About to become a new homeowner, but wondering what essentials you may need? This is a guide with new home essentials that will help you to stay organized and on the ball!
If you’re a new homeowner like I am, you’re probably a little overwhelmed about everything you need. As someone who has recently been through the home-buying process, I have created a guide to help you navigate this new time in your life.
In this post, you will be given new home essentials you should have for your first few weeks of homeownership. From kitchen tools to bathroom must-haves, this guide will ensure that your new home is organized chaos.
After reading this post, you will know exactly what you need in order to feel prepared for your first few weeks in your new home!
Buying A New Home
Buying a new home is a whirlwind of excitement, nerves, and new beginnings! Packing up your life is no easy feat, and unpacking it can be even harder. Luckily, there are certain items to bring along with you that will make this process go more smoothly, and will provide some stability during this crazy time.
Whether you purchase these items before the move or during it, they will all come in handy. Less than a year ago, my husband and I bought our first home. We were renting a small apartment before this, and I didn’t realize how much different moving into a home would be than moving into an apartment. There are different things you need to think of, and there is much more to do.
Homeownership is a whole other level of responsibility, and makes renting feel like a breeze! Even with this, it is worth all the hassle in the end. Knowing that you own a little slice of this big, crazy world provides a comfort like no other. But before you can get to this comfort, you’ll need to make it through the first few weeks of living in a new home, which is a surreal and sometimes disorienting feeling.
Being familiar with this feeling, I know how to help you feel less overwhelmed. When we moved into our first home 9 months ago, I wish I would have had a guide such as this one to help me better prepare for this time. The good news is, now I can provide you with a guide of new home essentials that comes from first-hand experience!
When To Purchase Essentials
Knowing when to purchase these essentials will help make the process go more smoothly. Leaving it all to the last minute will only add chaos to chaos, and that’s what we want to avoid. Since I did not have such a guide to help me through this time, I did not have the most organized system for attaining all these essentials. I purchased some beforehand, but found myself running to the store sometimes multiple times a day to fill in the gaps. This guide will help you avoid this headache.
Purchasing Essentials: 2 Ways
Purchasing these essentials can be done in two ways, both equally helpful.
The First Way
The first way is to purchase all of them prior to your move. This way, you will not have to worry about going out to get them in the first few days of your move. Packing them all in the same box labeled “ESSENTIALS” will avoid the “where did I pack that?” dilemma, and will keep it all organized and readily available. The downside to this method is having to move these new essentials from your previous place to your new home. I personally did not want to have MORE stuff to pack up and move, so I did it the second way.
The Second Way
This second way is to carve out time during your move to stop at the store and purchase the essentials. Having a full list of what you need is an absolute must. Without a list, you’ll have to keep going back to the store, which defeats the purpose. Taking an hour or two out of your first move-in day to go to a store for essentials will avoid you having to pack them up and move them, which is what I did. The downside to this method is having to take precious time out of your moving day to go to a store. Depending on how close or far the store is, you can make the decision as to what method you want to choose.
Both of these ways will ensure that you have your new home essentials, and will avoid you having to run to the store multiple times a day for forgotten items.
Just keep in mind that even with a list, there will ALWAYS be SOMETHING that went forgotten. That’s just part of moving. The point of this guide is to help you prepare the bulk of essentials, and will provide you with a comfortable first few weeks in your new home.
New Home Essentials Every New Homeowner Needs
For organization purposes, this list will be broken up into 5 categories: Cleaning, Household, Food, Cooking, and a Bonus section!
Each category will list a number of new home essentials. Keep in mind, I am creating this list with the assumption that you have already lived in another apartment/home, and have all other needed items such as pots and pans, towels, and other everyday items. This list focuses on new home essentials, and will not be a comprehensive list of everything you need for your new home. This list covers most-needed items to make your first few weeks in your new home easier.
Categories & Essentials
1. Cleaning Essentials
Moving into a new home means cleaning it from top to bottom. Whether your home is brand new, or a hundred years old, you’ll need to give it a good scrub. Cleaning your new home makes it feel fresh and ready for you, and makes it feel more like your space. The following essentials are ones that I found myself needing, and will come in handy for more than just the initial clean.
-Disinfectant surface spray
-Paper towels
-Disinfectant wipes
-Bathroom cleaner
-Goo Gone
-Windex
-Swiffer tools and accessories
-Dish soap
-Dish sponges
-Cleaning cloths/pads
-All purpose cleaner (stovetop, oven, etc.)
-Laundry detergent
2. Household Essentials
My husband and I had never moved into a home before; only apartments. Believe it or not, the moving process was different, and required different essentials. We had a bigger area to work with in our new home, and more to clean/prep. The following essentials came in super handy during our first few days.
-Hand soap
-Shower products
-Paper plates
-Plastic cups
-To-go insulated cups
-Plastic utensils
-Trash bags
-Toilet paper (an easy one to forget about, but a needed item in a new home!)
3. Food Essentials
Moving is hectic, and does not leave a lot of time for homemade, nutritious meals. As a homemaker, this pained me, but I knew it was temporary and I really didn’t have many options. Having easy, pre-cooked meals readily available will be a LIFESAVER during the first few days of your move. No, it is not the healthiest, and no, it is not the yummiest. However, it is QUICK and EASY, and that’s all we can ask for during a move. This section has 4 categories: Premade, Frozen, and Snacks, and Beverages. Each category will have different food ideas within it.
Premade
There are so many great options in this category, and most of these options can be found in the deli at your local grocery store. When my husband and I were moving, I got a variety of premade sandwiches, and each day in our moving process I packed them in a lunch box. Perfect for on-the-go lunches/dinners. I also got other premade meals in the deli, including a delicious Rana lasagna and a chicken pasta meal. These dinners were perfect after a long day of moving, and were ready within 30 minutes with minimal prep and clean up. Nearly no cooking items were used to cook them because they both came in oven-safe baking dishes. This was a lifesaver, especially when your whole life is in boxes!
There was a variety of premade meals in my grocery store’s deli, all of which looked easy and delicious! Perfect for those hectic, post-moving evenings. I also used these types of meals throughout our first week at our new home before I had all of our kitchen stuff unpacked.
Frozen
Since our moving process took a couple of days to complete, I bought a variety of frozen meals and snacks. If we were planning on being at the new house during a meal, I would pack up one of the frozen meals and put it in the freezer when we got there. Our old apartment and new home were about 45 minutes apart, so doing this made sense. The frozen meals that I got included breakfast sandwiches, pizza (in all forms), and frozen pasta skillets. There are so many options in this category, especially if you have a microwave handy. As mentioned earlier, I KNOW these meals are not healthy. But it was only for a few nights while we completed our move, and helped immensely. Everything in moderation!
Snacks
My husband and I are the type of people who need food regularly in order to be at our best. Moving is physically and emotionally draining, and requires A LOT of food fuel. Before we started our move, I stocked up on on-the-go snacks. This included granola bars, Goldfish, fruit, animal crackers, and pretzels. No, we don’t have kids; yes, we still buy Goldfish and animal crackers. There are some snacks you just never get too old for.
There are so many snack options, and I bought a variety of what I knew we would like. Having these snacks available was really convenient for when we were unloading the cars, and for when we were driving from the apartment to our new home/vice versa.
Beverages
Having different beverages on hand is also an important part of moving. Being thirsty while doing something like moving can make it miserable, and can make you feel lethargic. When we moved, it was the 4th of July weekend, and it was HOT. Every morning, I packed a cooler with water, Gatorade, and a few different soda options. This kept us hydrated and energized throughout the day!
4. Cooking Essentials
This comes into play during the first week of living in your new home; after the madness of moving is over, but before all your belongings are put away. If you’re anything like me, when I know we are moving soon I let all of my food in my pantry and fridge run out. It goes against my instincts, but I know it will be easier to buy new things once we move. This, however, means being without a lot of cooking essentials on the first few nights in the new home. In order to avoid this, adding some cooking essentials to your essentials shopping list will be useful. Paired with a variety of meats and pastas, you can whip up some pretty simple and yummy meals with this essentials list!
-Butter
-Flour
-Olive oil
-Salt
-Pepper
-Herbs
-Milk
-Eggs
BONUS: Things To Pack Separately
In this bonus section, you will find a list of essentials that you most likely already own. Packing these essentials separately is a MUST. The first few days and nights in a new home can be confusing, but taking the time to pack some essentials in an organized way will make it much more comfortable. Creating a few designated boxes for this will help you be able to pick them out of the sea of boxes you will undoubtedly have, and will allow you to find what you need easily.
From toothbrushes to towels, not knowing where needed essentials are can be frustrating. This list will help to avoid some of that frustration, and will allow you to feel somewhat normal during your first few days in your new home.
5. Essentials You Already Own: What To Pack Separately
-Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, make-up, skincare, hair products, bath products, a roll of toilet paper, medications, retainers, contacts, glasses, etc.)
-Towels (bath, hand, and washcloths)
-Bedding
-Pajamas
-Clothes for a few days
-Kitchen must-haves (1 pot, 1 pan, 1 baking sheet, silverware, select cooking utensils, plates, bowls, glasses)
-Air mattress- my husband and I finished moving late at night, and neither of us had the energy to set up our bed. Instead, we blew up an air mattress with some blankets and pillows. This was a lifesaver for us, and we were so happy we thought ahead and did this!
-Chargers
At The End…
At the end of your moving extravaganza, you will be extremely thankful you took extra time to plan out your essentials. Everyone has different essentials and different needs, however this list is what I found to be the most helpful in my moving process. Hopefully this list reminded you about a few essentials you would have forgotten about!