Don’t wait to stock up on essential items post-move. Add these items to your home essentials checklist in advance so you can get to cleaning your new place right away.
Cleaning
While everyone has their preferred cleaning products, most homes will benefit from a glass cleaner, multi-surface cleaner, and disinfectant for the kitchen and bathroom. You’ll likely want to include paper towels on your list of home necessities as well.
A vacuum is definitely an important home necessity to purchase prior to move-in. From robotic to handheld cleaners, there are various types of vacuum cleaners out there. Think about the size of your new place, your flooring surfaces, and budget before investing in a new vacuum cleaner. Some vacuums are around $50, while others cost upwards of $500.
Vacuums are great for major cleanups, but sometimes you just need to do a quick sweep. Think about what features are most important to you when shopping for a broom. For instance, do you want a small handheld broom or a large angle broom? Is a mini dustpan sufficient or would you prefer a larger dustpan on a stick? The size of your new place should help you come to a decision on this home essential.
Regular mopping is good for your floors, keeping your home clean and looking its best. Purchase a mop before your move-in date and you’ll be able to keep your new place polished from day one. From sponge mops to string mops, you have several options to choose from.
Lighting
Incandescent lighting is the most common type of lighting used in homes. While the bulbs are inexpensive and produce a warm, glowing light, they are the least energy efficient.
Compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, use about 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs. Since the bulbs last for long periods of time, they are great for hard-to-reach areas. While CFLs tend to emit a cooler tone, you can find them in various temperatures and levels of brightness.
LEDs also use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lighting and last 25 times longer. The bulbs emit very little heat and offer the same look as incandescent bulbs. As LED products expand, they’re becoming increasingly affordable.
Halogen lights are great for task lighting since they let off a bright, white light. Though they are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, they still produce a great deal of heat.
Window Treatments
A popular choice for any room in the house, curtains come in a variety of fabrics, lengths, colors, and patterns. Curtains are a great option for bedrooms since they tend to only partially filter out light. This means that you will still get some natural light in the room, even if the curtains are drawn. If this sounds like a good choice for you, add curtains to your home essentials checklist — and don’t forget about the hardware needed to hang them.
When you think of blinds, you may picture those flimsy plastic blinds that seem to always be sporting a layer of dust. What you may not know, however, is that blinds actually come in a variety of materials. From wood to aluminum slats, they are a fairly versatile window treatment option. Since blinds are easy to clean and don’t retain much moisture, they are a good choice for the bathroom. Should this window treatment suit your needs, go ahead and include it in your list of new home essentials.
Heavier than curtains, drapes are fabric panels that extend from the top of the window to the floor. These window treatments are lined, making them thick enough to block out all outside light. If you’re looking for a more formal window treatment for your living room, drapes are a good choice for this space.
Sized to fit within the window frame, shades can be lifted up and down. As the shade lifts, the fabric either bunches up or rolls around a rod. Since shades are quite versatile, they are a great fit for any room within your home or apartment. Add shades to your list of new home essentials if this window treatment style appeals to you.
Storage Solutions
Before you go out and buy the first set of plastic hangers you lay eyes on, consider using this opportunity to enhance your closet organization. Depending on what you need to hang, there are different hangers for different items of clothing. From felted to wooden hangers, each serves a specific purpose.
There are a variety of storage bins to organize your home, ranging from collapsible fabric baskets to stackable plastic tubs. When looking for the right bins to add to your home essentials checklist, think about where you want to store them in your new place. Will they be going under your bed or will they be out in plain sight? Having an organizational plan for your new home will simplify your shopping experience.
Locks
When you rekey a lock, you keep the same lock but the old key no longer operates it. To do so, you take the lock apart and replace some of the parts inside. The working key is then adapted to fit the new configuration of the lock. Though this process sounds complicated, it’s fairly quick. Still, it’s probably easiest to call a locksmith for this procedure.
Changing your locks is simpler than rekeying them since you simply swap out an old lock with a new one. If you’re feeling up to the challenge, you can change your locks yourself. However, you can always leave this task up to professionals and call a locksmith.
