How many moving boxes will you need?

01Count types of belongings, not just rooms

Walk slowly through every space and note all storage: bookcases, high cupboards, chests of drawers, kitchen units, bathroom cabinets and wardrobes. Add areas that are easy to forget, including the utility cupboard, cellar, attic, garage and balcony storage. A sparsely furnished room may still hold a great deal behind closed doors.

Sort the contents into four groups: heavy and compact, fragile, light and bulky, and items that stay with you. Books, tools and files quickly fill a small box. Cushions, duvets and clothes need more space but weigh less. This distribution matters more than one headline total.

Remove items that will be sold, donated or disposed of before the move, but keep an allowance for decisions still pending. Until an item has actually left the home, it remains part of the moving inventory.

02Choose the size according to the final weight

Use small boxes for books, tins, tools and other dense items. They limit the weight of each load and are easier to control on stairs. Medium boxes suit most household goods. Large boxes work for light belongings; filled with files or crockery, they become awkward and may fail at the bottom.

Allow for dividers or suitable cushioning for glasses and crockery. Clothes on hangers can be folded into clean boxes or placed in a purpose-made container. Do not count open shopping bags as boxes: they close poorly, cannot be stacked safely and make loading harder.

Inspect every reused box before packing it. A damp base, torn handle or crushed side does not regain its strength with an extra strip of tape. Keep weak boxes for sorting at home and exclude them from transport.

03Build your estimate in three passes

First pack a representative area, such as one bookcase, a kitchen cupboard or part of a wardrobe. Record the quantity and size of boxes used, then compare similar storage areas. This small sample is more useful than a standard figure for a supposedly comparable property.

On the second pass, list everything that will not fit a standard box: plants, lamps, baskets, sports equipment, pictures and dismantled parts. These items take up vehicle space even though they do not increase the box count. Include them separately in your quote request.

On the final pass, keep a few flat spare boxes for the kitchen items still in use, current laundry and late discoveries. A modest reserve is practical. A large pile of unused boxes obstructs walkways and does not fix a poor mix of sizes.

04Label boxes to guide unloading

Write the destination room on the top and one side, then add a short description such as “kitchen — pans”, “office — files” or “bedroom — linen”. Add “fragile” and orientation arrows only when they convey a real handling instruction. A colour system helps if a clear key is displayed at the new entrance.

Number the boxes if you want a quick completeness check. The matching list does not need to advertise valuable contents. In Biel, bilingual room names such as “Cuisine / Küche” can be useful when the people present do not all speak the same language.

Create a priority category for the first night and the items needed when work resumes. Make these boxes easy to identify without making them look like valuables. Agree on the loading order so they remain accessible at the destination.

05Correct common mistakes before sealing

Lift each box a few centimetres before sealing it for good. If one person can barely grip it, redistribute the contents. Fill gaps to stop movement, but do not compress the box until it changes shape. The top should stay flat so that the stack remains stable.

Avoid mixing a heavy object with crockery or placing books on delicate textiles. Do not leave a lamp, pole or cable protruding from a closed box. Keep screws and small furniture parts in named bags, clearly linked to the correct item.

Update the estimate when packing is under way. Separate completed boxes, boxes still expected and non-standard items. This gives the mover a better picture than a total described as final several weeks before departure.

• Small boxes used for heavy belongings.
• No empty space around fragile contents.
• Destination room written on two faces.
• Non-standard items added to the inventory.