"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.
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. Curious what the whole move will cost once you factor in supplies, labor, and truck time? Try the moving cost calculator for a fast ballpark.