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Room-by-room packing checklist
Work from the rooms you barely use towards the ones you use daily. boxlister.app
Kitchen
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
Not 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.
Living room
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
Not 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.
Bedrooms
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
Not 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.
Kids' rooms
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
Not 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.
Bathrooms
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
Not 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.
Home office
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
Not 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.
Garage, shed and outdoors
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
Not 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.
Laundry, hallway and storage
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
Not 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.
Ticking paper works. If you would rather the list searched itself later, BoxLister is free for five boxes.