From your home size — or your own box count — work out how many rolls of tape, bundles of packing paper, and rolls of bubble wrap you actually need, as a ready-to-buy list.
Packing supplies are estimated from one number — how many boxes you are filling — because almost every supply scales with it. Tape scales with boxes because every box needs the bottom taped as well as the top. Paper scales with boxes because that is what fills the voids. Markers, labels, cutters and stretch wrap all track the same number.
You can get that number two ways here: enter your own box count, or pick a home size and we use the same home-size → box-count model as our Moving Box Calculator, so the two tools never give you contradicting numbers:
| Home size | Typical total boxes | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 15 | 4 small · 6 medium · 3 large · 1 wardrobe · 1 dish-pack |
| 1 bedroom | 22 | 6 small · 9 medium · 4 large · 1 wardrobe · 2 dish-pack |
| 2 bedrooms | 37 | 10 small · 15 medium · 7 large · 2 wardrobe · 3 dish-pack |
| 3 bedrooms | 56 | 16 small · 22 medium · 11 large · 3 wardrobe · 4 dish-pack |
| 4+ bedrooms | 77 | 22 small · 30 medium · 15 large · 4 wardrobe · 6 dish-pack |
From there each supply has its own per-box ratio and a minimum, and the three consumables that actually depend on what you own — packing paper, bubble wrap and foam pouches — are scaled by your fragile level. A minimal kitchen uses about 30% less paper and less than half the bubble wrap; a household with a full dinner service, stemware and framed art uses 60% more paper, double the bubble wrap, and foam pouches become worth buying.
The baseline ratios are the ones moving suppliers publish with their own kits: roughly one roll of tape per 16 boxes and one 5 lb bundle of packing paper per 10 boxes. Everything is rounded up, never down.
Buy about 10–15% extra. These are planning estimates, not a precise bill of materials — two households with the same box count can use very different amounts of paper depending on how heavily they wrap. Tape and paper are the two things people run out of, always at 9pm, and unopened supplies are usually returnable. Also: use unprinted newsprint, not newspaper — newspaper ink transfers onto dishes.
| Home size | Typical boxes | Tape rolls | Paper (5 lb bundles) | Bubble wrap rolls | Markers | Box breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 15 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 small · 6 medium · 3 large · 1 wardrobe · 1 dish-pack |
| 1 bedroom | 22 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 small · 9 medium · 4 large · 1 wardrobe · 2 dish-pack |
| 2 bedrooms | 37 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 small · 15 medium · 7 large · 2 wardrobe · 3 dish-pack |
| 3 bedrooms | 56 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 16 small · 22 medium · 11 large · 3 wardrobe · 4 dish-pack |
| 4+ bedrooms | 77 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 22 small · 30 medium · 15 large · 4 wardrobe · 6 dish-pack |
Budget about one roll of 2-inch tape per 16 boxes, with a minimum of two rolls for any move. That works out to roughly 3 rolls for a 2-bedroom (37 boxes), 4 for a 3-bedroom and 5 for a 4-bedroom. The reason people underestimate is that every box needs the bottom taped as well as the top, and heavy boxes want a second strip across the seam. Buy one more roll than the estimate — it is the single most common thing to run out of.
About 4 bundles of 5 lb unprinted newsprint (roughly 20 lb total) for an average 2-bedroom of around 37 boxes — the ratio is about one 5 lb bundle per 10 boxes. Scale it by what you own: a minimal kitchen needs about 30% less, and a household with a full dinner service, stemware and framed art needs around 60% more. Use unprinted newsprint rather than actual newspaper, because newspaper ink transfers onto dishes and glassware.
Far less than most people buy, if you use paper for general cushioning. A 12-inch by 100-foot roll covers a typical 2-bedroom's genuinely breakable items; a household with lots of glass, framed art and electronics needs two or three. Bubble wrap is for things that would actually break — screens, stemware, framed pieces, ceramics. Paper is cheaper and better for filling voids and wrapping plates.
The full list is above, but the short version is: boxes, tape, a tape gun, unprinted packing paper, some bubble wrap, permanent markers, labels, a box cutter, stretch wrap for drawers and upholstery, furniture blankets, mattress bags, zip-top bags for hardware, straps for the truck, and contractor-grade trash bags for the declutter pass. Renting the blankets and a dolly with the truck is often cheaper than buying them if you only move once.
A mix is usually cheapest. Used boxes are free and perfectly fine for non-fragile items — ask your mover, check liquor stores (small, strong, with dividers) and grocery stores, or a local Buy-Nothing group. Buy new for anything heavy or fragile, where box strength genuinely matters, and for wardrobe and dish-pack boxes, which are hard to find used and save real time. Do not reuse a box that has been damp or stored in a garage for years.
Roughly 15 for a studio, 22 for a 1-bedroom, 37 for a 2-bedroom, 56 for a 3-bedroom and 77 for a 4-bedroom, at average household density. Those are the same figures our Moving Box Calculator uses, so the two tools agree — use that tool if you want the split across small, medium, large, wardrobe and dish-pack boxes rather than just a total.