Moving Into Your First Apartment? Here are 7 Little-Known Things it Needs
Furniture, a television, dishes, and linens. Everyone thinks of the obvious things that an apartment needs to be habitable. But there are a few other things that your apartment needs as well to make your life much easier and convenient. You might not think you need any of these items right away, but you’ll be grateful you stocked up on them when the time comes that you really need them.
Here’s a checklist of 7 items that every apartment needs.
1. Toolbox
This is an absolute must. You don’t have to be the handiest person on the planet, but you should at least have a few basic tools to help you fix odds and ends when needed. At the the very least, your toolbox should have a hammer, screwdriver, wrench and tape measure.
Think about it – how are you going to hang up your wall art with a hammer and nails? How are you going to put together furniture without a screwdriver? How can you measure the rooms to make sure your furniture fits without measuring tape? Having these tools at your disposal will help avoid having to make phone calls to Dad when the cabinet door hinge needs to be tightened, or your bike seat needs to be adjusted.
2. Sewing Kit
Imagine the button on your shirt pops off right before you’re ready to head out to work. Or picture yourself getting ready for a big date, only to have the seam on your dress or pants rip a couple of inches. Instead of completely changing your entire outfit (which can take a while to put together), or running to the nearest tailor, all you have to do is whip out your handy little sewing kit to quickly take care of the problem.
A needle, scissors and thread in a variety of colors will do just fine to save yourself time, money, and stress.
3. Light Bulbs
These pesky things burn out all the time. Having a stash of light bulbs in your apartment will help prevent you from constantly running back and forth to the store to replace them as they individually fizzle out.
Picture it – the light bulb in your bathroom burns out. If you’ve got bulbs already in your drawer, you can solve the issue within a few short seconds. Or else, get yourself ready in the pitch black until you have some time to run out to buy replacement bulbs.
4. Flashlight
Instead of relying on your smartphone to give you some light, having a flashlight handy can be much more practical and convenient. There are many situations that could warrant the use of a flashlight.
Maybe the lights burned out (which you should be using the extra bulbs to fix), or maybe there’s a power outage in your building. Maybe you heard some weird noise in the middle of the night that you want to check out, or perhaps you need to check under the sink to see if the pipes are leaking. Whatever the case may be, you’ll be glad you have a flashlight in your apartment.
5. Calculator
Instead of relying on brain power to do complicated math, using a calculator can be easier, faster, and usually more accurate. For instance, it’s not likely that you’ll be setting a budget without a calculator, or even doing your taxes. If you’re living with roommates and are trying to figure out how to split the common expenses, they’ll be more likely to trust the numbers from a calculator over the ones you come up with in your head.
6. Extra Extension Cords
If you think your place will need two extension cords, get four. There’s a good chance that some of the outlets in the apartment won’t be adequate enough to power up some of your appliances, such as lamps, computers, and so forth.
Not only that, but many older buildings don’t really come equipped with a ton of outlets, so the chances of you having to run an extension cord to plug in a lamp in your living area because there aren’t any electrical sockets in that room are pretty high. Having a few extra extension cords in your apartment can save you the frustration of having to make unnecessary trips to the hardware store.
7. A Plant
Yes, a plant. While it won’t help you navigate through your apartment during a power outage, or screw in a loose hinge, or plug in an extra lamp, the breath of life that a plant can bring to an interior is undeniable. You don’t have to have a green thumb to take care of it either. Just get a hearty one that only needs to be watered every couple of weeks.
After you’ve stocked your apartment with these handy gadgets, make sure to store them someplace where you’ll remember, and that is easily accessible. The last thing you want to do is be ripping the place apart looking for a specific item when emergency strikes.
