When procuring essentials for your new home, think of the items you use every day. If the home doesn't have them, you may have to purchase basic appliances such as a stove, refrigerator, washing machine and dryer. Other homes may have those necessities, but you must provide everything else. When shopping, bring a list, a pen and plenty of motivation.
Decorating living and dining spaces is a long process, so begin with the basics. Bringing in the larger essentials makes your new place feel more like home. Provide seating in the form of a sofa, sectional or love seat. Purchase a flat-screen television for entertainment, and either mount it to the wall over a fireplace or house it in a media cabinet. Provide a place where a guest can rest a drink, such as a coffee table or end table, and an area where you can organize your mail and display your key bowl, such as on a console table. Buy a dining table with complementary chairs for either the dining area, eat-in kitchen or both spaces. If you haven't settled on your wall colors, buy shades for each window in the house. When you've determined the room colors, buy your window treatments.
Stock your kitchen cabinets with a dish set for six to 12 people, as well as the same number of stemware and drinking glasses. Provide the same number of flatware. Other kitchen essentials include: a can opener, large stockpot, pots, saute pans, cutting board, colander, vegetable peeler, coffee maker or teakettle, crock-pot and either a toaster or toaster oven. Stash your spatulas, scrapers and other tools in an earthenware crock, and place your oven mitts on a decorative hook. Store your dish liquid, all-purpose cleaner and other cleansers in a bin under the sink. Purchase countertop or hanging napkin and paper towel holders. Stock your pantry and refrigerator with enough items to feed you and your household for at least a week.
Stock up on soaps, toothpastes, toilet paper and other necessary toiletries. Each bathroom should have a shower curtain, bathmat, soap dish, toilet paper holder and plunger. Provide two hand towels and facecloths for each bathroom, two sets of towels for each member of the household, as well as two sets for guests. For bedrooms, provide two sets of sheets for each bed, pillows with pillowcases, and, of course, the beds with mattresses and box springs. Install a bureau or an armoire for clothes and shoe storage, a nightstand or usable substitute to hold bedside necessities and a dimmable lamp.
Designate a spot either in the basement, garage or front closet for your emergency items. These items include a first-aid kit, solar-powered lanterns, flashlight, batteries and enough non-perishable food to last a week. Place a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, an accessible spot in the basement, and, if space allows, the second-floor hallway. Install a shutoff valve on your water heater, which will automatically shut off the unit should it sense a leak. Make sure that the house has the proper number of smoke detectors as required by your city's code and that you have at least one carbon monoxide alarm. Depending upon where you live, you may consider investing in either a generator, sump pump or both.