Moving into a New House – First Day Essentials

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This post was sponsored by Kidde Fire Safety as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

After more than 25 moves, I’ve got a pretty good handle on the essentials I need when moving into a new house. When I say essentials, I mean the things that you need and are easy to overlook in the chaos of moving. But now there’s no excuse to forget these 7 moving into a new house essentials.

Thanks to the military, I’ve moved into more than 25 homes all over the country and the world. I’ve moved myself across town and I’ve moved overseas when it took three months for my things to arrive. I have had easy moves and really difficult moves. I think I’ve experienced just about everything that can happen when moving into a new house (including have a snake sleeping on the front porch of our new home!)

Over the years, we’ve collected some funny stories from our move-in day experiences. In addition to laughing about those experiences, I’ve created my top 7 essentials that are easy to forget but you definitely need to have when moving into a new house.

Moving into a New House – First Day Essentials

Tool Box

Whether you’re handy or not, you need to have a basic tool box with you on move-in day. I guarantee that there will be something that needs a hammer or screw driver on that first day.

We’ve even had the moving guys ask to use our tools to set up our bed and for various other needs. I don’t know why they didn’t have the basic tools they needed and I’m not sure what would have happened if we hadn’t had the tools. Don’t find out the answers to those questions – have a tool kit with you when you move in.

Smoke Alarm

Did you know that the National Fire Protection Association reports about 3 out of 5 fire fatalities occur in homes with no smoke alarms or ones that don’t work properly?

When you’re moving into a new home, you don’t know old the smoke alarms or batteries in the alarms are. You’re going to be busy in the next few months settling into your new home, so take the time now to check all the alarms and replace any that need to be replaced.

October is National Fire Prevention month, so whether you’re moving into a new house or not, this is the perfect time to check all the alarms in your home.

We’ve had Kidde Fire Safety alarms in our last several homes. With more than 100 years of service, I know that I can rely on Kidde products for my home. I also love that no matter where I move, I can find Kidde products at The Home Depot and Walmart stores. Learn more about all the products available from Kidde and why I have Kidde Fire Safety smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in my home.

Fire Extinguisher

You never know when you will need a fire extinguisher, so you need to always have one available – and that includes on the day you’re moving into a new house.

If you’re moving very far or were packed by a moving company, chances are you didn’t bring your old fire extinguisher with you. And if you did bring your old fire extinguisher, do you know how old it is and if it’s still good?

Even if the previous occupants left a fire extinguisher, I always makes sure that I have my own. I know that I’ve purchased a quality brand and the type that is best suited for my home. When it comes to the safety of my family and home, I don’t want to rely on the leftovers from the previous occupant.

Moving into a new home is the perfect time to make sure you have the exact fire extinguisher you need for your new place. It only makes sense to have it available from the very start when you’re moving into a new home.

Just as with my alarms, I rely on Kidde Fire Safety for my fire extinguishers. I purchased this one when we moved into our current home a couple of years ago.

Be sure to keep your extinguisher where it is easy to access and near where you will most like need it. Since cooking equipment is the top cause of home fires according to the National Fire Prevention Association, it usually makes sense to keep it in the kitchen.

Utilities

Go through and check that all the utilities you set up are working. Check them early so that if there are any problems you have time to have them resolved that day. Be sure to check the internet right after checking the electricity, water and gas. While the first three are still most important, you will want internet connection on move-in day, if at all possible.

Light Bulbs

Most of us move into a new house during daylight. Then when you’re exhausted from a long moving day, you find out that the lights are burned out or removed by the previous occupant. I’ve experienced both in my many moves. You don’t want to have to run out to the store at night on move-in day. Check the lights early in the day so that you have time to address the issue if needed.

Curtains

I learned this lesson when we moved into our home two moves ago. My children were ages 7 – 14. We were all exhausted from driving 800 miles and moving into a new house in 48 hours. That evening I sent the kids up to take a bath for bed. We discovered that there were no window coverings in the bathrooms.

I decided we’d skip baths that night and told the kids to get changed into pajamas. We then discovered that none of the rooms in the house had window coverings. We’d been so busy moving in that I hadn’t noticed! We all got changed in our closets that night and the next morning until we could locate our curtains among the many moving boxes.

I now move with a clearly identified box of curtains. Every set of curtains are marked with the size and number of panels. I even add a roll of duct tape in the box so that if there are no curtain rods we can tape a curtain up in the bathroom if we have to.

Toilet Paper & Paper Towels

While this may seem obvious, in the chaos of moving, stocking up on toilet paper and paper towels can easily be forgotten on move-in day. Between your family and the moving team, you need to have plenty of both in your home.

Moving will always be exhausting, but move-in day will go much more smoothly with these 7 essentials. Do you have any must-have move-in essentials that I’ve forgotten

Pin now so you can find these tips later when you’re moving into a new house.

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.