"How many boxes do I need?" is the most-searched question before a move and also the most commonly wrong-answered one. Buy too few, and you're driving to U-Haul the morning of. Buy too many, and you have a stack of flattened cardboard clogging up the living room for a week.
Here's the formula pros use, condensed so you can use it too.
Where Do You Get the Furniture Weight?
Same place you get all the other useful numbers: a moving company estimate. Ask for the weight breakdown or total. Most decent movers will give you a cu ft number too, which you can convert at ~7 lbs per cu ft.
If you're going fully DIY with no estimate, rough rules of thumb: studio/small 1-BR ~1,500 lbs of furniture, average 2-BR ~2,500 lbs, 3-BR house ~4,000 lbs, 4-BR house ~6,000 lbs.
What's the Right Mix of Box Sizes?
Total number is only half the answer. Pros buy a specific distribution across five box types. The percentages are:
| Box Type | Share | What Goes In |
|---|---|---|
| Wardrobe | 5% | Hanging clothes, coats, suits |
| Book | 25% | Books, tools, canned goods, dense stuff |
| Medium | 30% | General household, mixed items |
| Large | 20% | Pillows, linens, lampshades, light bulky |
| Dish | 20% | Kitchen glass, dishes, stemware |
Don't Forget the Tape and Paper
Two more formulas you'll use every move:
- Tape: about 36 ft per box(top, bottom, and a few extra wraps). A standard roll is 165 ft, so you'll get roughly 4 to 5 boxes per roll.
- Packing paper: about 1.2 lbs per dish box. Dish boxes are where most of the paper goes — medium and large boxes use only a little for fill. Packing paper usually comes in 25-lb bundles.
The Calculator
Drop in your furniture weight. The calculator does the math and converts straight into a shopping list.
A Few Things the Formula Doesn't Cover
- TVs and flat-screens. Buy dedicated flat-screen TV boxes separately. One per TV.
- Mirrors and framed art. Mirror boxes (flat, narrow) if you have lots. Otherwise bubble wrap + a sturdy small box works.
- Oversized items.Golf clubs, skis, bikes, tall plants — these have their own specialty boxes or just travel as-is.
- Add 10% buffer if you're aggressive packers. If your closets are stuffed or you have a bigger kitchen than average, run the formula and add 10%.
Want us to bring the supplies? Our packing service shows up with pro-grade boxes, paper, and tape. No shopping, no leftovers, labeled by room.