If you’re moving out of an apartment in Abu Dhabi — whether that’s a temporary relocation, a downsizing move, or a gap between two leases — one of the first practical questions is how much storage space the contents of your home will actually need. The honest answer is: it depends less on the number of bedrooms and more on how furnished the apartment is, and how much of it you’re actually planning to store.
This breakdown goes through studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments separately, using realistic examples rather than fixed size promises.
Why Bedroom Count Alone Doesn’t Tell the Full Story
Two 2-bedroom apartments can need very different amounts of storage. One might be lightly furnished with a sofa, a bed and a handful of boxes. Another could be fully furnished with a dining set, home office equipment, extra appliances and years of accumulated belongings. Bedroom count gives a rough starting point, but the real driver is what’s actually inside the home.
It also matters whether you’re storing everything, or only specific items while keeping the rest with you, sold, or given away. Someone relocating temporarily for work often stores far more than someone simply decluttering before a smaller move.
Studio Apartments
Studios are usually the most compact starting point. A typical studio setup might include a sofa or sofa-bed, a small dining or breakfast table, a wardrobe, some kitchen items and general boxes. If you’re storing most of this, a smaller end of the size range — often discussed on the studio apartment storage page — tends to be enough, particularly if furniture is broken down before storage.
If you’re only storing a portion of your belongings — say, personal items and a few boxes while furniture stays with a new tenant or gets sold — a small storage unit or even a 1 CBM storage unit may cover it.
1-Bedroom Apartments
A 1-bedroom apartment usually adds a separate bedroom’s worth of furniture on top of the studio-style living areas — think a bed frame, mattress, bedside tables and a wardrobe, alongside the living room and kitchen items. For a full move, this often falls into a step up from studio-level storage, and it’s worth reviewing the 1-bedroom apartment storage page for a more tailored view based on your specific setup.
If your 1-bedroom apartment is lightly furnished, or you’re only storing part of the contents, a 4 CBM storage unit can sometimes be enough. Fully furnished apartments with larger pieces — a proper dining table, additional storage furniture, or home office equipment — often need more.
2-Bedroom Apartments
This is where the range widens considerably. A 2-bedroom apartment might include two bedroom sets, a full living room, dining furniture, kitchen appliances, and a meaningful volume of boxes covering clothing, books, kitchenware and personal items. Some households also have additional furniture like a study desk, extra shelving, or children’s furniture and toys.
Because the variation is wide, it’s worth looking at the 2-bedroom apartment storage page specifically, since a lightly furnished 2-bedroom and a fully furnished family home labelled the same way can need noticeably different amounts of space. As a general size reference, many 2-bedroom moves land somewhere around the 10 CBM storage unit range, though this varies with how much is actually being stored.
3-Bedroom Apartments
3-bedroom apartments typically represent a full family household — multiple bedroom sets, a complete living and dining setup, kitchen appliances, and often several years’ worth of accumulated belongings across children’s rooms, storage cabinets and general household items. It’s common for 3-bedroom households to underestimate their total volume simply because belongings are spread across more rooms and less visible at a glance.
For a fuller picture, the 3-bedroom apartment storage page is a useful starting point. In terms of general size range, many full 3-bedroom households need to consider options from medium storage units upward, sometimes reaching into the 15 CBM storage unit territory or beyond, depending on furnishing levels.
What Actually Changes the Numbers
Regardless of apartment size, a few practical factors shift how much space you’ll genuinely need:
- Are you storing everything, or just part of it? Many people sell, donate or gift furniture before a move and only store what they intend to keep long-term.
- How furnished is the apartment? A minimally furnished rental needs far less storage than a fully equipped, long-term family home.
- Will furniture be disassembled? Breaking down beds, wardrobes and tables before storage noticeably reduces the volume required.
- Are there appliances involved? Washing machines, extra fridges or standalone freezers add meaningful volume that’s easy to forget when mentally listing “furniture.”
Furnished vs Unfurnished Apartments
Abu Dhabi’s rental market includes a significant mix of furnished and unfurnished apartments, and this alone can change your storage needs dramatically, independent of bedroom count. Someone leaving a fully furnished apartment often only needs to store personal belongings, since the furniture itself belongs to the landlord and stays behind. Someone leaving an unfurnished apartment they’ve fitted out themselves, on the other hand, needs to account for every piece of furniture they’ve bought over the course of the tenancy.
If you’re not sure which category you fall into, it’s worth checking your tenancy agreement or simply looking around the apartment room by room, since this distinction often has a bigger impact on unit size than the number of bedrooms does.
Storing Only Part of Your Apartment
Not every move requires storing an apartment’s entire contents. Common partial-storage scenarios include:
- Storing furniture while staying in short-term accommodation, with personal items travelling with you
- Storing seasonal or occasional items (extra bedding, decorations, sports equipment) while keeping daily essentials at your new home
- Storing furniture from a room you’re downsizing out of, such as moving from a 2-bedroom to a 1-bedroom apartment
- Storing office or study equipment separately from general household items
In these cases, it’s worth resisting the temptation to size based on the apartment as a whole. Instead, list specifically what’s going into storage, since a partial move from a 3-bedroom apartment can sometimes need less space than a full move from a 1-bedroom apartment.
Families With Children vs Single Occupants or Couples
Household composition also affects volume in ways that bedroom count alone doesn’t capture. Families with children typically accumulate more items over time — toys, children’s furniture, prams, extra bedding, and seasonal clothing in multiple sizes — which can meaningfully increase storage needs compared to a similarly sized apartment occupied by a single person or a couple.
If you’re storing on behalf of a family, it’s worth deliberately including children’s items in your inventory, since these are often stored separately in wardrobes or playrooms and easy to underestimate when picturing “the apartment’s contents” in general terms.
Working Out Your Own Number
Rather than relying purely on apartment size labels, a more accurate approach combines three things: the apartment’s bedroom count as a rough starting point, an honest assessment of how furnished it actually is, and a clear decision about how much you’re storing versus keeping, selling or donating. Combining these three factors consistently gives a more reliable size estimate than any single figure could on its own.
A Simple Starting Checklist
Before settling on a size, it can help to walk room by room and note:
- Bedroom furniture per room (bed, wardrobe, bedside tables, dresser)
- Living room furniture (sofa, coffee table, TV unit, shelving)
- Dining furniture (table, chairs, cabinet)
- Kitchen appliances beyond what’s built in
- Estimated number of boxes (clothing, kitchenware, books, décor)
- Any oversized or awkward items (exercise equipment, large mirrors, playpens)
Once you have this list, comparing it against storage unit sizes and prices becomes a far more grounded exercise than guessing based on bedroom count alone.
Timing Your Storage Around a Move
Apartment storage in Abu Dhabi is often tied directly to a move date, which means timing matters as much as size. If your move-out and move-in dates don’t align neatly, you may need storage for a specific gap rather than an open-ended period, which is worth mentioning when discussing your requirements. This is particularly common when a new lease starts a few days or weeks after the previous one ends, or when a new property’s handover slips slightly later than originally planned.
It’s also worth thinking about access during this window. If you’ll need to retrieve specific items — work equipment, particular clothing, or documents — before your new home is ready, it helps to pack those items separately and toward the front of the unit rather than mixed randomly throughout.
Final Thought
Apartment size is a useful starting reference, but the real answer to “what size storage unit do I need” comes from what’s actually going into the unit. Taking the time to separate “storing everything” from “storing what matters” often changes the answer more than the number of bedrooms ever will.
FAQs
Does a 2-bedroom apartment always need a bigger unit than a 1-bedroom?
Usually, but not always. A lightly furnished 2-bedroom apartment can sometimes need less space than a fully furnished, heavily used 1-bedroom apartment. Actual furnishing level matters more than the label.
Should I store furniture I’m not sure I’ll keep?
It’s often worth deciding before storage rather than during it, since storing undecided items adds cost and volume for things you may end up discarding anyway.
Do appliances count toward my storage size estimate?
Yes, and they’re commonly forgotten. Washing machines, extra fridges and similar items take up meaningful space and should be included in your initial volume estimate.
Is it cheaper to store a fully furnished apartment or a partially cleared one?
Generally, storing less means needing less space, which typically affects cost. Clearing out items you don’t need before storage is one of the simplest ways to manage overall size and cost.
What if my apartment is bigger than average for its bedroom count?
Bedroom count is only a starting reference. If your apartment has extra rooms, a larger layout, or simply more furniture than typical, it’s worth sizing based on your actual inventory rather than the label alone.
Can I combine boxes and furniture in the same unit?
Yes, this is standard. Most household storage involves a mix of both, and thinking through arrangement — heavier furniture at the back, frequently needed boxes near the front — helps make the space more usable.