The kitchen has more items to pack than any other room — and many of them are fragile, heavy, or oddly shaped. Dishes, glasses, pots, appliances, pantry goods, and cleaning supplies all need different packing approaches and different box types.
Use the calculator below to estimate your whole move, then check the breakdown table for a kitchen-specific box-by-box guide.
Use this as a checklist as you pack. Tick off each category and add the box count to your shopping list.
| Items | Box type | Boxes needed | Special notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plates, bowls, platters | Small dish-pack | 2–3 | Pack on edge (vertically), wrap each piece individually |
| Glasses, mugs, stemware | Small with cell dividers | 2 | Wine glasses upside down; fill glass interiors with paper |
| Pots, pans, baking trays | Large | 1–2 | Nest pots with paper between; pans can stack face-down |
| Small appliances | Medium | 2–3 | Drain water, wrap in bubble wrap, pack upright |
| Pantry dry goods | Small / medium | 2–3 | Canned goods are heavy — small boxes only. Seal open bags. |
| Spices and condiments | Small | 1 | Seal lids with tape, pack upright in a zip bag inside the box |
| Kitchen linens, cookbooks | Medium | 1 | Great filler around fragile items too |
| Miscellaneous / odds and ends | Small / medium | 1–2 | Utensils, gadgets, cleaning supplies |
| Total (average kitchen) | — | 12–17 | Add 3–5 more for a large kitchen or well-stocked pantry |
A dish-pack box (also called a dish barrel or china barrel) is a heavy-duty double-wall corrugated box specifically designed for dishes and fragile kitchen items. They're about twice as thick as a standard moving box. If you have a good set of dishes, proper glassware, or anything irreplaceable in the kitchen, dish-pack boxes are worth the cost — a standard box can crush inward on impact.
Most moving supply stores and Amazon sell dish-pack boxes individually or in bundles. You'll typically need 2–4 for an average kitchen.
Plates packed vertically are far less likely to crack under the weight of stacked boxes. Think of them like records in a crate — upright, with paper between each one.
Your kitchen is used every day right up until moving day. Pack non-daily items first (baking equipment, rarely used appliances) and leave daily dishes and the coffee maker for last.
Dish towels, oven mitts, and cloth napkins make excellent free padding for pots and pans. Wrap them around items that don't need bubble wrap — you're packing two things at once.
Mark every box containing dishes or glasses on at least two sides. Add a directional arrow. Most breakage happens when a box is placed upside down — a clear label prevents this.
Full room-by-room breakdown for a 1-bedroom apartment move.
Read guide → Move size guideBox counts for a 2-bedroom home including garage and storage areas.
Read guide → Complete guideThe full formula — box counts for every home size from studio to 4-bedroom house.
Read guide → Free toolEnter your actual rooms and get a personalized estimate with a box type breakdown.
Open calculator →Enter all your rooms — not just the kitchen — and get a full estimate broken down by small, medium, large, and wardrobe boxes.