Complete Guide to Packing for a House Move

Boxes, bubble wrap, and clear tape, oh my! Whether it’s your very first move or just another homeownership adventure, packing for a house move is often a stressful process. There’s no “secret sauce” for making a move less overwhelming, per se, but there are a few tricks that make the process more bearable.

Below, you’ll find our complete guide to packing for a house move, complete with checklists, tips and tricks, and helpful advice from veteran movers. We also explain how resources like Make Space Self Storage can bridge the ‘messy middle’ between moving day and moving in.

Here’s a quick guide with packing tips for moving house, complete with a handy checklist you can print and use at your leisure:

Want more specifics than what’s listed here?

Let’s dive into the details below.

We’ll start in sequential order:

What you do before packing your boxes can make or break your moving experience.

To start, make sure you’ve taken time to declutter the house as much as possible. This means going through cutlery, clothing, shoes, and other items to decide whether or not they make sense to bring along at all.

One way to do this is to go room by room and create piles of items depending on their final destination. For example, you might have a pile for donations, a pile for packing, a pile for selling, or a pile that you’re unsure about. Anything in your ‘unsure’ pile could be evaluated by another family member, or by a trusted friend willing to help you be more cutthroat about what you take.

Next, work on creating a packing plan for specific rooms and items. For example, who’s going to deal with the kid’s bunk bed? Or that china cabinet on the second floor? Deciding who’s going to help (and whether or not you’ll hire a removalist service) can work wonders in helping you prepare for the big day.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, be sure that you gather up the right packaging supplies. Depending on your unique move, these may include:

• Boxes or speciality boxes

• Packing tape and dispenser

• Bubble wrap and packing paper

• Stretch wrap

• Mattress bags

• Permanent markers

• Zip-top bags

• Tool kit

• Moving blankets

While packing away items before your move, make sure you’re following all best practices and conventional wisdom.

Here’s the lightning round version for your convenience:

1. Pack one room at a time: For example, the bathroom, the bedroom, the guest bedroom, and so on. 

2. Place items in boxes correctly: This means heavy items in small boxes and light items in large boxes. And don’t leave empty space in boxes if you can help it. 

3. Create effective labels: For example, clearly mark ‘fragile’ on anything requiring it. You could also create a colour-coding system for different rooms in the house, so it’s easier to move your items. 

Finally, make sure you’re packing items in the right order. Infrequently used items like seasonal decorations, for example, can be first on the van and stored in the loft or garage of your new home. But daily essentials like your toothbrush and food should be kept in readily available bags (and should be last to leave your home). 

The day has finally come to move houses for good! Now is the time to ensure you protect your floors and walls, keep your ‘essentials’ boxes easily accessible, and begin moving items into your van (if you haven’t already hired a removal company). 

If you disassemble furniture yourself, make sure to bag the hardware securely. That way, whether you're taking it directly to your new home or placing it into self-storage, you can easily find all the fasteners you need. 

Last but not least, perform a final sweep of the home. Make sure to take photos of empty rooms, whether or not you’re renting the location. This gives you peace of mind that there was no damage left behind in the event of a claim or liability issue.

The unpacking process typically takes longer than one day. For this reason, you may find it useful to follow a three-step process:

1. Tackle one room at a time

2. Break down boxes as you go to give yourself more space

3. Recycle your materials wherever possible and remove them from the home

Learn more about how to unpack after moving.

Now you know how to pack for moving house. But depending on what you own and what you plan on packing, you may need some additional skills and resources.

We’ve truncated a list of must-have packing skills you may need to learn for your next big move:

• How to wrap fragile items

• Packing appliances safely

• Furniture protection

• Clothing and bedding

• Jewelry and valuables

• Important docs and digital files

• Hazardous materials (what most removal companies won’t take)

Moving house certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. But with the right strategy in place, it might be a little less frustrating. 

And if there’s anything you should take away from the above guide, it’s this: packing is two parts preparation to one part execution.

To summarise, the easiest way to pack for a house move:

1. Declutter the house first

2. Follow all best packing practices

3. Keep essentials separate

4. Unpack one room at a time

For those in-between moments where you don’t have time to pack — or for storing large furniture that can’t fit into a box — you might consider a unit from Make Space Self Storage. We have locations in Billericay, Horsham, and Clapton, Hackney, so you can easily store items across the country. 

It is best to start packing as early as possible, ideally around four to six weeks before moving day. Begin with items you do not use often, such as seasonal clothing, books, decorations, and spare bedding. Leaving everyday essentials until later can make the process feel more manageable.

The last things to pack should be the items you use every day, such as toiletries, chargers, basic kitchen items, important documents, medication, and a change of clothes. Many people find it helpful to keep these items in a separate essentials box or overnight bag for easy access.

An essentials box should include the items you will need straight away in your new home. This might include toiletries, medication, chargers, snacks, toilet paper, a kettle, mugs, basic cleaning products, important paperwork, and a change of clothes. Keeping these items separate can save a lot of stress on moving day.

The best way to reduce stress is to follow the checklist above and pack in stages rather than leaving everything until the last minute. Creating a packing checklist, decluttering before you begin, labelling clearly, and setting aside an essentials box can all help make the process feel more organised and manageable.

Fragile items should be wrapped carefully using paper, bubble wrap, towels, or blankets. Plates should be packed vertically rather than stacked flat, and empty spaces in boxes should be filled to prevent movement. Label each box clearly as fragile so movers know to handle it with care.