clothes, shoes, or bedding rather than moving them empty.
• Watch for items that aren’t really yours, paint left by the previous owner, the boiler manual, the burglar alarm fob box. Sort and dispose now.
• Photos, paperwork, and anything sentimental goes in clearly labelled boxes that travel in your car on the day, not in the van.

Garage, shed, and outbuildings

The trickiest packing room in most houses, partly because of the volume, partly because the contents are a mix of useful, hazardous, and forgotten.

• Group by category as you go: tools, garden, sports kit, bikes, DIY, paint and chemicals.
• Tools pack into small heavy-duty boxes. Wrap edges of saws, chisels, and blades in cardboard or thick tape so they don’t slice through paper. Bag and label small fittings (screws, picture hooks, drill bits).
• Bikes are usually moved as-is by the crew but it helps to deflate tyres slightly and remove anything loose (lights, bottle cages, child seats).
• Paint, motor oil, weedkiller, petrol, and gas canisters can’t go in the van. Our list of items removals firms can’t take covers the full picture; take small amounts to your local recycling centre (Leicester and most Leicestershire councils require a slot booking) or pass usable items to neighbours.
• Lawn mowers and strimmers should be drained of fuel before packing. The same goes for any petrol-driven garden tool.

Spare bedrooms

Spare bedrooms tend to be lightly used and quick to pack, which is helpful momentum after the garage.

• Strip beds, fold linen, and pack into a clearly labelled large box. Mattress and base get covered with proper mattress bags on moving day, the crew will normally bring these.
• Wardrobes and chests of drawers can usually travel with light items still inside (clothes, soft items), but anything heavy or fragile comes out. Confirm with your crew at the survey.
• Children’s spare-room contents, toys, books, art supplies, are a minefield without a system. Box by category, not by container they were in. “Lego” beats “the green tub from under the bed”.
• If a spare room is your office or hobby space, treat it like a small specialist room. Cables, screens, files, and anything fragile gets wrapped properly.

The kitchen

The kitchen is the room everyone underestimates. A standard kitchen takes most people a full day to pack properly. Start a fortnight out, not a week.

• Eat down the freezer in the two weeks before the move. Defrost it 24 to 48 hours before moving day if it’s coming with you.
• Use up store-cupboard food where you can. Tins, pasta, and rice travel fine but they’re heavy and most people have far more than they think.
• Crockery goes in dish-pack or cell boxes, ideally on its edge rather than flat-stacked, with packing paper between every plate. The vertical pack is far more impact-resistant.
• Glassware needs more padding than people give it. Wrap each glass in two sheets of paper, twist the top closed, and pack into a cell box. Wine glasses and stemware need bubble wrap, not just paper. Our guide to packing fragile items covers the technique in more detail.
• Pans, baking trays, and casserole dishes nest well into medium boxes. Put the heaviest at the bottom, paper between layers.
• Knives wrap individually in folded paper and tape, point down. Label the box clearly.
• Small appliances (kettle, toaster, microwave) box separately if you have the originals, in a medium box with bubble wrap if not.
• Pack a clearly labelled “kitchen kit” box for moving day: kettle, two mugs, tea, coffee, milk substitute that survives a day out of the fridge, sugar, biscuits, kitchen roll, washing-up liquid, bin bags, and a sharp knife. This box rides in the car, not the van.

Living room

The living room is faster to pack than the kitchen but has the most fragile items per cubic foot.

• Books pack into small boxes, spine down. Resist the urge to use a large box, the weight catches everyone out.
• Picture frames and mirrors wrap individually in bubble wrap with corners protected by extra padding. Stand them on edge in a box, not flat.
• The TV is best packed in its original box if you’ve kept it. Otherwise, wrap in a moving blanket and load on edge in the van; the crew will handle this on the day.
• Cables, remotes, and small electronics: photograph the back of the TV and any other tech before unplugging. Bag cables together with a label noting which device they belong to. Future-you will be very grateful.
• Lamps come apart: shade in a separate box with bubble wrap, base in a medium box wrapped in paper. Bulbs out and packed separately or disposed of.
• Soft furnishings (cushions, throws, rugs) pack into large boxes or, more usefully, are used as protective padding around fragile items in other boxes.

Main bedroom and wardrobes

The main bedroom is quick to pack in terms of volume but it’s emotionally the room most people leave too late.

• Wardrobe boxes earn their cost here. Clothes go from the wardrobe rail straight into the box on hangers; the crew can lift the box into the van and you re-hang at the other end without ironing.
• Folded clothes pack into medium boxes lined with packing paper. Vacuum bags work well for bulky items like duvets and winter coats, freeing up serious space.
• Shoes pack in their original boxes if you have them, otherwise in a medium box with paper between layers. Put a label noting “shoes” on the outside, the contents are not obvious by feel.
• Jewellery, watches, and anything irreplaceable goes in a small bag that travels with you on the day. The same goes for passports, cash, and important documents.
• The bed is dismantled by the crew on the morning of the move (most beds, anyway) and reassembled at the other end. Bag the bolts and fittings and tape them to the headboard.

Bathroom

Last room, and the one that benefits from being packed late.

• Half-used toiletries, do you really want them at the new house? Most people throw out far too little. Be honest about what’s coming and what isn’t.
• Pack toiletries in a strong, lined box (a plastic crate is even better) in case anything leaks. Tape every bottle lid down with a strip of masking tape before packing.
• Towels are great packing material for fragile items in other rooms; consider using them as padding for crockery, glassware, or art before you finish the bathroom itself.
• Medications go in a clearly labelled bag that travels with you, not in the van. Same for first-aid kits and anything urgent.
• Cleaning products, chemicals, and aerosols don’t travel in the van. Use them up before the move or bag them for the recycling centre.
• Pack a “bathroom essentials” bag with toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand soap, a couple of towels, and the next-morning shower kit. This bag joins the kitchen kit in the car.

When self-packing isn’t the right call

A full self-pack saves the most money but it takes time most people don’t have. If your move date is tight, your job is busy, or you have small children at home, the maths often favours a professional packing service. Our crews pack a 3-bed house in a day, with proper materials and a system that takes the pressure off, and they’re the same team that surveys your move and handles it on the day. Speak to one of us at the survey if you’d like the option costed alongside the standard quote.

Many households split the difference: pack the easy rooms yourself (loft, garage, spare rooms, books, clothes) and have the crew handle kitchen, glassware, art, and electronics. It’s the best of both, and it’s worth asking your removals firm to quote on a “fragiles only” pack alongside the standard quote.

Get a quote for your move

Packing well is half the work of moving well. Boxes that are properly packed, properly labelled, and stacked by destination room turn moving day from chaos into choreography.

For a free, no-obligation quote on your move, including any packing service you’d like quoted alongside it, fill in our contact form or call us on 0800 043 5393 to speak to one of our team. We’ll talk you through what’s involved, give you a clear quote, and answer any questions before you commit. No pressure either way.