Moving box calculator
Count the rooms you are packing and say how full they are. You get a range for each box size, from small book boxes to wardrobe boxes and dish packs, plus the tape, paper and labels to go with them.
How the estimate works
Pick the home size closest to yours to fill in a typical set of rooms, then change the counts so they match your home: add a home office, a second living room or a garage, or remove rooms you are not packing. Every room type carries its own mix of boxes. A kitchen needs dish packs and plenty of small and medium boxes; a bedroom needs large boxes for bedding and wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes.
- Full bookcases add five small boxes each. Books are heavy, so they go in the smallest boxes.
- How full scales every room: minimal ×0.7, average ×1, full ×1.3, very full ×1.6. Be honest about cupboards, lofts and under-bed storage.
- Tape is worked out from the box sizes, sealing the top and bottom of every box with three strips (along the seam and across both ends, each running about 7.5 cm or 3 in past the edge), plus 15–30% spare. Dish packs get a second layer on the bottom.
Example: a two-bedroom home with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, hallway and one bookcase, at average fullness, comes to about 42–62 boxes, including 2 dish packs and 3 wardrobe boxes, with four to six 50 m rolls of tape.
The counts are Calm Doorway's own room-by-room rule of thumb, shown as a range of about 15% either side. Buy towards the middle of the range and top up once you can see how fast the boxes fill. Then use the room label printer to number them.
Sources and assumptions
- Reference box sizes used for volumes and tape: small 16 × 13 × 13 in, medium 18 × 18 × 16 in, large 18 × 18 × 24 in, wardrobe 20 × 20 × 44 in, dish pack 18 × 18 × 28 in. Boxes sold for moving vary by supplier; check the sizes on the ones you buy.
- Room box counts, the fullness factors and the packing paper allowance are Calm Doorway's own estimates, not a published standard.
- Unit conversions use the exact definitions 1 in = 2.54 cm and 1 yd = 0.9144 m: NIST, unit conversion.
Questions
How many boxes does a two-bedroom home need?
With a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a hallway and one bookcase at average fullness, the calculator suggests about 42–62 boxes. A home that has been lived in for years, with full cupboards and storage, can need around a third more.
Which boxes are best for books?
Small ones. Books are dense, and a medium or large box full of them is hard to lift and more likely to split. Fill small boxes with books and use the larger sizes for light, bulky things such as bedding and cushions.
What is a dish pack?
A tall box with double walls, made for plates, bowls and glasses. Plates travel on their edges, wrapped in paper, and glasses often go in cardboard cell dividers. If you cannot get dish packs, use small sturdy boxes and more paper.
How much packing tape does one box take?
Sealing the top and bottom of an 18 × 18 in medium box with three strips each, running about 7.5 cm (3 in) past the edges, uses roughly 3.7 m (4 yd). That is about 13 medium boxes per 50 m roll, before spares.
Should I buy the top of the range?
Usually not. Start near the middle estimate, pack the rooms you use least, and see how quickly the boxes fill. It is easier to buy a few more than to store a pile of unused ones.