Free packing box calculator: enter bedrooms, other rooms and storage rooms to get small, medium and large box counts plus tape rolls for your move.
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Count the bedrooms, the other rooms (kitchen, living room, dining room and bathrooms together) and any garage or storage rooms, then pick how much you own compared with a typical household. The calculator applies per-room box allowances used by professional movers, splits the total into small, medium and large boxes, and adds tape rolls and one wardrobe box per bedroom.
Room count predicts box needs better than floor area, because rooms track belongings. Each bedroom contributes 8 small, 12 medium and 4 large boxes; each other room (kitchen, living room, dining room or bathroom) contributes 6 small, 10 medium and 4 large; each garage or storage room contributes 4 small, 8 medium and 10 large, since garages hold bulky tools and gear. A belongings factor then adjusts the whole count: minimal homes use 0.8, average homes use 1.0, and heavy homes full of books, kitchen gear and collections use 1.25. Tape is one roll of 2 inch packing tape per 25 boxes, rounded up, because running out of tape mid-pack is the most common packing delay.
Enter bedrooms, other rooms and garage or storage rooms, choose minimal, average or heavy belongings, and read the small, medium and large box counts plus tape rolls. If you have many books, shift some medium boxes to small boxes, since a large box full of books is too heavy to lift safely. If your kitchen is lightly stocked, take a few boxes off the total. Buy a few extra boxes beyond the estimate: a shortfall on moving day costs more in time than a few spare boxes cost in money.
A studio flat typically needs 10 to 20 boxes, a 1-bedroom apartment needs about 55 to 75 boxes, a 2-bedroom apartment needs about 100 to 130 boxes, and a 3-bedroom house needs roughly 90 to 120 boxes, with a 4-bedroom house reaching 180 to 240 boxes. Per room, budget about 10 to 15 medium boxes per bedroom, 8 to 12 per kitchen or living room, and 4 to 6 per bathroom, then add storage rooms on top. These ranges explain why two homes with the same bedroom count can still need very different totals: belongings, not bedrooms alone, decide the final number.
Small boxes (about 18 × 12 × 12 inches) are for books, canned goods, tools and other heavy items, and should stay under about 40 pounds. Medium boxes (about 18 × 18 × 16 inches) hold most everyday items and make up the largest share of any move. Large boxes (about 24 × 18 × 18 inches) are for light bulky things such as bedding, pillows, towels and lampshades, never for books or heavy goods. Wardrobe boxes (about 24 × 24 × 45 inches) keep hanging clothes on hangers so unpacking is fast. Roughly two medium boxes equal one large box by volume, but weight, not volume, is what limits a large box.
Take 2 bedrooms, 3 other rooms and 1 garage room with average belongings. Small boxes = 8 × 2 + 6 × 3 + 4 × 1 = 38. Medium boxes = 12 × 2 + 10 × 3 + 8 × 1 = 62. Large boxes = 4 × 2 + 4 × 3 + 10 × 1 = 30. Total boxes = 38 + 62 + 30 = 130 boxes, tape rolls = 130 / 25 = 5.2, rounded up to 6 rolls, and wardrobe boxes = 2, one per bedroom. This worked example matches the quick answer competitors quote for a 2-bedroom apartment, about 100 to 130 boxes, mostly medium.
The biggest mistake is counting furniture as boxes: wardrobes, pianos and sofas move as furniture, not in boxes, so they should not inflate the count. The second mistake is packing books into large boxes, which become unliftable and split. The third is forgetting storage areas: lofts, garages, sheds and storage units commonly add 10 to 30 boxes on their own. The fourth is underestimating the kitchen, which is the densest room in most homes. Walk every room, including storage, before you order, and round up rather than down.
About 55 to 75 boxes for a 1-bedroom apartment: one bedroom plus a kitchen, living room and bathroom adds up quickly, and a small garage pushes the total near 80. Enter your exact room counts above for your figure.
About 100 to 130 boxes for a 2-bedroom apartment, mostly medium boxes, plus 6 tape rolls in the worked example above (130 boxes). Add more for a garage or storage room.
Budget about 10 to 15 medium boxes per bedroom, 8 to 12 per kitchen or living room, and 4 to 6 per bathroom, with small boxes for books and heavy items and large boxes for bedding. Our calculator applies these per-room allowances automatically.
Expect 180 to 240 boxes for a 4-bedroom house, roughly 45 to 60 per bedroom plus the kitchen, living room and bathrooms. Most will be medium boxes; use small boxes for books and large boxes only for bedding and light bulky items.
Plan on one roll of 2 inch packing tape for every 25 boxes. A 100-box move needs about 4 to 5 rolls, and more if you seal fragile items individually. The calculator includes tape rolls in its results.
Buy mostly medium boxes, a few small boxes for books and heavy items, and large boxes only for light bulky things like bedding and pillows. A typical 2-bedroom move is roughly 40 percent medium, with small and large boxes making up the rest.
Free boxes come from liquor stores, grocery stores and buy-nothing groups, but check they are sturdy and dry. New small, medium and large boxes from home improvement stores cost roughly 1 to 3 dollars each, and new boxes are worth it for heavy items.
About a 16 foot truck for 100 boxes as a rule of thumb: a 1-bedroom move fits a 10 to 12 foot truck, a 2-bedroom move a 16 foot truck, and a 3 to 4 bedroom move a 20 to 26 foot truck. Boxes plus furniture decide the size, not boxes alone.