How to Pack a Kitchen for Moving House

The kitchen is the room most people leave until last, and it is the one that punishes a rushed job. It holds more fragile, awkward and heavy things than anywhere else in the house, from wine glasses to the food in the freezer. This guide walks through packing a kitchen properly, in an order that works, so the boxes arrive intact and you can put the kettle on the moment you get the keys.

Pack in reverse order of how often you use things

Start with the items you can live without for a week or two: the good dinner service, spare glasses, the ice-cream maker, cookbooks, seasonal bakeware. Work towards the everyday mugs, plates and the kettle, which come last. Packing this way keeps the kitchen usable right up to moving day instead of leaving you living out of boxes.

Before you open a cupboard, gather your materials. Small, strong boxes beat large ones here: a big box full of tins or crockery becomes too heavy to lift safely and is more likely to give way. You will want double-walled boxes for anything heavy, plenty of clean packing paper (newspaper ink transfers onto crockery), bubble wrap for the truly delicate, strong tape and a marker pen.

Glasses and anything you drink from

Wrap each glass individually and pack them standing upright, never on their sides. A glass is strongest through its vertical axis, so it resists the weight of a full box far better stood up than laid down.

1. Lay a sheet of packing paper flat, set the glass on one corner, and roll it up, tucking paper into the bowl of the glass as you go.
2. Give stemmed glasses extra paper around the stem, which is the weakest point.
3. Stand the wrapped glasses upright in a box lined with crushed paper on the base.
4. Fill every gap with more crushed paper so nothing can move, and add a paper layer between rows.
5. Mark the box fragile and this way up, on the top and at least two sides.

If you kept the cardboard dividers from a case of wine or beer, they make ready-made compartments for glasses.

Plates, bowls and crockery

Pack plates on their edge, standing upright like records in a rack, never in a flat stack. Stacked plates put all their combined weight on the bottom one and it cracks under a bump. On their edge, each plate carries only its own weight.

1. Wrap each plate in packing paper, then wrap three or four together as a bundle.
2. Line the base of a small, sturdy box with crushed paper.
3. Stand the bundles on their edges, packed snugly so they cannot tip.
4. Sit bowls inside one another with paper between each, and pack them the same way.
5. Top the box with crushed paper so nothing rattles, and label it fragile.

Pots, pans and sharp things

Pots and pans are tough, so use them to protect other items. Sit smaller pans inside larger ones with paper between, and fill the space with tea towels, oven gloves or light utensils. Wrap lids and slide them down the side of the box. Keep these boxes small enough that the finished weight stays liftable.

Wrap sharp knives in a folded tea towel or several layers of paper, tape it closed, and label it clearly so no one reaches into the box blind. A knife block can travel whole, wrapped as a single piece.

Small appliances

Pack small appliances in their original boxes if you kept them, since those were made for exactly this. If not, wrap each one, coil and tie its cable, and pad a box around it.

• Empty and dry the kettle and coffee machine so no water leaks in transit.
• Shake the crumbs out of the toaster.
• Remove or tape down loose parts, glass jugs and blades on blenders and food processors, and wrap them separately.
• Keep the microwave upright and well padded, with a folded towel inside to stop the turntable sliding.

The fridge, freezer and washing machine

Turn the freezer off the night before the move so it has time to defrost, and leave the door open with towels down to catch the water. Moving a freezer with ice in it is heavy, messy and can damage the compressor, so run the food down in the weeks beforehand rather than transporting a full one.

Empty and clean the fridge, and let both the fridge and freezer stand upright for a while at each end of the move so the coolant can settle before you switch them on. If a washing machine or dishwasher lives in your kitchen, it needs disconnecting and draining, with the transit bolts refitted if you still have them. Getting this wrong can flood a floor, so if you are not confident doing it yourself, arrange the disconnection in advance or ask us when you book so we can plan the house removals around it.

Food, the pantry and the cupboard under the sink

Deal with food early so it does not travel needlessly. Use up or give away perishables and anything opened, checking use-by dates as you go. Dry, sealed goods such as tins, pasta and rice pack fine in a small, strong box kept light.

Seal opened bottles of oil, sauces and spirits inside a plastic bag before boxing them, in case a lid works loose. Empty the bins, and put cleaning products and anything that could leak into their own clearly marked box, kept well away from food and crockery.

Pack a kitchen essentials box last

The last thing you pack, and the first you open, is a kitchen essentials box. Fill it with what you need to get through the first evening without unpacking the whole room:

• The kettle, a few mugs, teaspoons, and tea, coffee, milk and sugar.
• A couple of plates, bowls, glasses and sets of cutlery for each person.
• A sharp knife, a chopping board, one pan and a bottle or tin opener.
• Washing-up liquid, a cloth, a tea towel, kitchen roll and bin bags.

Carry this box in the car with you rather than loading it on the van, and mark it clearly so it does not vanish into a stack. Arriving tired and surrounded by boxes is a lot easier when you can still make a hot drink and a simple meal.

Label everything, then let someone else lift it

Write the contents and the room on the top and sides of every kitchen box, and add fragile where it belongs. Clear labels tell the crew which boxes to keep upright and off the bottom of the pile, and save you opening six boxes to find the colander.

Packing a kitchen well takes time and care, and it is the job people most often wish they had handed over. Our packing service does exactly this, with trained packers, the right materials, and everything wrapped, boxed and labelled properly, whether you want the whole house done or only the fragile kitchen. For the rest of the home, our room-by-room packing guide covers every other room the same way.

Moving soon? Get a fixed quote within the hour and let us know if you would like us to pack the kitchen for you.