Home Essentials – 8 Items You Need

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Home essentials are the key to a comfortable, functional and even lovely home. If you take the time to plan, research and choose only household essentials that you love, you’ll only have to choose them once. Updates can easily be made as your taste, styles and your requirements change.

If you invest the time now to decide which home essentials are right for your place and your lifestyle, you will quickly create a home that feels like home and works well for your personal situation and lifestyle.

What Are Home Essentials?

• Home essentials are the things that you need to make an apartment or house feel like home.
• They are also the items that make your home functional for you.
• They definitely include practical items, but they can also be nice-to-have items that will make your home feel more comfortable and more like yours.
• What constitutes home essentials can vary from person to person, but there are basic items that are common to almost everyone.

Home Essentials

Kitchen Essentials

Since the kitchen is the heart of the home, kitchen home essentials are key to creating a home that is livable. Whether you have children, a partner or are living alone, managing without key kitchen essentials is almost impossible. . Even if you don’t like cooking or don’t know how to cook, you’ll still need basic kitchen essentials to be able to function comfortably in your home.

Kitchen Essential Items

• At least two plates, bowls and cups per person
• At least two sets of silverware per person, four sets are better
• A couple of glasses and coffee cups per person
• At least one large pan, a medium and large pot with lids
• At least one cookie sheet or baking pan
• At least one spatula, large spoon and slotted spoon
• At least one paring knife, large knife and a steak knife per person
• Oven mitts
• Kitchen towels and dish cloths
• Foil and food storage bags or containers
• Appliances, as your unique needs require
  • Microwave
  • Toaster
  • Coffee Maker
  • Blender

Home Interior Accessories

In addition to function, you should consider your unique home interiors preference. The look and feel of your place is what makes it your home and makes it a pleasure for you to live in. Consider art that will express your personal style and taste. You can create your own art or look for one-of-kind finds at yard sales and thrift stores. Look for items that represents your personality and also add color to the house.

In addition to art, consider adding plants to your home essentials list. While fresh flowers do brighten up the house, they can die quickly. Houseplants will last for years and aid in air purifying.

Cleaning Items

Cleaning items are also necessary household essentials. Most of us do our own cleaning, but even if you are able to hire someone to clean for you, you should still have basic cleaning items available.

• Cloths, cotton or microfiber
• Paper towels
• Disinfecting spray or wipes
• Window cleaner
• Rubber gloves
• Broom and dust pan
• Mop
• Vacuum, if possible

Consider substituting natural cleaning products and tips. Be sure to check out my cleaning resources:

• Daily Cleaning Routine
• House Cleaning Checklist
• Cleaning Granite Counters
• Natural Way to Clean a Utility Sink

Home Furnishings

Of course, furniture and other home furnishings are key to making your place both functional and cozy. Check out my First Apartment Checklist article for an in-depth list of items you need. It also includes a free printable checklist you can use in determining the home essentials you want to prioritize.

First Aid Kit

A first aid kit is something you should always keep in the house. An accident can happen at any time. When you’re starting off, it’s easiest to purchase an affordable starter first aid kit that has everything you need. You should also check and restock your first aid kit annually.

Fire Extinguisher

And while we’re talking about safety related home essentials, you should have your own fire extinguisher. When you have your own, you know exactly how old it is and if it has ever been discharged before. You can purchase an affordable fire extinguisher, so there’s no excuse not to have one.

Laundry Supplies

It’s not always possible, but when it is, you want to have your own washer dryer set. Being able to do your laundry in your own apartment or home at any time that you’d like is a game changer. If your budget or space necessitates you save up for your own washer and dryer, do it. It will mean even more to you when you get to enjoy it.

• Laundry detergent
• Mesh laundry bags for dedicates
• Laundry basket, I like these collapsible versions
  • Mesh collapsible basket
  • Plastic collapsible basket
• Drying rack
• Iron and ironing board or a tabletop ironing board, if you use them

Entertaining Items

Investing in items for entertaining makes your home more welcoming for guests. Investing just a bit in these items can actually save you money in the long-run since instead of spending money going out, you can have friends over for a night in.

It doesn’t have to be expensive to supplement your home essentials with entertaining items. You can find many of these items at yard sales, thrift stores and on sale at end-of-season sales.

• Folding chairs or floor pillows if you have limited seating
• Folding table or TV trays for eating
• Extra glasses, plates and silverware
• Board games
• Outdoor games
• An indoor grill or outdoor grill

Whether you’re setting up your first place or moving into another new place (I’ve moved into more than 20 homes myself), identifying the home essentials you need and want will insure that your new place quickly becomes a functional home that you’re happy to come home to and invite friends over to.

Pin for later so you can find these home essentials items every time you move.

For my top moving and travel tips, hacks and printables check out the table below. You can scroll though the table and look for ideas or search for specific ideas with the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner (on desktop). Click on the topic and then click through the specific article.