December 23, 2018

How many moving boxes do you need?

A man carrying moving boxes.

One of the most common questions every person asks during the moving process is just how many boxes they need to prepare for the packing. This is quite a natural question – you need to know how many boxes you will need to get. If you get too little, you will just waste time hunting for more of them when you should be packing. If you get a lot, you will have an excess of boxes after the move and you might not know what to do with them. This is why it’s important to plan a move in advance. This way, when the time for packing finally arrives, you will have all the supplies ready and at hand. Also, you will not be left with any excess of materials, so your move will be stressless and easy. In this article, find out just how many moving boxes do you need!

How to figure out how many moving boxes do you need?

When faced with a question of how many boxes you will need, you might think this is a hard thing to figure out – at first. How can you just take a look at all your things, and simply decide that you need an X number of boxes to pack everything in there? Well, sadly, you cannot. Not even the best residential Nashville movers have a clear, Mathematical formula for you. Figuring out this number is not science.
Simply put, finding out how many moving boxes do you need will take a little trial and error. Every house is different – they have a different number of rooms, and a different number of items in these rooms. Then, each household has different things they want to pack with them. Some people will want to leave most of their silverware behind, for example, while some take special care of their porcelain and China. Because of this, the boxes you use will differ as well – not just in size, but in their purpose, too!

The types of boxes you can get for your move

So, what are the types of boxes that you need? First, let’s look at their size. Even though there are a lot of different variations of moving boxes, there are four sizes that 80% of the people use: small, medium, large and extra large boxes. The rule of the thumb says that you will most like use the small boxes the more than the medium ones. There are just a few large boxes in every move, and extra large boxes are only for special items.
Different sizes of boxes will matter when deciding how many moving boxes do you need.
The small and medium boxes are the ones where you will pack most of your items. Depending on their weight, you should use smaller boxes for heavy, and bigger for lighter items. Just imagine stuffing all of your heavy books into one large box. Will, you (or your professional Nashville movers) be able to lift it with ease? Always think about this when planning your packing.
Other than these, there are boxes for special items that you can get in any hardware store. You can also chat with your moving company about their packing supplies – they might have what you are looking for as well. For example, you can use dish packs for your dishes, bowls, and similar kitchenware. They have cell dividers which make the transport easy. For mattresses, you can get a mattress box. These also come in various sizes and protect the mattress from damage during transport. You can even get a mirror box so as not to shatter your mirror during your move!

How many moving boxes each household needs?

Now that we have gone over the types of boxes you can use, let’s talk numbers. How many moving boxes do you need? Well, that depends on the size of your home. First, you can use one of the many online packing calculators that can help you determine this number. However, this should only serve as a guideline. These calculators often use only a number of rooms, and not actually their size.
A box with postcards.
For example, when you say a living room, what do you picture? Is it a cluttered mess of items, trinkets and things you got from your travels? Or is it just a minimalistic room, with only a couch, sofa and a coffee table? As you can notice, these are both living rooms, but you will need quite a different number of moving boxes to pack each one.
The second thing you can do is to call reliable moving companies in Nashville. Their estimators usually have a lot of experience with estimating just how many boxes you will need. Before the estimate, ask them about getting a cube sheet from them. This is a document that will tell you just how many boxes (and their types) you need – customized to your own home.

Figure out how many moving boxes do you need by the square footage

Finally, a lot of moving experts will tell you that the best way to figure out how many moving boxes do you need for your move is by measuring the square footage of your home. For example, for a home that’s less than 700 square feet, you will need approximately 12 small boxes, 9 medium ones, 4 large ones, and 2 extra large ones. These numbers change as you move through the area of your home, and you can find similar guidelines online.
A blueprint.
Finally, after you have figured out just how many moving boxes do you need for your move, all you need to do is actually find them. There are many ways in which you can find quality moving boxes in Nashville, and calling your movers is just one of them. Good luck!

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