The guide
How Many Boxes Do I Need to Move House? A London Room-by-Room Count in full
The short answer, by bedroom count
Box counts scale with contents, not floor area, which is why two identical Victorian conversions in the same street can differ by twenty cartons. The figures below are what our packers actually use in London when they load a van for the materials drop.
- Studio — about 22 boxes and two wardrobe boxes
- 1 bedroom — about 32 boxes and two wardrobe boxes
- 2 bedrooms — about 48 boxes and three wardrobe boxes
- 3 bedrooms — about 68 boxes and four wardrobe boxes
- 4 bedrooms — about 90 boxes and six wardrobe boxes
- 5 bedrooms or more — about 115 boxes and eight wardrobe boxes
Room by room, which is how packers actually think
The kitchen is always the surprise. It holds the heaviest and most fragile items in the house and it is the room people leave until last, which is exactly the wrong order.
- Kitchen — 10 to 16 boxes, mostly small and medium, plus cell dividers for glassware
- Living room — 8 to 14, with books in smalls and cushions and throws in larges
- Each bedroom — 6 to 10 plus wardrobe boxes for anything that must stay hung
- Bathroom — 2 to 3, and everything liquid double-bagged
- Loft, garage or shed — 6 to 20, and the single most under-counted space in London homes
Three things that add a third to the count
Books are the first. A wall of paperbacks is 15 to 20 small boxes on its own, and they must be smalls — a large box of books is too heavy to lift safely and will fail at the seams.
China, glass and artwork are the second. Individually wrapped items take three to four times the volume of stacked ones, which is the whole point: stacked plates crack, wrapped plates do not.
The third is simply not decluttering. Every London move we run includes at least one room of items the owner had already decided to get rid of, and they get packed, carried and paid for anyway.
Box sizes and what belongs in each
Use the size to control the weight, not the space. The rule packers work to is that a filled box should be liftable by one person without shifting grip.
- Small (about 33 litres) — books, tinned food, tools, records
- Medium (about 65 litres) — kitchenware, toys, small appliances
- Large (about 100 litres) — bedding, cushions, coats, lampshades
- Wardrobe box — hanging clothes straight off the rail, on loan and collected after
- Picture and mirror cartons — framed art, mirrors, TVs and glass shelving
Why the count matters less if we pack
When you buy a full or fragile pack from us, materials are not a line item. Boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, tape, mattress and sofa covers and wardrobe boxes are all inside the quoted figure, and anything unused is taken away rather than charged.
That also removes the classic London failure mode: running out of boxes at 9pm the night before completion, with every shop shut and a lorry booked for 8am.