The guide
Packing a Family Home: A Room-by-Room Timeline in full
Six weeks out: declutter before you pack
Packing something you will throw away in October costs you twice — once in materials and crew hours, once in the new house when you find it. Decluttering first is the only reliable way to reduce a removal bill after the survey.
Work by category, not by room: books, then clothes, then kitchen equipment, then toys. Categories are decisive; rooms are sentimental.
- Book a charity collection and a tip run for weekend four
- Sell or list bulky furniture you already know will not fit
- Photograph anything you might regret — then let it go
- Tell your remover what has left; a smaller volume can mean a smaller crew
Five weeks out: the loft, the garage and the shed
This is the part families underestimate and removers price carefully. Lofts hold Christmas decorations, suitcases and paint tins; garages hold tools, bikes and the shelving nobody has looked at since 2019; sheds hold garden furniture, a mower and half a bag of cement.
Empty the loft yourself if it is safe to do so, or book loft-and-garage clearance to van as an add-on. Either way it happens before moving week, not during it.
- Loft: bag soft items, box fragile, dispose of paint and chemicals legally
- Garage: drain fuel from mowers and strimmers — removers cannot carry it
- Shed: dismantle flat-pack furniture, bundle canes and tools
- Garden: pots, trampolines and swing sets need dismantling time booked in
Four weeks out: spare rooms, books and the good china
Pack anything you would not miss for a month. Books go in small boxes — a full large box of paperbacks is not liftable and will fail at the bottom. China and glass go in dish packs with cell dividers, wrapped individually in paper rather than newspaper, which transfers ink.
Two weeks out: wardrobes, and what professionals actually use
Wardrobe boxes are the single biggest time-saver on moving day: hanging clothes go straight across on the rail and straight back into the new wardrobe, uncreased. Export wrap — heavy stretch film over blankets — is what protects upholstery on a long carry, and floor runners protect your deposit or your new hallway.
- Wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes; vacuum bags for out-of-season
- Export wrap and blankets for sofas, mattresses and headboards
- Bubble wrap and dish packs for kitchens; corner protectors for artwork
- Screw bags taped to the frame of every item that comes apart
A labelling system that survives the unload
Label the side of the box, not the top — stacked boxes hide their lids. Write the destination room in the new house, not the room it came from, and add a one-line contents note. Colour-code by room with tape and put a matching strip on each door frame at the new address so the crew never has to ask.
Number the boxes and keep a phone note of the count per room. Two minutes of admin turns 'where is the kettle' into a lookup.
The do-not-pack list
Some things never go in the lorry, for legal, insurance or sanity reasons. Keep a single crate or bag in the car and put all of it there as you find it.
- Passports, deeds, birth certificates and the completion paperwork
- Keys, including spares and the ones for the shed nobody can find later
- Jewellery, cash, medication and prescriptions
- Laptops, chargers, routers and anything you cannot replace overnight
- Fuel, gas bottles, aerosols, paint and fireworks — removers cannot carry them
Kids, pets and moving day itself
Children under about eight have a better day somewhere else, with a grandparent or a friend, returning to a house where their bed is already built. Older children do well with a job — labelling, or being in charge of the first-night box.
Pets need a closed room with a sign on the door, or a day at a sitter. Cats in particular will find the one open door in a house full of open doors.
The first-night box, itemised
One box, clearly marked, loaded last and unloaded first — or better, carried in the car.
- Kettle, mugs, tea, coffee, milk and a bottle opener
- Toilet roll, hand soap, towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste
- Bedding for every bed, made up first before the boxes go in
- Phone chargers, a lamp, a torch and spare bulbs
- Scissors, screwdriver, tape, cleaning cloths and bin bags
- Children's comfort items and pet food and bowls