Why a Packing Order Matters
The main reason moves run over time is not distance, traffic, or volume — it is packing that was not finished when the van arrived. A property that is fully packed loads at two to three times the speed of a property where the driver is working around half-packed rooms, loose items on floors, and bin bags being filled in real time. Packing in the right order over the right timescale removes this problem entirely. The checklist below breaks the process into clear stages from four weeks out to the morning of the move.
Four Weeks Before: Start With What You Do Not Use
The easiest rooms to pack first are the ones you interact with least day-to-day. Nothing in any of these areas needs to come out of a box before move day:
- Loft, attic, or under-stairs storage
- Spare bedrooms that are not in active use
- Garage or shed contents
- Books, photo albums, and DVDs
- Seasonal clothing (winter coats in summer, summer clothes in winter)
- Decorative items, ornaments, and non-essential artwork
- Board games and hobby equipment you do not use weekly
Packing these early removes roughly a third of the total volume in most properties and leaves the remaining work more manageable.
Two Weeks Before: Rooms You Can Do Without
At this stage, pack anything you can realistically live without for a fortnight:
- Most books and magazines
- Spare bedding and towels beyond what is in current use
- Anything on shelves or in display cabinets
- Most kitchen equipment except what you use weekly — specialist pans, serving dishes, appliances used occasionally
- Glassware and crockery beyond a basic set for daily use
- Framed art and photos on walls
- Curtains in rooms where privacy is not essential
By the end of this stage, every room in the property should feel noticeably emptier but still fully functional for daily life.
One Week Before: Clothes, Non-Essential Electronics, and Most of the Kitchen
The bulk of the remaining packing happens in this week. Work room by room rather than category by category — a finished room is easier to manage than half-packed drawers in every room:
- Clothes — keep back enough for the final week plus move day. Everything else folds into laundry bags or boxes.
- Kitchen — keep one small set of crockery, cutlery, and cookware out. Pack everything else.
- Bathroom — pack anything you do not use daily. Keep essentials and medication accessible.
- Living room — pack DVDs, books, ornaments, and anything decorative. Keep the TV, one lamp, and current-use items out.
- Home office — pack files, reference books, and stationery. Keep only what you actively need this week.
- Electronics not in daily use — games consoles, secondary laptops, anything plugged in but rarely used
By the end of this week, daily life should be running on a minimal set of possessions. This is uncomfortable for a few days and significantly easier than the alternative of packing everything in the final 48 hours.
If you still need to book a van, get an instant quote online — most moves can be booked with a week’s notice, though end-of-month dates book up faster.
Two to Three Days Before: Finish the Remaining Rooms
With most of the property already packed, the final 48–72 hours should be dedicated to finishing off. By the evening two days before the move, aim to have completed:
- All remaining kitchen items except the kettle, two mugs, and basic breakfast essentials
- All clothes except what you are wearing and one set for move day
- Bathroom items except daily toiletries
- Home office completely packed
- All furniture that needs dismantling — beds, wardrobes, tables — broken down with fittings bagged and taped to the frames
- All boxes labelled on the top and at least two sides with the destination room
Count the boxes at this stage. If the count is very different from what you expected, it is easier to adjust the van booking now than on the morning itself.
The Night Before
Pack the following the night before:
- The essentials box — kettle, mugs, teabags, phone chargers, toilet roll, medication, a change of clothes, toiletries, and any documents needed for the day (tenancy agreement, completion paperwork, keys). This box travels in the car or van cab, not in the main load.
- Valuables, cash, and important documents — passports, birth certificates, financial paperwork. These should travel with you, not in the van.
- Phones, laptops, and any devices in use — charge them overnight so they are fully charged for move day.
Confirm the arrival time with your driver, check the parking situation at both properties, and lay out what you plan to wear tomorrow. Most move day problems are caused by decisions that were not made the night before.
Morning of the Move
A short checklist for move day itself:
- Strip the bed and pack bedding into a laundry bag
- Pack the last bathroom and kitchen items
- Dismantle the bed frame if it has not already been done
- Empty the fridge and freezer — cool bags for anything you genuinely want to keep, bin or give away the rest
- Take final meter readings (gas, electric, water) and photograph them
- Dispose of anything that will not travel — food waste, old cleaning products, anything you do not want at the new property
- Walk through every room one final time before loading begins
Keep the essentials box, any valuables, and your personal bag by the front door or in your car so they do not end up loaded into the van.
During Loading
While the van is being loaded:
- Keep internal doors wedged open where possible — the route in and out should have no obstacles
- Protect flooring in high-traffic routes with old sheets or cardboard if the floors are soft or easily marked
- Stay available to answer questions about what goes in the van and what stays — drivers will ask about anything ambiguous
- Do a final check of every room, every cupboard, and any outbuildings before the van leaves. Check behind doors, in the shower, and inside built-in wardrobes.
Do not leave the property until it has been fully checked. Items left behind at move-out are difficult and sometimes impossible to recover once the property has been handed over.
Between Properties
Lock up, return keys to the estate agent or landlord if required, and travel to the new property separately from the van where possible. Arriving at the new address before the van means you can confirm access, unlock the property, and be ready to direct unloading rather than unloading being delayed on arrival.
At the New Property
Before the van unloads:
- Check every room and confirm which room is which — write room names on scrap paper and stick them to doors if it helps
- Photograph the condition of the property and any existing damage, particularly if renting
- Take initial meter readings
- Identify where larger furniture will go so the driver can place items correctly first time
During unloading, direct items to rooms by referring to the labels on the boxes. This is where accurate labelling during packing pays off — a box marked “Kitchen — everyday” goes straight to the right cupboard rather than into a general pile to be sorted later.
The First Evening
Unpacking in full takes days or weeks, not hours. The priorities for the first evening are:
- Make the bed — sheets, duvet, pillows. A made bed is the single biggest factor in whether the first night feels manageable.
- Set up the kettle, fridge, and a basic kitchen setup
- Locate the bathroom essentials
- Find chargers and devices
Everything else can wait until the next day. The goal for the first evening is a functional living arrangement, not a finished house.
Still planning your move and want to check pricing first? Get an instant quote online to see what a Medium, Large, or Extra-Large van costs for your move date.
More Packing Guides
Part of a series covering the practical side of packing for a move. If you found this useful, the other guides cover related ground:
- How to Pack for a Move: What Actually Works (and What Slows Everything Down) — the pillar guide covering containers, principles, and what not to do
- How to Pack Your Belongings for a Move: Room-by-Room Practical Guide — the right container for each type of household item
- How to Pack Plates, Glasses and Fragile Items for Moving Day — wrapping and boxing crockery, glassware, mirrors, and ornaments
- How to Tape and Seal Boxes Properly for Your Next House Move — the H-tape method, double-taping, and which tape actually works
