Top 10 Packing Mistakes People Make (and How to Avoid Them)

Packing is the part of moving everyone underestimates. We see the same ten mistakes on almost every job — and they're the difference between a smooth move and a five-day unpacking nightmare. Avoid these.

1. Underestimating how many boxes you need

Most people buy half of what they actually need. A 1BR apartment averages 30–40 boxes; a 2BR home runs 60–80; a 3BR easily hits 100+. Run out mid-pack and you'll be throwing things in trash bags at midnight.

2. Using grocery store boxes

They're free, but they're also weak, mismatched, and often have bug eggs from the produce section. Real moving boxes stack, protect contents, and are uniformly sized — which matters more than you think when loading a truck.

3. Overloading boxes

A book box that's "full" of books can weigh 80+ lbs and bottom-out within minutes. Rule of thumb: heavy items in small boxes, light items in big boxes. Books and dishes go in the smallest boxes you have.

4. Mixing rooms in one box

A box with bedroom items, kitchen items, and office items takes 5x longer to unpack because every box has to go to every room. One box = one room. Always.

5. Bad labeling

"Misc" is not a label. Write the destination room (not the source room) on the top AND two sides — so you can read it stacked. Color-coded tape per room makes mover routing fast.

6. Not packing a "first-night" box

The single most important box of your move. Pack it last, load it last, unload it first. Toilet paper, soap, towels, sheets, phone chargers, basic kitchen supplies, medications, a change of clothes. Without it, your first night is brutal.

7. Wrapping fragile items wrong

Newspaper isn't enough on its own. Wrap each fragile piece individually in packing paper or bubble wrap, fill the bottom of the box with crumpled paper, never let glass items touch each other, and fill empty space at the top so nothing shifts.

8. Packing liquids carelessly

Half-full bottles leak. Cleaning supplies, shampoo, oil, syrup — all of them need to be in sealed bags inside their box, with the cap taped, ideally double-bagged. Liquids should never share a box with paper goods or electronics.

9. Forgetting hardware bags

When you disassemble a bed, table, or shelf, the screws and bolts get lost in five days. Tape a labeled ziploc bag of hardware to the underside of the largest piece of that item. Never throw all hardware in one big bag — you'll be sorting bolts at midnight.

10. Packing what you should be donating

Movers charge by weight, volume, or labor — every one of those scales with how much stuff you bring. The clothes you haven't worn in two years, the kitchen gadgets still in their boxes, the books you'll never re-read — donate them before the move, not after. The cheapest box to pack is the one you don't pack at all.

Bonus: starting too late

The biggest mistake of all. Most people start packing 3 days out. Realistic packing time for a household: - Studio: 1–2 days - 1BR: 3–5 days - 2BR: 7–10 days - 3BR+: 2+ weeks

Start early, pack one room at a time, and you'll move into a calm new home instead of a chaotic one.