How to Pack a Kitchen for Moving Day

By Cal — IDIY’s outdoor and landscaping specialist, who has packed and moved more kitchens than he cares to count.

The kitchen is the room that breaks moves. It’s got more individual items than any other room in the house, more fragile gear, more weight in a small footprint, and more “do I keep this?” decisions per square metre. We’ve packed kitchens that took three days because the owner started in the wrong place, and we’ve packed kitchens that took four hours because they did it in the order below. The order matters.

What you’ll need

• 15–25 medium cardboard boxes (not big — heavy + big = broken backs)
• 5 small “book boxes” for the heavy stuff
• Two rolls of butcher’s paper
• A roll of bubble wrap
• Two rolls of packing tape and a tape gun
• A black marker
• A box of zip-lock bags for screws and small parts
• A clear plastic tub for the “first night” essentials

Step 1: Three days before — empty the fridge and freezer

Eat, give away, or chuck. A fridge being moved should arrive empty and dry. Defrost the freezer the day before — wet ice melts slowly and ends up in the moving truck.

Step 2: Two days before — sort everything in three piles

Open every cupboard and put everything on the bench in three piles. Keep, donate, chuck. The kitchen is where most people hoard duplicates. Three garlic crushers? You need one. Six wooden spoons? Two is plenty. This is the one chance you’ll get to declutter — taking three garlic crushers to the new kitchen wastes packing time, truck space, and unpacking time.

Step 3: Day before — pack pantry first

Pantry contents are mostly small, dry, and won’t break. They’re the easy warm-up. Open boxes, jars, half-finished spices — bin or use up. Sealed pantry items go into medium boxes. Tape the bottom firmly, double-tape if it’s heavy.

Step 4: Pack the “first night” tub last but pack it now

One clear plastic tub: kettle, two mugs, two plates, two sets of cutlery, a knife, a chopping board, dish soap, a sponge, a tea towel, instant coffee/tea, a roll of toilet paper, pain killers. This goes in the car, not the truck. You will thank yourself at 9pm on moving night.

Step 5: Wrap glasses and stemware in butcher’s paper, not bubble wrap

Butcher’s paper is what removalists use. Bubble wrap is for the very fragile end (crystal, sentimental). Stand glasses in the small “book boxes” — never lay them flat. Each glass gets two sheets of paper, twisted into the rim. Pack tightly so they don’t move.

Step 6: Plates packed vertically, not stacked

Wrap each plate in butcher’s paper. Stand them on their edges in the box, like records — vertical orientation. Stacked plates crack from the weight on top. Vertical plates can take three times the weight without chipping.

Step 7: Pots, pans, and bakeware — nest them with paper between

Stack from biggest to smallest with butcher’s paper between each. Lids go in their own small box (or zip-locked together by size and labelled). Cast iron goes in book boxes — heavy stuff in small boxes, always.

Step 8: Knives and sharps — block first, blades wrapped

Knife block first if you have one. Loose knives get wrapped blade-first in butcher’s paper, then a layer of bubble wrap, then taped. Write “SHARP” in marker on the wrapping. Goes in a labelled box marked “Open me last.”

Step 9: Small appliances — original boxes if you have them, otherwise foam-padded

Toaster, kettle, blender, coffee machine — original packaging is best. If you don’t have it, wrap the body in bubble wrap, secure the cord with a twist tie, and box with butcher’s paper around it as cushion. Don’t box loose — appliances bouncing in a box ruin themselves.

Step 10: Label every box on the side, not the top

Side labels are visible when boxes are stacked. Top labels are invisible. Format: “KITCHEN – glasses – fragile” or “KITCHEN – pantry – heavy”. Removalists will stack and orient based on what they can read on the side.

The Cal rule

Heavy stuff in small boxes, light stuff in big boxes. The single most common moving-day disaster is a big box of plates that nobody can lift safely, and that bursts when someone tries. A small box of plates can be lifted in one hand by anyone — that’s the win.

Got a moving question — fragile artwork, antique china, kids’ Lego sets? Send us a write-up.