Setting up your first packing station at home or in a small room

Many small brands start by packing on the dining table or the bedroom floor. It works for the first few orders. After that, you start losing time searching for the scissors, the tape and the right box, and small mistakes start to happen.

A packing station fixes this.

It is one fixed place where everything you need to pack an order is kept, in the order you use it. You do not need a warehouse for this. One table and one wall are enough to start, and in this lesson we will build the station step by step.

It is meant for a home or a small room, packing up to about 50 orders a day. I will also be honest about one weakness that no layout can solve. A home station shares space with home life, so children, pets, kitchen steam and monsoon damp all reach it. We will plan for each of them as we go.

Step 1: Pick the spot

We begin with the place, before buying anything.

1. Choose a spot with a wall behind the table. The wall carries your shelves and hooks.
2. Keep it dry. Stay away from a wall shared with a bathroom, from kitchen steam, and from windows that let the rain in. Cardboard and paper soften in damp air.
3. Have a power point close by if you print labels.
4. Keep a clear path to the door. Packed parcels go out that way, and they wait near the door for pickup.

In my view, a corner of a spare room usually works better than a large shared hall, because nobody needs to walk through it.

Step 2: Get the table height right

This one detail decides how our backs feel after a long day of packing.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety gives clear numbers in its guide Working in a Standing Position (CCOHS, page modified 17 September 2026). For light work, the work surface should be about 5 to 10 cm below elbow height. For heavy work that needs downward force, it should be 20 to 40 cm below elbow height. Precision work, such as writing, goes about 5 cm above elbow height.

Packing is mostly light work. You do press down when you tape, though. So I suggest starting at about 5 to 10 cm below your elbow, and going a little lower if you mostly pack large boxes.

We can measure this in two minutes:

1. Stand straight in the shoes you work in, with your arms by your side.
2. Bend one elbow to a right angle, so your forearm points straight ahead.
3. Ask someone to measure from the floor to the underside of your elbow.
4. Take away 5 to 10 cm. That is your table-top height.

I know two easy fixes. If the table is too low, raise its legs on sturdy wooden blocks or bed risers. If it is too high, stand on a firm, low platform.

If you stand for hours on a hard floor, I would spend on a good mat before a fancy table. CCOHS warns that too much cushioning can tire you and cause trips, so choose a firm mat with slanted edges.

Step 3: Lay it out in the order you pack

We arrange the station so that an order moves in one direction only. It never comes back.

The packing order is the same for almost every parcel: order slip, product, box, cushioning, tape, label, done. Lay your station out in that order, from left to right if you are right-handed, or from right to left if you are left-handed.

1. First in line: today's order slips and labels, or the laptop and label printer.
2. On the shelf above: boxes and mailers, sorted by size, with the size you use most at the front.
3. In the centre: a clear space for packing, big enough for your largest open box.
4. Close to your working hand: cushioning, void fill and the tape gun, each in a fixed place.
5. Last in line: the packed parcels, grouped by courier, on the floor or a low shelf near the door.

The same CCOHS guide says to avoid reaching behind the shoulder line or above shoulder height. It also says to keep the usual operations within easy reach. So the things you touch for every order belong within arm's length, at about waist height.

We keep the top shelf for the things needed only once a week.

Step 4: Your supplies list

We start with this list. Add only what you use every day.

1. Boxes in two or three sizes that fit your best-selling products.
2. Mailer bags for soft goods such as clothes.
3. Cushioning, such as bubble wrap, honeycomb paper or air pillows.
4. Void fill, such as paper or air pillows.
5. Packing tape at least 48 mm wide, and a tape gun. Our lesson on how to tape a shipping box explains why.
6. A sharp cutter and a pair of scissors.
7. A weighing scale, so you know the weight before you book the courier.
8. A measuring tape, for box dimensions.
9. A label printer, or printed labels with clear plastic pouches.
10. A permanent marker and a pen.
11. Zip-lock bags and absorbent pads, if you ship liquids. See how to pack bottles and liquids.
12. Thank-you cards or stickers, if you use them.
13. A dustbin for offcuts and label backing paper.

We make several items on this list ourselves, such as tape and paper cushioning. Even so, my advice is to buy small quantities first and reorder once you know how much you really use. Your products and your box sizes will change in the first few months, and we would rather you did not store cartons of the wrong size.

Step 5: Storage

In our climate, damp and sunlight are the two enemies of packing supplies at home.

1. Keep flat boxes flat and off the floor, on a shelf or a raised plank. A damp floor softens the bottom boxes of a pile.
2. In the monsoon, move boxes and paper away from outside walls, where seepage can reach them.
3. Keep tape out of direct sun and away from heaters.
4. Keep cushioning in open bins or large cartons, one material per bin, with a label on each.
5. Keep your products separate from your packing supplies, so you never pack from the wrong shelf.

For reordering, I like one simple habit. When you open the last pack of anything, write it on a list stuck to the wall. Order from that list once a week.

Step 6: Light

We need bright, even light over the table. A ceiling light plus a lamp aimed at the work area is enough for most rooms.

Good light helps us three times for every order. We can check the product for damage before it goes in, read the order slip without bending close, and confirm that the label printed clearly. Daylight from a window is welcome, but direct afternoon sun on the table heats the tape and tires you.

Step 7: A daily routine for up to about 50 orders

Here is the routine we would start with.

1. At a fixed time each day, download the orders and print all labels and packing slips in one batch.
2. Pick all the products for the day first, onto a shelf or a tray next to the station.
3. Pack one order at a time. Keep only one order on the table at once.
4. Check two things before sealing: the product matches the slip, and the label matches the order.
5. Put each packed parcel in its courier group near the door, before pickup time.
6. When you stop for the day, refill the tape, cushioning and boxes, throw away offcuts, and leave the table clear.

Point 3 matters more than it looks.

Two open orders on one table is how a customer in Pune receives the earrings meant for Patna.

I would keep this routine even on slow days. On a busy festival day there is no time to invent a routine, so we build it on the quiet days.

Safety at home

We keep this part short, but please do not skip it.

1. Retract the cutter blade after every use, and keep the cutter in a fixed place out of children's reach.
2. Run printer and charger cables along the wall, not across the floor.
3. Keep cardboard and paper away from stoves, heaters, candles and Diwali diyas. They catch fire easily.
4. Keep the path to the door clear of stacked boxes.

When you have outgrown it

The signs are easy to read. Orders regularly wait until the next day. Boxes start to spill into other rooms. Pickup times are missed because packing ran late. When that happens, it is time for a bigger space and a different kind of layout.

Until then, let us keep it simple. Set up your station this weekend and pack ten orders on it. What is the one thing you kept searching for? Give that thing a fixed place first.