How many boxes you need for a move, from a single room to a three-bedroom: the table by home type, the right sizes, what goes in each box and how much it can weigh.
A student room needs about fifteen, a studio between 15 and 25, a one-bedroom between 25 and 40, a two-bedroom between 40 and 60. Split them roughly in half between small boxes, for heavy things, and large ones, for light things. Add one wardrobe box for each closet of hanging clothes.
This is a practical estimate, not a measurement: it changes with how many books you own, how full the kitchen is and how much you're willing to throw out. Always get a few more than the count tells you.
| Home | Boxes in total | Small | Large | Wardrobe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Student room | 10-15 | 5-8 | 5-7 | 1 |
Studio | 15-25 | 8-13 | 7-12 | 1-2 |
One-bedroom | 25-40 | 13-20 | 12-20 | 2 |
Two-bedroom | 40-60 | 20-30 | 20-30 | 3 |
Three-bedroom or bigger | 60-80 and up | 30-40 | 30-40 | 4 or more |
Every time I look at a room and count boxes, a confident voice inside me says "ten will do." That's my inner optimist, the same voice that says "I'll just pop out for five minutes." I have never seen it get a number right.
The reason is simple: you count the things you can see, and a move is mostly made of the things you can't. The junk drawer, the storage closet, under the bed, the shelf above the washing machine: each one is worth at least a box, and none of them shows up before the day you open it.
That's why the table above is wide, and why the advice is to go for the top of the range. A spare box gets flattened and given away; a missing box at ten at night gets replaced by a garbage bag, and that's the start of a whole other kind of move.
If you put your things in storage with us, the quote does the counting instead of your inner optimist: from the size you pick we suggest 2 small and 2 large boxes for each square meter, plus tape and bubble wrap, and you change the quantities. It's a starting point, not an obligation.
Moving boxes come in dozens of formats, and buying six different sizes is the fastest way to get a van that looks like a game of Jenga halfway through. Two regular sizes stack straight, and a straight stack arrives in one piece.
The small box, 40 × 30 × 30 cm, is for heavy things: books, plates, jars, paperwork, tools. It's small on purpose, because full of books it quickly gets close to the weight limit, and a large box full of books can't be lifted by anyone, not even your inner optimist.
The large box, 60 × 40 × 40 cm, is for light, bulky things: sheets, pillows, comforters, folded clothes, toys, padded lamps. If you lift it without effort you filled it right; if you make the tennis-player grunt, you didn't.
The wardrobe box is a cardboard closet with its own rail: you hang jackets, coats and dresses straight from the hanger and find them again without creases. You need about one per closet, and it saves you the afternoon of ironing what you had already ironed.
| Box | Size | What goes in | What stays out |
|---|---|---|---|
Small | 40 × 30 × 30 cm | Books, plates and glasses, pantry, paperwork, tools | Pillows and comforters, which fill it for no reason |
Large | 60 × 40 × 40 cm | Folded clothes, sheets, pillows, toys, light items | Books and dishes: it gets too heavy |
Wardrobe | 50 × 50 × 120 cm, with a rail | Jackets, coats, clothes on hangers | Shoes and heavy things at the bottom |
Books are the first trap. They take up little room on the shelf and a lot in a box, and they only go in small ones: if you have a full bookcase, count roughly one small box per shelf, and round up.
The kitchen is the second. Plates, glasses, pots and the pantry need small, sturdy boxes, paper to wrap things in and a lot of patience; how to do it without breaking anything is in how to pack plates and glasses. A normal kitchen eats up a third of the small boxes on its own, literally.
The closet is the third, and here the mistake goes the other way: people buy too many small boxes. Folded clothes go in large boxes, hanging ones in wardrobe boxes, and shoes in a box of their own, each pair in its bag. If the closet has four doors, your inner optimist will say "one box": it's at least four.
Done counting? We'll bring the boxes
If you move or store with us, we bring boxes and materials to your door: with storage you pick a kit you can change, with a move we add them to the quote.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Moving boxesEvery box has to stay under 20 kg, because one person lifts it, one box at a time, often up the stairs. That's why heavy things go in small boxes: the box limits the weight before your back has to.
The test is simple: lift it off the floor with your legs. If you can carry it up a flight of stairs without changing color, it's fine; if you need a quiet moment of reflection before you start, take something out and put it in a new box.
Then number them. A number and a room on two sides, and a sheet where you write what's inside: in the new home, or after a few months in storage, it's the difference between opening one box and opening twelve. The printable form is right below, or there's our home inventory template.
Once you've counted, you need to find the boxes. Free, bought or swapped: the options, with the pros and cons of each, are in where to find moving boxes.
If you move or put your things in storage with us, you don't have to hunt for them: small, large and wardrobe boxes, with tape and bubble wrap, are brought to your door by us: with storage at list prices plus €29 VAT included to bring them over, with a move as part of the quote. Prices and the suggested kit are on the moving boxes page, and we only sell them that way, together with the service.
For filling them well, sealing them in an H and writing the labels, there's how to pack your boxes. And if you want to know how much space everything takes, boxes and furniture together, the space calculator tells you in square meters, without asking your inner optimist.
As a practical estimate between 25 and 40, split roughly in half between small and large, plus two wardrobe boxes. The number goes up with books and a very full kitchen.
Two are enough: a small one, 40 × 30 × 30 cm, for heavy things, and a large one, 60 × 40 × 40 cm, for light things. For clothes on hangers there's the wardrobe box.
Only small boxes, because books are heavy for their size. A full box should not go over 20 kg.
It's for moving clothes on hangers without folding them: there's a rail inside. You need about one per closet.
At most 20 kg, because one person lifts it. To stay under it, heavy things go in small boxes.
Done counting? We'll bring the boxes
If you move or store with us, we bring boxes and materials to your door: with storage you pick a kit you can change, with a move we add them to the quote.
Would you rather talk to a person?+39 02 999 444 21WhatsApp
Moving boxesWhere to find moving boxes: the supermarkets and stores that give them away, the big stores and websites that sell them, swap groups, and when it makes sense to have them brought to your door with the move.
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Renting out your home furnished or unfurnished: pros and cons in a table, the five contract types (4+4, 3+2, students, temporary, short-term), the inventory to sign, and what to do with the furniture and personal things you don't want to leave to the tenant.
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