When it’s time to pack up and move to a new house or to an overseas location, you’ll have many tasks you have to organise. You’ll need to pack up the items in your existing house and either move them into a new house or place them into storage. You’ll need to organise movers, disconnect and reconnect services and unpack your items at the other end. Somewhere along the way, you’ll need to think about how many boxes and how much packing material you’ll need, but it’s not always easy to figure it out, especially if you haven’t had a lot of experience with moving.
When determining how many boxes you’ll need for your move you’ll need to consider how big your house is, how many items you’re moving and if you have items that will need to be packed in a special way such as wine or large, fragile objects.
Need some help figuring it out? Read on to find out exactly how many boxes you’ll need to get to be prepared for your move.
Hire or buy?
First, you’ll want to work out if you will hire or buy your moving boxes. Hiring boxes is a much more cost-effective option for most people but you’ll need to be able to return them in 3 months. This option is perfect if you’re moving straight from your old place into a new one and only need your boxes for a short time. If you need to put your items into storage or if you’re not planning on unpacking everything straight away, purchasing boxes will be your best option. This is also a great option if you know you’ll be moving again in the near future.
Hire a Box offer hire packages starting at $106.70 for a 1 bedroom house and you can find out more here. Or, if you’re wanting to buy your boxes instead we offer packages starting at $131.70 for a 1 bedroom house and you can find out more here. 
Types of boxes
Once you’ve decided if you’re going to hire or buy your boxes, you’ll then need to work out what type of boxes you’ll need to get. There’s a range of different box types available designed to help store your items safely and effectively. Consider what kind of items you’ll be moving so you can figure out the type of boxes you’ll need to get.
Hire a Box offer a range of different box types to suit your needs. For books, DVDs and video games, you might like to use medium book box cartons. For kitchen items, clothing and linen you might like to use large tea chest boxes. For hanging clothing, you can’t go past porta-robe boxes which will make transporting your clothing a breeze.
As well as boxes, you’ll also need packing materials to help keep your items protected during move or while they’re in storage. You’ll need wrapping paper, tape and bubble wrap as well as a pen for clearly labelling your boxes. Hire a Box also provide packing materials to help with your move.
Calculate your number
Once you know if you’re hiring or buying and you’ve thought about the type of boxes you might need, it’s time to calculate how many boxes you’ll need in total.
You can either hire or buy boxes from Hire A Box. We recommend the following quantities to get you started:
- For a 1 bedroom house, we recommend 15 medium boxes and 10 large boxes
- For a 2 bedroom house, we recommend 25 medium boxes, 20 large boxes and 2 porta-robes
- For a 3-4 bedroom house, we recommend 40 medium boxes, 30 large boxes and 3 porta-robes
- For a 5-6 bedroom house, we recommend 60 medium boxes, 45 large boxes and 4 porta-robes
Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different so adjust the quantities to suit the level of items in your house. And if you’ve got more clothing or books than the average person, consider purchasing extra boxes to make sure you’re covered. If you hire your boxes through Hire a Box and you need extra boxes, we offer no delivery fee for your second top-up order.
Want to know how much it’s going to cost you? Click here to read our blog post: How much do moving boxes cost?
Need some help?
Have you figured out how many boxes you need but the idea of packing is getting you down? Let the professionals help you out. Hire A Packer offer a flexible and professional packing service, tailored for you. Let us pack, unpack or both so you can get on with the rest of your move.
In fact, we can take care of your entire moving process. Get help with packing and unpacking with Hire A Packer, let Hire A Mover get you where you need to go and Hire A Box can supply your boxes and Hire Storage can keep your items safe until you need them again – all with a convenient single point of contact and a friendly team you can rely on.
If you’re ready to hire or buy your moving boxes, Hire A Box hires and sells durable cardboard moving boxes and packaging materials to people moving home or office. We offer delivery and pick up in the metro areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.
For more information on how we can help you with your move, call us on 1300 858 446 or contact us via the website today.