Packing Tips for Moving House in Ireland

Three weeks out from moving day and not a single box packed. These packing tips for moving house in Ireland are built from our 40 years on the job, across moves from Docklands apartments to Dundrum family homes. The mistakes that slow a move down follow consistent patterns. Once you know them, they’re avoidable.

When to Start Packing for a House Move

The single most consistent mistake: starting too late. Most people estimate they can pack a house in a weekend; most are wrong. Walk through each room and count the actual number of items. That kitchen alone (appliances, crockery, glassware, pantry staples, pots, cleaning products under the sink) will take considerably longer than most people expect.

A three-phase approach works well in practice.

Two to three weeks out: pack items you don’t use day-to-day. Books, seasonal clothing, spare bedding, ornaments, wall art, anything stored in the attic or garage that hasn’t moved in months. Box them, label them, and stack them in a staging area in one room.

One week out: pack the main rooms. Clothes you won’t wear before moving day, most of the kitchen apart from a working set of plates and cutlery, living room shelving, and children’s toys they won’t miss for a few days.

The night before and moving morning: pack only the essentials. Kettle, mugs, a change of clothes, toiletries, phone charger. These travel in a bag with you, not on the van.

This staged approach keeps the house liveable until close to the move date and means you’re not making decisions under pressure on the last evening.

What Packing Materials You Need

Not all boxes are equal. Supermarket boxes are free, but they’re sized for shelf stacking and are often structurally weak after going through a delivery chain. Purpose-built removal boxes come in standardised sizes and stack securely in a van. A pack of 20–25 boxes typically costs €25–€40. For a three-bedroom house, you’ll use 40–60 boxes once you genuinely count what you own.

What to have in stock before you start:

• Removal boxes in small and medium sizes (more than you think you’ll need)
• Packing tape with a dispenser (not masking tape, which fails under load)
• Bubble wrap for glassware, ceramics, and mirrors
• Tissue or newsprint paper for filling gaps inside boxes
• Marker pens in two colours: one for room label, one for contents
• Wardrobe boxes (tall boxes with a hanging rail) for suits, coats, and dresses

Bin bags are fine for soft items like duvets and pillows. For anything with structure or fragility, use proper boxes.

Room by Room: Where to Start and What Takes Longest

The Kitchen

The kitchen is the most time-consuming room in a standard house move. Pack it near the end, not at the beginning. You need access to it until close to moving day.

Wrap glasses individually in bubble wrap or layered paper and stand them upright in the box, not on their side. Plates pack best on their edge, vertical like records in a crate rather than flat in a stack. It’s counterintuitive, but vertical plates withstand the movement of transit better than a horizontal stack. Cell dividers made from strips of cardboard prevent items shifting and clinking.

Appliances should be clean and dry before packing. If you have the original boxes, use them. If not, wrap small appliances individually in bubble wrap and pack them snugly in medium boxes.

Pantry items are often left until the last moment and create a scramble. Weigh up what’s worth moving. Sealed tins and dry goods travel fine. An open bottle of olive oil is a spillage risk, and a nearly-empty jar of spice isn’t worth the space in a box.

Bedrooms

Wardrobe boxes are the cleanest solution for hanging clothes. For folded items, stack them directly into medium boxes. Most drawer contents can be packed as-is: empty the drawer into a box and reload at the other end.

Beds disassemble more straightforwardly than most people realise. Frames come apart and slats stack flat. Mattresses should go into mattress bags whenever there’s a chance of rain, which on an April morning in Dublin is always a real prospect. A mattress that gets wet in transit tends to hold that moisture once it’s in a bedroom.

Living Room

Books go in small boxes without exception. A large box of books cannot be lifted safely by one person, and risks the box floor giving way in transit. This is the reason professional movers use small boxes for dense, heavy items.

Large pieces (sofas, display units, TVs) are handled by the crew on moving day. What you can do in advance is disassemble anything that moves more easily in parts: TV stands, shelving units, media furniture. Keep screws and fittings in a labelled zip-lock bag taped to the item they belong to.

If you’re moving out of a Dublin apartment, check with your management company whether large items need to go through a goods lift or if there are specific loading bay hours. Many newer blocks in areas like Sandyford and the city centre have restrictions that catch people out if they’re not checked in advance.

Labelling: A System That Works on Moving Day

Unlabelled boxes create unnecessary work at the other end. Write on two places on every box: the top and one side face, so the label is readable whether the box is in a stack or sitting on a shelf. Include the destination room (not where it came from), a brief note of the general contents, and a fragile or this-way-up marking where relevant.

Colour-coding speeds things up in practice. Two marker colours, one for ground-floor rooms and one for upstairs, let you direct the crew in seconds at the new property without anyone needing to read every label.

Set one box aside for arrival essentials: kettle, mugs, tea, a couple of plates and sets of cutlery, phone chargers, toilet roll, hand soap. Mark this box clearly and load it last so it comes off the van first.

What Stays Off the Van

Most removal companies carry a short list of items they won’t transport. Flammable liquids (paint thinners, garden chemicals, solvents) should be disposed of before moving day, not packed. Gas cylinders are not transported. Perishable food is obvious; cleaning products under the kitchen sink are less so and get left to the last moment more often than you’d think.

Valuables, documents, and medication should travel with you personally. Revenue correspondence, property deeds, passports, An Post mail redirection confirmations, BER certificates for the new property, NDLS update paperwork: all of these belong in a folder that stays in your possession throughout the move.

When a Professional Packing Service Makes Sense

For some customers it’s the right call, and not always the most obvious cases. Our packing and unpacking service covers both the materials and the labour. The crew packs systematically, handles fragile items correctly, and removes the decision-making from what is already a pressured few days.

It makes clear sense for families with young children, for people moving out of large properties on tight timelines, or for anyone carrying a heavy workload on top of the move itself. It’s also the practical option when the sheer volume of a house’s contents makes self-packing genuinely daunting.

For a well-organised person moving from a two-bedroom flat with a few weeks of lead time, self-packing is entirely manageable. For a five-bedroom family home in Castleknock where both parents are working full-time, bringing in the packing crew the day before the move often turns out to be the better call.

Our house removals service page covers how the full-service option works in practice, and our Dublin removals team can talk you through what makes sense for your specific move.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many boxes do I need for a three-bedroom house in Dublin?

A realistic estimate is 40–60 boxes. The spread depends on how much you own and how much you declutter before packing. People who haven’t moved in a decade consistently underestimate; start with 50 and adjust as rooms get packed.

What is the best way to pack fragile items for a house move?

Wrap each item individually in bubble wrap, pack glasses and cups upright rather than on their side, and stand plates on their edge rather than flat in a stack. Pack the box tightly so items cannot shift in transit. Mark the box on the top and on one side face, not just the top.

Should I pack room by room or by category?

Room by room works better for the unpacking stage. Directing the crew at your new property is far easier when boxes are labelled “kitchen” or “main bedroom” than when they’re labelled by category across multiple rooms. The exception is items stored across several rooms (tools, craft supplies, books) where grouping by type is sensible.

When should I book a packing service in Dublin?

Alongside your removal booking, not afterwards. Packing crews need the same scheduling as the move itself. In peak season from May through July, availability fills quickly. Leaving it as an afterthought often means no slot is available for the day before your move.

Ready to Move?

Packing yourself or bringing in the crew, give us a ring on +353 85 194 9801 or get in touch via our contact page. We’ll talk through what’s involved and send you a written quote with no surprises.