Rise & Shine: How to Pack up Your Bedroom When Moving

how to pack a bedroom

With its heavy furniture — at least a bed and a wardrobe — the bedroom can take up a lot of time and energy during a house move. There are all your clothes to consider too, and if you have a family, there may be two or more bedrooms to contend with.

Nevertheless, with a systematic approach and the right materials, it’s possible to pack up bedrooms painlessly.

First things first

The first step is to divide up the bedroom into its component parts:

  • Bed
  • Wardrobe, and other furniture
  • Bedding, clothing, and soft furnishings
  • En-suite bathroom (if you have one)

Each of these areas present their own individual packaging challenges, but being prepared, and choosing the right moving kit, with enough sturdy boxes to accommodate everything, will stand you in good stead come moving day.

Packing up the bed

This is more time-consuming than you might think, so don’t be tempted to leave the bed until last. If possible, sleep on a camp bed, or a blow-up mattress, on your final night in your old house.

Firstly, strip the bed of the duvet, sheets, pillows and pillowcases, then put these to one side. Next, remove the mattress from the base, and cover it with polythene sheeting to protect it from sharp objects, such as the corner of a chest of drawers, and to keep dust and dirt away. The polythene will also ease the process of manoeuvring the bulky mattress downstairs.

Is the bed base a wood or metal frame, or possibly a divan? If it’s a frame, take everything apart, and group together slats, or rods, of the same size, then bundle them together with bubble wrap and tape. Place all the nuts, bolts and screws in a sealed bag and put them in the same box as the dismantled base.

If the divan consists of two halves (most do), unfasten them. If it has drawers, empty them to minimise the weight. When moving a divan, replicate what you did with the mattress: cover it with polythene to protect it and ease manoeuvring.

Finally, if there is a headboard, cover it with bubble wrap for protection.

Wardrobes and other furniture Moving Kits from Davpack

Firstly, empty your wardrobe of its contents. A key consideration will be: is your wardrobe factory-assembled, or did you assemble it yourself? If you built it from a flat-pack kit, now’s the time to disassemble it using an Allen key, or a screwdriver, so that it is easier to carry and takes up less space in the removal van.

Protect the panels and doors with bubble wrap or foam sheeting. Put all the nuts, bolts and screws in a sealed sandwich bag and either tape it to one of the panels, or put it in the box with your bed frame — making sure it’s clearly labelled.

Factory-assembled wardrobes will have to be moved whole. Cover the wardrobe with foam sheeting, bubble wrap, or removal blankets before moving it from the bedroom to the removal van. This will be at least a two-person job, and you should use a dolly for transport, to prevent injuries. Your removal firm will have one, but if you’re doing the move yourself, consider hiring or borrowing one.

The above procedures will also apply to other items of furniture, such as chests of drawers and bookcases.

Bedding, clothing and soft furnishings

Clothing can be folded and put into boxes. For efficient distribution, allocate one box to one piece of furniture. For example, one large box for the chest of drawers and one small box for the top section of the wardrobe.

Pack each box like you would pack a suitcase, putting items such as underwear or t-shirts together. Duvet covers, sheets and pillowcases can be folded and placed in boxes with any clothing that doesn’t need to be hung up.

Place dresses, suits and other pieces of clothing that need to be hung up in a wardrobe box. Its rail means there’s no need to remove items from hangers and its sturdy construction offers excellent protection.

Duvets and pillows have good cushioning properties, so place them in boxes with delicate items, to protect them.

If you have wall-hung pictures, or a flat-screen television, pack these into picture boxes, which are telescopic, so they will fit perfectly.

While it’s tempting to save space by cramming as many items into as few boxes as possible, make sure you can carry each box comfortably. Use another box, or two, to spread the load and prevent injury, if necessary.

En-suite bathroom

If you have an en-suite bathroom, you will need to pack up the towels, toiletries and cleaning products, as well as anything else moving to the new house with you. Towels can go in boxes with clothing, or be used as cushioning for fragile items.

Make sure that the caps on shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles are properly tightened before you pack them. Place these items in large, sealed freezer bags to prevent leakage.

Is there a cabinet? If you’re taking this with you, remove it from the wall and bubble wrap it. Bag up the contents and label the bag clearly. There may well be medicines in there, so ensure these are kept away from children. Finally, put any cleaning products, such as bleach, in a separate box, securely taped up and clearly labelled.

Moving house is a big job, but with the right measures in place and a good strategy, there is no reason why it shouldn’t go perfectly smoothly, with a place for everything you need. For more information on the best tools for your move, check out our range of moving supplies.

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Rick Stanford

Rick has been a salesman in the packaging supplies business for more than thirty years. Now semi-retired, he divides his time between tending his allotment in north Devon, getting depressed at the continuing travails of his home-town football club Macclesfield Town, and sharing his considerable experience and knowledge with the readers of the Davpack blog. Davpack

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