Moving Box Plan
The count is a range. The box SIZE is arithmetic: your weight limit divided by the density of what is going in it.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/moving-box-calculator
The move
- Moving date
- Bedrooms
- Other rooms
- Kitchens
- How much you own
- BOXES TO GET
- Small
- Medium
- Large
- Book shelf feet
- BOOK BOXES
- Book weight
- Van booked
- Supplier
Density decides the box
- Books, paper, tools
- about 25 lb per cu ft
- Mixed household goods
- about 12 lb per cu ft
- Bedding, linens, clothes
- about 6 lb per cu ft
- Small box
- 1.5 cu ft
- Medium box
- 3.0 cu ft
- Large box
- 4.5 cu ft
- Extra large box
- 6.0 cu ft
- Biggest box you should fill
- weight limit / density
- ⚠ Books at a 50 lb limit
- 2.0 cu ft — a MEDIUM is too big
- ⚠ Large box full of books
- about 113 lb
- Bedding at a 50 lb limit
- 8.3 cu ft — use the BIGGEST box
- A linear foot of shelved books
- about 0.56 cu ft
- Usual weight guideline
- 50 lb — lower it for stairs
- ⚠ Published box counts
- vary THREEFOLD — plan for the top
Room by room
| Room | Small | Medium | Large | Packed | Labelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Packing that survives the stairs
- Heavy things in SMALL boxes — always
- Light bulky things in the LARGEST boxes
- Bottom of every box taped as carefully as the top
- Nothing packed above the weight limit, tested by lifting it
- Every box labelled on the SIDE, not the top
- Room written on the box, not just the contents
- One 'open first' box — kettle, mugs, loo roll, chargers, tools
- Books boxed early — they are the slowest job
- Fragile items wrapped individually, not nested
- Gaps filled so nothing shifts in transit
- MORE TAPE than you think you need
The count is a guess; the size is not
Published estimates for the same two-bedroom home range from 20-40 to 50-80 boxes, because the number depends on contents nobody can see. Which SIZE to use is pure arithmetic: weight limit divided by density.
Books break moves
At 25 lb per cu ft, a full large box of books is about 113 lb — it cannot be lifted and the box fails at the seams trying. Twenty feet of shelf is 8 small boxes and about 278 lb. Box books first and box them small.
And the reverse mistake
Bedding at 6 lb per cu ft would need an 8 cu ft box to reach 50 lb — bigger than anything sold. Duvets and pillows always go in the largest box available. A van fills by volume, not by weight.