Move in is the next few weeks. I've lived on my "own" (roommate I never interacted with) for a couple months my last semester of college, but that was a temporary setup whereas I'm hopefully moving out for good this time.
Bear in mind that the place has window/wall A/C and electric heating.
Things I'm already considering:
- Drain guard
- Bidet
- Cold brew coffee maker
- Rice cooker
- Space heater? I'd like to keep the temp largely down during the winter to save money while warming up the part of the place I'm in
- Key for washer/dryer
Things I already have:
- Most furniture
- Air fryer
- Seltzer water thingy
- Meal prep containers
General advice is also welcome!
Clean everywhere you can think, you’d have no idea how much grime is hiding on walls and inside cabinets from past people. Some reusable rags, hot water and a little dish soap in a spray bottle works in 95% of cases.
Get some plants and paintings, and use warm lighting from windows and lamps over ceiling lights.
If you don’t have pots and pans already, get stainless steel. They’re more versatile than nonstick and you don’t have to worry about carcinogens. Tremontina is a good brand. Also get some knives and a good knife sharpener, and multiple cutting boards to separate meats and veg.
Try to thrift pretty much everything. The only thing I’m iffy on is the aforementioned cookware.
Watch that feng shui guy on YouTube. He’s got good analysis on furniture placement and home decor.
Personal preference but I strongly disagree. Stainless steel is basically my least favorite thing to cook with. I love my cast iron which I use for basically everything I can, and I like enamel for the things that sucks for.
Ime stuff sticks to stainless steel so bad. Though I suppose it depends on what you cook often.
Stainless steel has to be seasoned much like cast iron, so as long as I’ve oiled it well and cooked with it often, I haven’t had many stickiness issues. Cast iron has its place in my kitchen, but it’s so heavy I can’t flip the pans, and takes so long to heat up it’s relegated to slow cooking.
Hmm maybe that’s my issue, my main experience using them is the ones my mom has, and she’s not known for taking good care of her pans.
Why's that? I've always heard it's one of the best things to thrift because it's so durable that previous use doesn't matter as much. Or is that only with cast iron?
I’ve simply not had good luck with it. All the pans I find at the thrift store are decroded nonstick and really rusty, which I question the sanitation of even after I’ve cleaned them. If I happened upon a 100 year old cast iron or AllClad I would snatch it up.