When should I start packing for a move?
Published advice ranges from 3 to 8 weeks, and none of it says which one is yours. Home size is the missing variable. Here's the real start date, staged out week by week, studio through five bedrooms.
Ask when to start packing and the top results contradict each other outright. Move and Care says three to four weeks. Redfin says six to eight, and The Boxery agrees. Suddath splits the difference at one to two months. None of the four is wrong; each describes a different size of home and publishes the answer as if every home were that size.
Scale the timeline by home size instead of averaging it into one number and the contradiction resolves itself. A studio needs 3 weeks, which is Move and Care's figure. A five-bedroom house needs 8, the top of Redfin and The Boxery's range. Suddath's one-to-two-month spread is the whole ladder flattened into a single number.
| Home size | Start | Packing stages | Total boxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 3 weeks out | 4 | 30 |
| 1 Bedroom | 4 weeks out | 4 | 53 |
| 2 Bedroom | 5 weeks out | 5 | 77 |
| 3 Bedroom | 6 weeks out | 5 | 101 |
| 4 Bedroom | 7 weeks out | 5 | 125 |
| 5 Bedroom | 8 weeks out | 5 | 148 |
Home size changes more than the starting number; it changes the shape of the schedule. A studio or one-bedroom home packs in four sessions. Everything from two bedrooms up gets a fifth: a dedicated pass for books, decor, and anything on a shelf, split out because a home that size produces enough shelf volume to fill its own week.
| Weeks out | Stage | Boxes |
|---|---|---|
| 3 weeks out | Order your supplies | 30 |
| 2 weeks out | Pack what you won't touch again | all sizes |
| 1 week out | Pack everything but the essentials | all sizes |
| Moving week | Kitchen and essentials last | 3 |
| Weeks out | Stage | Boxes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 weeks out | Order your supplies | 101 |
| 5 weeks out | Storage areas and off-season items | all sizes |
| 3 weeks out | Books, decor, and anything on a shelf | 32 |
| 2 weeks out | Everything but what you need this week | all sizes |
| Moving week | Kitchen and moving-day essentials last | 6 |
Line the two up and the shape is the same: supplies first, then work backward from what you'd miss least (storage areas, off-season items) toward what you'd miss most (the kitchen, packed the night before). A 3-bedroom house needs 3.4x a studio's boxes, 101 against 30, for exactly one extra stage. The boxes climb steadily; the sessions barely move.
Every schedule on this page starts the same way: order supplies before the week you actually need them, in the quantity your own stage table says: 30 for a studio, 101 for a 3-bedroom house, more or fewer depending on yours. That first stage is also the one with a cart behind it.
See your own home's exact schedule and box list
Frequently asked questions
How many weeks before moving should I start packing?
Between 3 and 8 weeks, depending on home size: 3 for a studio, 4 for a one-bedroom, 5 for a two-bedroom, 6 for a three-bedroom, and 7 to 8 for a four- or five-bedroom house. There's no single right answer because home size changes it by more than double.
Why does packing advice online disagree so much about when to start?
Because most of it publishes one number for every home. Three to four weeks fits a studio; six to eight fits a house with three or more bedrooms. Both are right for the home they're describing and wrong for the other. They just don't say which one they mean.
When should I start packing a 3-bedroom house?
6 weeks out, in 5 stages: order supplies at 6 weeks, storage areas and off-season items at 5 weeks, books and shelf items at 3 weeks, the rest of the house at 2 weeks, and the kitchen the night before the move.
Do bigger homes need more packing stages, or just more boxes?
Both, but not at the same rate. A 3-bedroom home needs about 3.4 times a studio's boxes, 101 against 30, for one extra stage, not three. Box count scales with square footage; the number of distinct packing sessions only steps up once, at the two-bedroom mark.