How to pack a kitchen without breaking anything

The kitchen is the slowest room in any house to pack. It holds more small, breakable and oddly shaped things than every other room put together, and you need it working until almost the last day. Done in the right order, it is also the room where careful packing makes the biggest difference.

Before you start

Clear what you can first. Run down the pantry and freezer over the weeks before, and throw out expired jars, tired spices and the appliance nobody has used since it was a gift. Anything you are not moving is one less thing to wrap.

Then gather materials. You will need more than you think.

• Small and medium cartons. Kitchen boxes get heavy quickly, so avoid large ones.
• Plenty of plain packing paper. Newspaper leaves ink on everything it touches.
• Bubble wrap for glassware and anything with a stem.
• Good packing tape and a thick marker.
• Cell dividers for glasses, if you can get them.

Pack in this order

Work from what you use least to what you use every day.

1. Special-occasion things: good glasses, serving platters, the roasting pan and anything that only comes out at Christmas.
2. Cookbooks, vases and decorative pieces.
3. Small appliances you can live without for a week.
4. Most of the everyday crockery, keeping back one setting per person.
5. The pantry items you are keeping.
6. On the last day, the kettle, the settings you kept and a frying pan, which go into the essentials box.

Plates, bowls and glasses

Plates travel best standing on their edge, like records in a crate, rather than stacked flat. In a flat stack the bottom plate carries the weight of everything above it.

• Line the bottom of the carton with crumpled paper.
• Wrap each plate in paper. Wrap good china twice.
• Stand the plates on edge in a row and fill every gap with crumpled paper so nothing can shift.
• Nest bowls in small stacks of three or four with paper between each, then wrap the stack as a bundle.
• Stand glasses upright, wrapped one at a time with a little paper tucked inside. Roll stemware in bubble wrap with extra padding around the stem.

Before you tape a box shut, give it a gentle shake. If you can hear anything move, it needs more paper.

Pots, pans and knives

Nest pots and pans inside each other by size, with a sheet of paper between each to protect non-stick surfaces. Wrap lids separately and slide them down the side of the carton.

Knives need care for the sake of whoever unpacks them. Wrap each blade in several layers of paper or a tea towel, tape it closed, and write KNIVES on the bundle as well as on the carton.

Appliances

If you still have the original boxes, use them. Otherwise wrap each appliance in a blanket or bubble wrap and pack it snugly, with padding on every side.

• Empty and dry the coffee machine and kettle. Water left inside leaks, and can grow mould on a warm day in a closed truck.
• Tape cords to the appliance so they cannot catch or tangle.
• Take the glass turntable out of the microwave and pack it on its own.
• Clean and dry the fridge completely, then leave the door propped open so it does not smell when it arrives.
• If the fridge has a water line or ice maker, disconnect and drain it well before moving day.

Pantry and liquids

Tape the lids of opened jars and bottles, and pack them upright inside a plastic bag within the carton in case something leaks. Keep cleaning products together and away from food.

Some things should not go in the truck at all. Aerosols, gas bottles and flammable liquids are dangerous goods. Ask your removalist what they cannot carry - the common ones are in our FAQ.

Label for the unpack

Mark every carton KITCHEN, then add what is inside and whether it is fragile. Put a star on the box holding the first things you will need at the other end. It is the box you will be looking for at six o'clock that evening.

If you would rather hand the whole room to people who do it every day, that is exactly what our packing service is for.