How Many Moving Boxes Do You Need for a Studio, 1, 2 or 3 BHK in Abu Dhabi?
A 1 BHK usually fills 20 to 40 moving boxes, a 2 BHK 40 to 60 and a 3 BHK 60 to 80. Where your home sits in that range depends less on the number of rooms than on the kitchen, the books and how full the wardrobes are. Below is a room-by-room way to count your own, which carton sizes to buy and what goes in each, the sizes and prices sold in the UAE, and when you do not need to buy boxes at all.
The short answer
- Studio: 10 to 20 boxes.
- 1 BHK: 20 to 40 boxes.
- 2 BHK: 40 to 60 boxes.
- 3 BHK or villa: 60 to 80, and over 80 with a storeroom or maid's room.
- The kitchen takes the most: often 8 to 15 boxes on its own.
- Buy about 10% extra: running short on moving day costs more than a few spare cartons.
How many moving boxes do you need for each home size?
Use these ranges as a starting point. Take the low end if you live light or the flat came furnished, and the high end if you cook a lot, keep books or have children.
| Home size | Moving boxes |
|---|---|
| Studio | 10 to 20 |
| 1 BHK | 20 to 40 |
| 2 BHK | 40 to 60 |
| 3 BHK apartment or townhouse | 60 to 80 |
| 4 BHK villa | 80 to 120 |
| 5 BHK villa and above | 120 or more |
Buy about 10% more than your estimate. Two things push Abu Dhabi homes up the range. Villas often have a maid's room, a storeroom and an outdoor area that fill with things nobody counts until moving week. And families who have been in the same flat for years keep far more in the kitchen and the wardrobes than the bedroom count suggests.
How do you count moving boxes room by room?
A home-size range is only an average. Counting each room gives a figure for your own home. Walk through with the cupboards open, and use these as a guide:
| Room | Typical boxes |
|---|---|
| Kitchen | 8 to 15, mostly small and medium |
| Master bedroom | 6 to 10, plus wardrobe cartons |
| Each other bedroom | 4 to 8 |
| Children's room | 6 to 10, toys take more than clothes |
| Living and dining | 5 to 10 |
| Study or bookshelves | 1 small box for every shelf of books |
| Bathrooms and cleaning cupboard | 2 to 4 |
| Maid's room, storeroom, balcony | 4 to 10 |
Add the rooms up, then add 10%. If your total lands well outside the range for your home size, recheck the kitchen and the storeroom first. They are where most estimates go wrong.
Which box sizes do you need, and what goes in each?
The rule is simple: the heavier the item, the smaller the box. A large carton full of books or plates can be too heavy to lift safely, and its bottom is the first to give way.
- Small boxes: books, files, tins and jars, tools, and plates packed on edge. Plan for about a third of your total.
- Medium boxes: pots and pans, small appliances, shoes, toys and folded clothes. They do most of the work, so about half your total.
- Large boxes: duvets, pillows, cushions, lampshades and other light, bulky things. Never books.
- Wardrobe cartons: tall boxes with a hanging rail, so clothes go straight from the wardrobe on their hangers. One carton takes roughly half a metre of hanging rail.
- Double-wall cartons: thicker card for crockery, glassware and anything heavy or fragile.
What sizes are moving cartons in the UAE, and what do they cost?
Shops in the UAE sell cartons by their measurements in centimetres rather than as small, medium or large. These are the common sizes and what they typically cost new in Abu Dhabi:
| Use it as | Size (cm) | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 55.9 x 35.6 x 30.5 | AED 13 |
| Medium | 61 x 45.7 x 30.5 | AED 14 |
| Cube | 50.8 x 50.8 x 50.8 | AED 16 |
| Large | 61 x 43.2 x 62.9 | AED 19 |
| Large, 5-ply | 60.9 x 43.1 x 62.8 | AED 29 |
At those prices, cartons alone for a 2 BHK come to several hundred dirhams, before tape, paper and bubble wrap. That is worth weighing against having the packing done for you, covered below.
Where can you get moving boxes in Abu Dhabi?
- Hardware and home stores: new cartons in fixed sizes, plus tape and bubble wrap in one trip.
- Packaging suppliers online: cheaper per box when you buy in bundles, delivered to your door. Check whether the card is single or double wall.
- Supermarket and shop boxes: free, but mixed sizes, often weak, and fruit boxes have holes and open tops. Fine for shoes and toys, not for plates or books.
- Used boxes from people who just moved: often listed for free or very little. Check the bottoms and corners are not soft or torn.
Do you need to buy boxes if you book a packing service?
No. When our team packs your home, the packers arrive with cartons in each size, wardrobe cartons, packing paper, bubble wrap, stretch film, moving blankets and tape, and all of it is included in the packing price. You do not count, buy or carry a single box.
We work out how many cartons your home needs from a short video of the rooms, with the kitchen cupboards and wardrobes open. Every box is packed by room and labelled, so it goes to the right room at the new home.
We do not sell boxes on their own, only as part of the packing. If you are packing yourself and only need the furniture moved, our house movers or apartment movers load your boxes with the furniture. To have the packing done for you, see our packing services in Abu Dhabi.
How do you make sure you do not run out of boxes on moving day?
- Pack the spare rooms first: the storeroom, guest room and books. Your count gets more accurate as you go.
- Keep 10% spare: the last day always turns up a cupboard nobody opened.
- Fill every box: half-empty boxes crush when stacked. Fill gaps with towels or paper.
- Tape the bottom twice: one strip along the seam and one across each edge.
- Label two sides: room and contents on the side, not just the top, because the top is hidden once boxes are stacked.
- Number the boxes: a simple list of numbers and rooms tells you at the new home whether anything is missing.
Before you pack, it is worth clearing what you will not take. Our guide to getting rid of old furniture before moving covers that, and the moving out checklist covers the rest of the weeks before the move.
Moving box questions
How many boxes do I need for a 1 BHK?
Usually 20 to 40. A furnished flat with little in the kitchen sits near 20; a well-stocked kitchen, books and full wardrobes push it towards 40.
How many boxes do I need for a 2 BHK?
About 40 to 60, with roughly a third small, half medium and the rest large, plus two or three wardrobe cartons for hanging clothes.
How many boxes do I need for a 3 BHK?
About 60 to 80 for a 3 BHK apartment. A 3 or 4 bedroom villa with a maid's room and storeroom often needs 80 or more.
Which room needs the most moving boxes?
The kitchen, usually 8 to 15 boxes, mostly small and medium because crockery, glasses and tins are heavy for their size.
How much do moving boxes cost in the UAE?
New cartons typically cost about AED 13 for a small box and AED 19 for a large one, and around AED 29 for a heavy-duty 5-ply carton.
Are supermarket boxes good enough for moving?
For light things like shoes, toys and linen, yes. For plates, glasses and books, use new double-wall cartons, because used shop boxes are often weak and fruit boxes have holes.
Do movers bring boxes?
When you book our packing service, yes. The packers bring cartons, wardrobe boxes, paper, bubble wrap and tape, and the materials are included in the packing price. We do not sell boxes on their own.
Written by the team at Expert Furniture Movers, an Abu Dhabi company that packs and moves flats, villas and offices across the emirate. The box counts follow the standard planning figures used in the moving industry, applied to the way Abu Dhabi homes are laid out. They are a guide for a typical household, not a fixed count. For an exact count, our packers work it out from a video of your rooms.
Send a video of your rooms and get a packing price
Tell us your area and home size, send a short video with the cupboards open on WhatsApp, and we reply with the price, cartons and materials included.