Kitchens produce many medium-weight boxes and fragile pieces, so they benefit from early sorting.
Start with rarely used items
Serving dishes, baking equipment and duplicate cookware can be packed before everyday plates and pans. Dispose of expired food and check restrictions on transporting liquids or hazardous products.
Keep dense items in smaller boxes
Canned goods, cast-iron cookware and small appliances become heavy quickly. Split them across boxes instead of concentrating them in one large carton.
Create an arrival box
Set aside one clearly marked box with basic cutlery, mugs, kettle or coffee equipment, a pan, cleaning cloths and other first-night essentials.
Try these quantities in the Box Weight Calculator, then adjust them to your inventory.
Worked planning example
Sort a kitchen into 10 dense small cartons, 8 medium cartons and 2 large light cartons. Their reference volume is approximately 48.3 ft³ (1.37 m³) before allowance. At 7 ft tape per carton and 15% spare, 20 cartons need 161 ft of tape: one 180 ft roll on this assumption. Check a trial carton of dishes for weight.
Common mistakes
- Combining sharp utensils with loose glassware.
- Using large boxes for dense pantry tins.
- Packing the last-day essentials before separating them.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Which box size suits heavy kitchen contents?
Start with small cartons for dense items and weigh the packed result. Medium cartons can suit lighter appliances with protection.
Should appliances be counted as both boxes and appliances?
No. If an appliance is already inside a counted carton, avoid counting its volume again in a separate category.
What should stay accessible on moving day?
Keep a clearly labelled essentials kit with the items you will actually use before unpacking, rather than burying it in general kitchen cartons.