Moving house is stressful enough without opening a box to the sound of breaking crockery. The good news is that the kitchen is one of the easiest rooms to pack well, provided you slow down and treat every plate and glass as though it were your favourite mug. It is not about being fussy — it is about giving each item its own cushion of space so that the jolts and bumps of a moving day never reach it.

Gather the right materials before you start

Half the battle is having everything within arm's reach so you are not rummaging through cupboards with a teapot in one hand. Set yourself up on a table, ideally in the kitchen itself, and lay out your supplies.

• Double-walled boxes in a few sizes. Single-wall boxes crush too easily under the weight of a stacked load.
• Plain packing paper for anything that will touch food, plus newspaper for outer layers where staining does not matter.
• Bubble wrap for glassware, mugs and anything with a handle.
• Strong tape and a decent dispenser — cheap tape peels off in transit.
• Cardboard dividers or cell kits for glasses, which are worth every penny.
• A marker pen for labelling which room and what is inside.

One more tip: raid your own linen cupboard first. Tea towels, bath towels and oven gloves make excellent free padding, and you have to pack them anyway.

Plates, bowls and serving dishes

Plates should always be packed on their edge, never laid flat in a stack. A plate lying flat with weight on top of it will crack under pressure; stood upright, it takes the load along its strongest axis.

Wrap each plate individually in packing paper, tucking the corners in so the paper stays put. Then place a scrunched ball of paper or a folded tea towel at the bottom of the box to create a base cushion. Stand the plates in the box vertically, alternating large and small so they sit snugly, and fill every gap with crumpled paper so nothing shifts when you shake the box gently.

Bowls are best nested, with a sheet of paper between each one, and then wrapped as a group. Cups and saucers should be separated — never leave a saucer nestled inside its cup, as the vibration can chip the rim. Serving dishes and platters follow the same rule as plates: upright, individually wrapped, with extra padding around the edges of the box.

Glasses, mugs and delicate china

Glassware is where most breakages happen, so give it your full attention. Use a cell kit or divider box if you can, and pack each glass upright rather than upside down. A glass packed rim-down concentrates all the weight on its thinnest, most fragile edge.

Wrap stemware in bubble wrap, then add a sleeve of paper around the bowl for extra protection. Line the bottom of the box with at least five centimetres of crumpled paper, slot the glasses in, then fill the top with more paper until the lid closes with gentle resistance — not force.

Mugs are tougher than they look, but handles snap easily. Wrap the mug, then wrap the handle separately with a small strip of bubble wrap so it has its own buffer. Pack mugs in a single layer with paper between them, and never cram them in so tightly that you have to push the lid down. If a box does not close comfortably, you have overfilled it.

Pots, pans, knives and awkward shapes

The good news about cookware is that it is heavy and robust. The bad news is that heavy items need careful packing so they do not crush anything beneath them.

• Nest saucepans with a sheet of paper between each, and put smaller pans inside larger ones.
• Pack the heaviest pans in their own box, at the bottom of any stack, and keep that box to a manageable weight — around 15 kilograms is plenty.
• Wrap sharp knives individually in thick paper or card, tape a sleeve over the blade, and pack them blade-down in a rigid box. Never leave a loose knife rattling among other items.
• Use small boxes for awkward shapes like ladles, whisks and baking trays, or slide flat trays down the side of a box as extra rigidity.

Anything glass or ceramic that you have wrapped can be tucked among the pans for protection, provided it is not where a heavy pan can land on it.

Sealing, labelling and loading the van

Tape the bottom of every box before you fill it, and run tape across the top in an H-shape once it is closed — down the centre seam and along both edges. Give each box a gentle shake. If anything moves, open it up and add more paper.

Label each box on the top and one side with the room, a short contents list, and the word FRAGILE in large letters. Mark the kitchen boxes clearly so your helpers know to stack them on top rather than underneath.

In the van, fragile boxes travel on top of heavier loads, wedged so they cannot slide. Finally, pack a small "first night" box with a kettle, a couple of mugs, tea bags, a tea towel, a knife, a chopping board and some biscuits. When you arrive exhausted and the takeaway is an hour away, you will be very glad you did.