Kitchen Essentials List for a New Home
Everything a new kitchen needs, from the first night’s meal to a fully stocked drawer. 47 items.
How much kitchen gear. The top comment in a thread of more than a thousand points: skip gadgets until you know how you cook, but buy more flatware (especially teaspoons) and more dish towels than you think. Owners split on dishes: some say to go light because so much went unused; others say to get 8 to 12 place settings if you'll ever host. Restaurant supply stores sell towels and basic gear far cheaper. (Reddit)
Day one
For the first night
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Unpacking produces trash within minutes, and sellers almost always take their bins.
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Even a takeout first night means rinsing something, and opened bottles of liquid are usually tossed before a move.
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Move-in week burns through paper towels wiping shelves, spills and dusty boxes.
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Pack it in the first-night box with mugs and coffee, because the first morning in a new house starts early.
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Count place settings for your household plus regular guests, since a house usually means hosting more people than an apartment did.
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Forks and spoons run out first when the dishwasher is full, so buy more than the number of people at home.
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Glassware breaks in moves more than anything else, so check what survived when you unpack.
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Disposables get you through the days before the dish boxes are unpacked and the dishwasher has been run once.
First week
The first normal week of living there
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A 10- to 12-inch nonstick pan covers eggs, stir-fries and reheating, which is most of what gets cooked the first week.
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A 2- to 3-quart saucepan and an 8-quart stockpot handle pasta, rice and soup; check whether the new stove is induction, which needs magnetic pans.
Owners say: Buy-it-for-life owners name All-Clad stainless (wait for a sale) and Lodge cast iron as cookware that lasts decades. (Reddit)
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One good 8-inch chef's knife does almost every job, while a big block set mostly adds knives you won't use.
Owners say: Skip the knife block. Owners say a Victorinox Fibrox chef's knife plus a paring and bread knife does nearly everything. (Reddit)
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Keep a separate board for raw meat, and skip glass boards, which dull knives quickly.
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Silicone or wooden heads won't scratch nonstick pans, and one set covers almost every recipe.
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Get a glass liquid measuring cup as well as dry cups, since recipes call for both.
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You need it for pasta and washing produce, and it's one of the most commonly forgotten kitchen tools.
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Easy to forget until the first canned-soup dinner, and first-week meals lean on canned food.
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Rimmed half-sheet pans handle roasted vegetables, frozen dinners and cookies, and they catch drips in an oven you haven't cleaned yet.
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An unfamiliar oven may run hotter than your old one, and a hot pan set straight on quartz or laminate can crack or scorch it.
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They dry dishes, hands and freshly wiped shelves, so you'll use more than you expect during unpacking.
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Run the dishwasher empty once with detergent before first use to flush out whatever sat in it while the house was for sale.
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Leftovers pile up in a week when you're too busy to cook every night, and glass containers go from fridge to microwave.
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Opened rolls and boxes rarely make the move, and you'll need them after the first grocery run.
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Spices and oils often get given away before a move, so the first grocery trip has to rebuild the basics.
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Upper cabinets typically start about 54 inches off the floor, and you'll be unpacking into the top shelves all week.
Owners say: The Cosco 3-step stool sold at Costco is the steadiest many owners have used; Gorilla stools come up too. (Reddit)
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A nesting set doubles as serving and salad bowls while the rest of the kitchen is still in boxes.
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Useful even with a dishwasher for hand-wash items like knives, wooden boards and cast iron.
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Line cabinets before you unpack so dishes don't sit on shelves with the last owner's stains or crumbs.
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A toaster oven reheats and bakes small batches without heating the full oven.
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The fridge's ice maker may be switched off or untested, and the first batches from a long-unused line should be thrown out.
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Keeps rice, peels and grease out of the drain, since even houses with a garbage disposal clog on them.
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Many sellers take the countertop microwave with them; check before the first night of leftovers.
First month
Once you’re settled
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You don't know when the seller last changed it, and most fridge filters are rated for about six months.
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Measure the dining area first and leave about 36 inches between the table edge and the walls so chairs can pull out.
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Set up the utensil drawer next to the stove before it turns into a junk drawer.
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Small prep tools are easy to lose in a move and annoying to be without when a recipe calls for them.
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A new-to-you oven may run hot or cold, and a thermometer is the only reliable way to know meat is cooked.
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A 9x13-inch baking dish is the pan most casserole and roast recipes assume you have.
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Improves taste while you wait on a water test, but check that the filter is certified for what you need removed, such as lead.
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These are separate from shelf liner. Owners lay them under kitchen and bathroom sinks before unpacking so a slow leak doesn't ruin the cabinet floor unnoticed.
Later
Upgrades and nice-to-haves
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A sharp knife slips less, and a honing steel keeps the edge between sharpenings.
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Makes weeknight dinners easier once you're commuting from the new location.
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A house tends to mean hosting holidays, and one large platter plus two serving bowls cover most gatherings.
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Measure first: 36-inch counters need 24- to 26-inch stools, while 42-inch bars need 28- to 30-inch stools.
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Only if the old one leaks, rattles or doesn't clean. A quiet one (about 47 dBA or less) matters in an open kitchen.
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Old disposals jam and leak from the bottom. A 3/4 hp unit handles everyday scraps without clogging.
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Two owners call a deep freezer one of the best day-one buys. One had it outlast several fridges and washers over 16 years. Another prefers an upright model because things get lost in a chest freezer.
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Two owners installed one early and say it was easy to put in and makes tap water taste clean, without buying bottled water.
