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[ Packing checklist ]

How to pack a house, room by room.

Most packing advice tells you what to put in a box. The harder questions are which room to start on, what you still need next week, and what should not go in a box at all. This is the whole house, room by room, in the order things actually leave.

There is a free printable version of everything below. No email address, no sign-up.

Not sure how many boxes to order first? The moving box calculator gives you a count by box size in three questions. There are also free printable box labels for once they are packed.

Packing is one row on a much longer list. The utilities, the notice, the mail and the meter readings all sit on someone else’s clock, so they are the ones that bite when you start late. Those are in the printable moving checklist, which works backwards from moving day.

One decision before you tape a single box.

Decide now how you are going to know what is inside a box once it is sealed. Writing the room on the side is not enough: eight boxes marked “Kitchen” tell you nothing when you are looking for the one with the kettle. Number each box, keep a list of what went in it, and the unpack stops being a search.

That is the one habit worth having before you start. The rest of the technique, how heavy a box should be, which way up, how to pad the gaps, is covered in ten habits for packing boxes you can actually find later. This page assumes you have that sorted and gets on with the rooms.

The order rooms actually leave.

Four weeks is about right for an average house. The sequence matters more than the dates: work from the rooms you barely use towards the ones you use every day, so you are never unpacking something to use it again.

  1. Four weeks outStorage, garage, shed, and the back of every wardrobe. Nothing here is needed before the move, and it is always more than you think.
  2. Three weeks outBooks, decorations, spare linen, out-of-season clothes, and the special-occasion half of the kitchen.
  3. Two weeks outThe home office minus your working setup, most of the kids’ toys, and everything in the bathroom cupboards.
  4. One week outMost of the kitchen, most clothing, and anything on a wall. Start living out of what is left rather than unpacking to use it.
  5. The last two daysBedding, remaining clothes, the TV, and the last of the kitchen. Pack the first-night box now and load it last.
  6. Moving morningStrip the beds, unplug the router, pack the kettle, do the final clean, and walk every room and cupboard one last time.

Room by room.

Every room gets the same four questions: what goes early, what stays out until the end, what should not go in a box at all, and what breaks if you are careless.

Kitchen

The slowest room in the house and the one people start too late. Almost everything is either fragile, heavy, or still needed for dinner tonight.

Pack early

  • Special-occasion crockery, serving platters and the good glasses
  • Appliances you use monthly or less: stand mixer, slow cooker, blender, air fryer
  • Spare tea towels, tablecloths, placemats and napkins
  • Cookbooks and the recipe folder
  • Baking tins, cookie cutters and anything seasonal
  • The back half of the pantry: tins, dried goods, unopened jars

Leave until last

  • One pot, one pan, one chopping board and one knife
  • A plate, bowl, mug and set of cutlery per person
  • The kettle, the toaster and whatever makes your coffee
  • Dish soap, a sponge and a tea towel
  • Bin bags and paper towel

Do not put these in a box

  • Anything frozen or refrigerated: run the fridge and freezer down instead of moving them full
  • Open bottles of oil, sauce or wine, which leak whatever you do
  • Half-used cleaning chemicals, which most removalists will not carry

What breaks: Stemware and anything with a hollow stem. Wrap each glass individually and stand them upright in the box, never on their side, and never with plates stacked on top.

Living room

Deceptively quick to pack and deceptively easy to get wrong, because it is mostly electronics, screens and things with legs that come off.

Pack early

  • Books, DVDs, board games and anything on a shelf
  • Ornaments, vases, candles and the contents of the mantelpiece
  • Photo frames and wall art, once you have noted which wall each came off
  • Throws, cushion covers and spare curtains
  • Console games and accessories you will not miss

Leave until last

  • The TV and one set of remotes
  • Router and modem, which come off the wall the morning you leave
  • Lamps you are still using in the evenings
  • One blanket per person for the last night

Do not put these in a box

  • Batteries left inside remotes and toys, because they leak and ruin whatever they are packed with
  • Loose cables in a bag with no labels, unless you enjoy a mystery

What breaks: The TV. If you kept the original box, use it. If not, it travels upright between two mattresses or wrapped in a blanket and belted in, never flat on its back with anything on top.

Bedrooms

The easiest room to pack and the one worth doing properly, because you will want a made bed on the first night more than anything else in the house.

Pack early

  • Out-of-season clothing and anything at the back of the wardrobe
  • Formal wear, spare shoes and bags
  • Spare bedding, blankets and pillows you are not sleeping on
  • Jewellery you do not wear day to day, kept with you rather than on the truck
  • Books, ornaments and anything on the dresser

Leave until last

  • A week of clothes per person, ideally in a suitcase rather than a box
  • The bedding actually on the beds, stripped on the morning
  • Phone chargers and whatever is on the bedside table
  • Toiletries you use daily

Do not put these in a box

  • Anything irreplaceable: passports, documents, jewellery and heirlooms travel with you
  • Clothes still damp from the wash, which will smell by the time you unpack them

What breaks: Mirrors on wardrobe doors and dressing tables. Tape a large X across the glass, wrap it, and move it upright on its edge rather than flat.

Kids' rooms

Pack this room like an adult bedroom, then leave one box deliberately unpacked. A child who can find their own things on the first night makes the whole move easier.

Pack early

  • Toys that have not been touched in a month, which is most of them
  • Books they have outgrown and craft supplies
  • Out-of-season and outgrown clothing
  • Wall decorations, posters and shelf contents

Leave until last

  • The comfort item, which does not go in a box at all
  • A few days of clothes and school uniform
  • Two or three favourite toys or games
  • Night light, and the bedding off their bed

Do not put these in a box

  • The comfort toy. It travels in the car, in a bag, with a person, not in a box on a truck
  • Anything with a battery compartment left loaded

What breaks: Less glass here, more heartbreak. The things that get damaged are handmade and school-made items, so those go in a labelled box with padding rather than loose in with the toys.

Bathrooms

A small room that produces a surprising number of boxes, most of which should be thrown out rather than moved.

Pack early

  • Spare towels and anything in the linen cupboard
  • Backup toiletries, unopened refills and bulk buys
  • Hair tools, spare brushes and the contents of the drawers
  • Decorative items and anything on a shelf

Leave until last

  • One towel per person
  • Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo
  • Medication and prescriptions, kept with you
  • Toilet paper, hand soap and a cleaning cloth for the final wipe-down

Do not put these in a box

  • Nail polish remover, aerosols and anything flammable, which removalists will refuse
  • Half-empty bottles of anything liquid, unless the lid is taped and it is bagged
  • Expired medication, which goes to a pharmacy rather than a box

What breaks: Perfume and glass bottles. Bag them separately so that when one does go, it does not soak the towels packed around it.

Home office

The room where losing one small thing costs you the most. A missing charger or a document you cannot find is a genuinely bad afternoon.

Pack early

  • Reference books, files and archived paperwork
  • Stationery, spare cables and the contents of the drawers
  • The second monitor, the printer and anything you can work without
  • Wall art, certificates and desk ornaments

Leave until last

  • Laptop, its charger and your primary monitor
  • Documents you might need mid-move: lease, contracts, insurance, IDs
  • A notebook and a pen, which you will want more than you expect
  • The router, packed with the living room on the last morning

Do not put these in a box

  • Passports, birth certificates, deeds and tax records, which travel with you
  • External hard drives holding the only copy of anything, for the same reason
  • Printer with the ink cartridges still in it, unless you like cleaning ink off a box

What breaks: Monitors and anything with a screen. Upright, padded on both faces, and never with a box resting on top. Photograph the back of the desk before you unplug a single cable.

Garage, shed and outdoors

The room most likely to be left until the night before, and the one full of things that are heavy, sharp, or not allowed on the truck at all.

Pack early

  • Seasonal gear: camping, Christmas decorations, sports equipment
  • Tools you use rarely, and the contents of the toolbox drawers
  • Garden pots, planters and outdoor decorations
  • Anything already in a storage tub, which just needs a label

Leave until last

  • A basic toolkit: screwdrivers, a spanner, a hammer, a utility knife
  • The vacuum and cleaning gear for the final clean
  • Bin bags, tape and the last of the packing supplies

Do not put these in a box

  • Petrol, gas bottles, paint, solvents and pesticides, which removalists are not permitted to carry
  • Fuel left in the mower or whipper snipper, which needs draining first
  • Anything with a blade left unsheathed

What breaks: Less about breakage, more about what breaks other things. Sharp and heavy items go in small, sturdy boxes on their own so they do not go through the side of a box holding something soft.

Laundry, hallway and storage

The leftovers room. Everything that does not belong to another room ends up here, which is exactly why it gets forgotten until moving day.

Pack early

  • Spare linen, the ironing board and the airer
  • Coats and shoes out of season, and the contents of the hall cupboard
  • Suitcases, which are free containers: pack them full rather than empty
  • The contents of the junk drawer, sorted rather than tipped into a box

Leave until last

  • Laundry basket and enough detergent for one load
  • The iron, if you need it that week
  • Keys, spare keys and anything by the front door
  • Cleaning supplies for the final walkthrough

Do not put these in a box

  • Bleach and drain cleaner packed alongside anything you care about
  • The vacuum, packed before the last clean, which happens more often than you would think

What breaks: Light fittings and bulbs, if you are taking them. They go in a small box with plenty of padding, labelled clearly, and not at the bottom of the stack.

The box you open first.

Pack one box that gets you through the first night without opening anything else, and load it last so it comes off first. Bedding for every bed, a towel and toiletries per person, medication, chargers, the kettle and two mugs, toilet paper, a torch, basic tools, and whatever the kids will not sleep without.

Then label it so obviously that nobody has to guess. This is the one box where a number on the side is not enough: write what it is, and put it somewhere you will see it. If everything else is numbered and listed, this is the only box you need to find by sight.

Take the checklist with you.

Every room above as a tick list, on paper or as a PDF from your browser. It is free, there is no email box, and nothing asks you to sign up for anything.

Open the printable checklist

Questions that come up every time.

How long before moving out should you start packing?

About four weeks for an average house, starting with storage and the garage. The rule that matters more than the timeline: if you have not used it in the last month, it can be in a box today. Most people underestimate the garage and the kitchen and leave both far too late.

What will movers not pack?

Anything flammable, corrosive or pressurised. That means petrol, gas bottles, paint, solvents, aerosols, nail polish remover, pesticides and fireworks. Most also decline perishable food, plants, and anything irreplaceable such as passports, documents, jewellery and medication, which should travel with you rather than on the truck.

What is the most forgotten thing when moving?

The contents of things that are not rooms: the shed, the roof space, the hot water cupboard, the letterbox, and whatever is stuck to the fridge door. Curtain rods, light fittings, the spare key with a neighbour and anything on loan run a close second. Walking every room and opening every cupboard on the final morning catches most of it.

Is there a free PDF packing checklist for moving?

Yes. The printable checklist on this site is free, needs no email address, and covers every room with tick boxes. Open it and use your browser’s print option, where you can either print it or save it as a PDF.

The list, without the paper.

BoxLister is the same idea as the checklist above, kept on your phone. Add items to a box as you pack it, then search any item later and it tells you the box and the room. Works offline, which is exactly when you need it.

Try it free, five boxes

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