A two-bedroom home takes about 50 moving boxes: 10 small, 15 medium, 14 large, 6 dish packs and 5 wardrobe boxes, sealed with 5 rolls of tape and cushioned with 75 lb of packing paper. Published estimates run from 40 boxes for a sparse two-bedroom to 60 for a full one, and a one-bedroom apartment needs 20 to 40.
How the box count is calculated
The total comes first, from the size of the home or the number of rooms, and is then split into box sizes.
Boxes = published range for the home size (low, middle or high end) · or rooms × 10 to 15 boxes
Home-size ranges are Redfin's: studio 10 to 20 boxes, one bedroom 20 to 40, two bedrooms 40 to 60, three bedrooms 60 to 80, four bedrooms 80 to 120, and five or more bedrooms at least 120. "Light", "Average" and "A lot" pick the low end, the middle or the high end. Counting by rooms uses the 10 to 15 boxes per room that Redfin quotes from the packaging supplier Paper Mart.
The split follows the box lists Olympia Moving & Storage publishes: a one-bedroom apartment packed into 8 small, 17 medium, 16 large, 7 dish-pack and 6 wardrobe boxes, and a single-family home into 19, 28, 28, 12 and 10. Studios and one-bedrooms use the apartment mix; larger homes use the house mix. Tape is one roll for every 10 boxes, and packing paper is 25 lb for every 2 dish packs, both from Olympia's list.
Worked example: two-bedroom home
- Range: 40 to 60 boxes; average belongings takes the middle, 50 boxes
- House mix 19 : 28 : 28 : 12 : 10 applied to 50: 10 small, 15 medium, 14 large, 6 dish packs, 5 wardrobe
- Tape: 50 ÷ 10 = 5 rolls
- Packing paper: 6 dish packs × 12.5 lb = 75 lb, three 25 lb bundles
- Space: 10 × 1.5 + 15 × 3.1 + 14 × 4.5 + 6 × 5.1 = about 155 cu ft of packed boxes
A one-bedroom apartment with average belongings comes to 30 boxes: 5 small, 9 medium, 9 large, 4 dish packs and 3 wardrobe boxes.
How many boxes per room
Counting rooms suits homes that do not match their bedroom count, such as a two-bedroom with a full basement and garage. Five rooms at the middle rate of 12.5 boxes is 63 boxes; a light packer needs 50 and a full house 75. Count every room you will empty, including the kitchen, the garage and storage spaces.
Which box sizes to use
- Small (1.5 cu ft): books, tools, canned food, records. Anything heavy goes small so each box stays liftable.
- Medium (3.1 cu ft): kitchen goods, toys, decor and small appliances, the workhorse of most moves.
- Large (4.5 cu ft): bedding, pillows, lampshades and other light, bulky things.
- Dish packs (5.1 cu ft): double-walled boxes for plates, glasses and fragile kitchenware, packed with paper.
- Wardrobe boxes: hanging clothes go straight from the rod onto the bar inside.
Should you buy spare boxes?
Redfin suggests buying about 10% more than your estimate so the last evening is not spent looking for a box. Switch on "Add 10% spare boxes": the two-bedroom example becomes 55 boxes.
What changes the count
Books, a hobby workshop or a well-stocked kitchen push a home to the high end; recent downsizing pulls it to the low end. The fastest way to need fewer boxes is to get rid of things first. If a clear-out is part of the move, the dumpster size calculator turns rooms of clutter into the container size to rent.
Related questions
Will my boxes fit in the truck or storage unit? Add the box volume to your furniture. The cubic feet calculator gives the inside volume of a truck box or storage unit from its length, width and height.
How big is the new place? The square footage calculator totals the rooms, and the room square footage calculator gives each room's floor and wall area for planning furniture, paint and flooring.
More planning tools are in the measuring and planning calculators.