First home shopping list — free printable new home essentials

Kitting out a first home is exciting but the list is longer than people expect, and it helps to work through it room by room so you don't forget anything — and to prioritise, since you don't need to buy everything at once. The obvious big items are furniture (bed and mattress, sofa, seating) and the kitchen essentials: pots and pans, plates, bowls, mugs, glasses and cutlery, a kettle, and basic utensils and knives. Bedroom and bathroom need bedding, pillows, towels, and the unglamorous bathroom bits (toilet brush, plunger, loo roll). For living and upkeep: curtains or blinds, cleaning supplies, a vacuum, a laundry basket and an airer, and lamps and spare light bulbs. The things people most often forget are the practical basics that you only miss when you need them: a basic toolbox (screwdriver, hammer, picture hooks), a first aid kit, batteries, a torch, extension leads, scissors and tape, and — importantly — checking the smoke alarms work. A sensible approach is to buy the genuine night-one essentials first (somewhere to sleep, basic kitchen and bathroom items) and build up the rest over time as you settle in and see what you actually need, which also spreads the cost.

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