Size by property, not by item count

People try to size storage by counting boxes. It is the wrong unit, because boxes are the small part — the sofa and the wardrobe decide the size, and the boxes fill the gaps around them.

Size by the property instead. Apartment furniture sets are surprisingly predictable: nearly every Dubai one-bedroom has a queen bed, a wardrobe, a sofa, a dining table, a fridge and a washing machine. That is why the categories are named after bedroom counts.

The five categories, and what genuinely fits

Smart Space prices by category, and the categories map onto the property you are emptying.

Boxes — AED 500/month

Boxes and personal items only. No furniture.

  • Medium moving boxes
  • Suitcases and bags
  • Documents and files
  • Seasonal clothing

Right for: someone going home for the summer, or clearing overflow rather than emptying a flat.

Studio — AED 700/month

A studio’s contents: small furniture plus boxes.

  • Boxes and bags
  • A TV and a small sofa
  • A bicycle
  • Chairs and small appliances

Right for: a studio apartment, or a one-bedroom where you are storing everything except the large furniture.

1 Bedroom — AED 1,200/month

The most common booking. A full one-bedroom flat.

  • Queen bed and mattress
  • Fridge and washing machine
  • Two-seat sofa
  • Dining table and chairs
  • The boxes that go with all of it

Right for: emptying a one-bedroom apartment completely.

2 Bedroom — AED 1,950/month

A full two-bedroom apartment.

  • Two bedrooms of furniture
  • Wardrobes
  • All the white goods
  • Sofas and a dining set

Right for: a two-bed flat, or a large one-bed with a lot of furniture.

Villa — AED 2,600/month

A three-to-four bedroom villa or a large apartment.

  • Multiple beds and wardrobes
  • All white goods and appliances
  • Multiple sofas and dining sets
  • Garage and outdoor contents

Right for: a full house. Villa jobs are quoted after a short video survey rather than straight off the category.

All prices exclude 5% VAT. Packing and transport is charged separately, once, from AED 850. Return delivery is quoted separately and charged in addition, unless it is already included in your agreed package.

The three things that break the estimate

Almost every under-estimate comes from one of these:

  • The wardrobe. A free-standing double wardrobe takes roughly the same floor space as a small sofa and cannot be flat-packed unless it was flat-packed to begin with. If you have two, size up.
  • The mattress. A mattress cannot be folded, cannot be stacked under weight, and cannot be leaned against a wall for weeks without deforming. It needs its own flat space.
  • The balcony and the store cupboard. Nobody counts these when they estimate, and in a Dubai apartment the utility cupboard is usually holding a vacuum, a drying rack, a suitcase set and a toolbox.

A five-minute way to size it properly

  1. Walk each room and photograph it, including inside the wardrobe and the store cupboard.
  2. Photograph the balcony.
  3. List the large items only — anything two people are needed to lift.
  4. Say roughly how many boxes there will be — ‘about ten’ or ‘about forty’ is enough precision.
  5. Send the photos and the list on WhatsApp and let someone who does this daily size it.

That last step is the one worth doing. A ten-minute WhatsApp exchange is more accurate than any online calculator, because the person reading it can see the wardrobe you forgot to mention.

If you are genuinely between two categories, work out how long you are storing for. For a short gap, take the smaller one and be efficient. For six months or more, the larger one is usually worth it — repeatedly retrieving things from an over-packed unit costs more in handling than the difference in rate.