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!
Hello Volcel Police? I would like to narc on someone. I have never snitched before, is there paperwork or a fax number? Yes I'll hold.
- Show
The VOLCEL POLICE are on the scene! PLEASE KEEP YOUR VITAL ESSENCES TO YOURSELVES AT ALL TIMES.
نحن شرطة VolCel.بناءا على تعليمات الهيئة لترويج لألعاب الفيديو و النهي عن الجنس نرجوا الإبتعاد عن أي أفكار جنسية و الحفاظ على حيواناتكم المنويَّة حتى يوم الحساب. اتقوا الله، إنك لا تراه لكنه يراك.
When I was a kid I had a couple of Liberator "couches". They were the best.
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
I fell for this meme but it neglects to account for the fact that furniture & flooring has thermal mass and gets cold as shit when it isn't being heated. It also takes a very very long time to heat up (again because of the thermal mass). Just turning on the heater so the apartment & all its furniture was always a comfortable temp without me wearing a toque & fingerless gloves & slippers & always being covered in blankets & drinking hot water was probably the greatest possible improvement to my happiness & comfort for the money spent.
Rice cooker
Hell yeah, get a nice one like a Zojirushi if possible
Cold brew coffee maker
Loose-leaf tea equipment is very cheap if you're into that and are looking for a more moderate caffeine hit
seltzer water thingy
Airstream is an israeli company btw
Hmm that's a good note on the space heater.
The coffee maker I'm looking at is only like $30 and I'll make that back in the money I save not buying premade concentrate pretty quick
I actually have a Drinkmate which isn't connected to Israel afaik! I think the canisters are still Sodastream but I'm working on finding a local homebrew shop that will refill them for cheap compared to swapping them out at target or something
Drinkmate is not israeli.
And you can get their canisters (you can even trade Sodasteam canisters for their ones).
I love my drinkmate, seltzer good.
Grab a 5lb CO2 tank from the home brew shop, and a little adapter for sodastream canisters. Easy to fill up at home and you only need to refill the big tank every 5 or 6 refills of the small one. Super cheap as well (and te money goes to your hbs).
Sodastream is the Israeli company, Airstream is... I think a type of vehicle?
Go to a second hand store or a yard sale or the like. Pick of some cheap pieces of art that look nice to you. Don't worry about tacky or classy, just whatever you vibe with. My wall is filled with an eclectic assortment of random pieces and if it's all random, it goes well together.
Also an electric kettle is really useful, but if you're fresh from college you might already have one.
Electric kettles are great. I use mine for pour over coffee (hot and iced), and even random shit where I need really hot water and don't want to wait for it.
So strange to hear that an electric kettle is not a standard item....
In the UK you'll find them in every household because tea. Back when TV was the main entertainment source, some of the power grids biggest spikes were in BBC TV advert breaks, when everyone would go flick the electric kettle on to make a tea for the next part of the show.
We don't drink tea as often as you all do, and I think a lot of us who do use the microwave to heat their water lmao.
I only got one since I got into Japanese-style pour over coffee, but they're definitely great.
It's for more than just tea/coffee, like you can boil your water in the kettle before adding it to a pot if you need it. Saves you 1) from having to bring water to the boil on the stove 2) doesn't bring the water temp down (much) if you already have the pot at a boil
It's a real jolt. I felt so god damn British in that moment. I get that y'all don't bother with English Breakfast tea - it's a somewhat acquired taste I suppose - I mean there's a reason not everyone does it. But herbal teas? Do y'all not drink mint tea or any of that stuff either? Gotta be one of the very few places in the world to not drink herbal teas.
Herbal teas are probably less common than stuff like English Breakfast tea over here, tbh. I live in the southeast, so the most common tea consumption is heavily sweetened iced tea. The old school way of preparing it involves placing the tea in a well-cleaned gallon container and leaving it to steep in the sun for the better part of a hot afternoon.
I bet we sound like a bunch of cave people lmao.
That's wild. Yeah. I don't know, not even cave. Cave people were the OG leafy tea drinkers. You're homo-americanus, dwellers of the richest country in the world. A country born with a disavowal of all things natural and native. I am always shocked at the amount of premade stuff and sugar that goes into American recipes.
second the art stuff. I used to decorate my room with art and fine china that I found in a charity shop after work. Some of my favourite pieces ever were found in a bin with a bunch of other crap!
Instant pot > rice cooker. It cooks rice and does a ton of other things, totally worth splashing a little extra cash for.
Houseplants are great, pothos are easy care and can be hung in wall mounted pots. Also consider a window bird feeder if that's an option where you live so you can see the wildlife.
Baskets for fruit and fridge trays for veggies can help keep things organized and help you remember stuff before it goes bad.
Coasters are always nice.
On the maintenance front, try to have stuff that you can use to avoid a maintenance call, snakes for drains, a channel lock for loose plumbing fittings, sink and toilet plungers if not already present are inexpensive options. Check your heaters and window seals for dust and mold respectively when you move in because they're commonly missed cleaning steps (also under the fridge and stove, ew).
Edit: sneaking in a couple more things - glass pint jars are great for food storage and as water glasses and for small-batch pickled veggies if that's your thing. I like throwing in some chopped bok choy and cherry peppers to top stir fries and salads.
Shelf liners are great and can make cleaning up when moving out easier.
Full disclosure we have an instant pot but I've had horrible experiences cooking rice with it. A big benefit of the rice cooker is that it's very hard to fuck up when using it, especially the nicer ones with the sensors. Plus the instant pot might stay with my mom anyway
That's odd, for short grain rice I can just throw in two cups of rice and two cups of water, do 4 minutes high pressure and 10 minutes pressure release and be good to go.
Sweet rice is a little bit more of a pain in the butt and if you do it regularly a rice cooker might work better, but I've been successful pre-soaking and then steaming using the trivet.
The thing I like about my instant pot is that I can do just about anything - soups, beans, yogurt, sous vide, overnight oats. It's pretty versatile.
I have an instant pot and a little cheapy old rice cooker. it rocks, because you can use the instant pot to focus on your main attraction, but have your rice and maybe some dumplings or broccoli on the steam tray of your rice cooker. I am not a kitchen gadget guy, but those two are the heroes of so many dishes.
The biggest problem with the instant pot is that it does so much, you might need two for when the first is occupied.
Good thing they're readily available at thrift shops for like $10
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.
get stainless steel
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.
Try to thrift pretty much everything. The only thing I’m iffy on is the aforementioned cookware.
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.
I have one (1) framed poster I'll be bringing. Will look to see what else strikes my fancy
Beat me to it. Nothing makes a domicile a home faster than art and photographs on the walls. Pictures of family on the mantle or on the bar, some Pier 1 cheap-ass prints, maybe a decorative plant, boom. Home.
- A nice fan
- Reusable soap dispensers (Can also save you money in the long term)
- Shower organizers
- A nicer bagged vacuum
- In sink sponge holder
- Lamps for indirect lighting
For ricr cooker, I haven't seen any meaningful difference between the cheaoest rice cooker and a medium priced one. Either go for the zojiroshi or by the $20 one.
All good shouts. I have a dinky little stick vac I might just use for the moment as there's no carpet
Get one of those straw brooms at the Asian market to sweep up before you vac
I love me some household gadgets, but the one thing that (to me anyway) makes a place feel more lived in is "stuff". What I mean by this is things that fill in empty space. A coffee table book, art on the wall, a guitar case in the corner, a hanging plant, etc. Just stuff. It doesn't have to be nice stuff, or fancy stuff, it just has to be stuff you like looking at. Little tokens of things. Don't go out and buy a bunch of stuff all at once but honestly go find like a flea market or a local art shop or just pick up something kitchy from a coffee shop or whatever, I don't know what you've got around you. Just grab something, anything that has literally no value whatsoever except "I like to look at this thing." And then put that thing somewhere. And then once in a while go do that again. Eventually you've got stuff everywhere and it's all stuff you like looking at and other people like seeing. I'm not saying to cover your house in kitch or clutter or anything but you can always tell a lot about someone by the "stuff" they have. You see people's homes that have nice furniture and things but plain white walls and nothing on any of the furniture and it just looks weird and empty and sterile. Not for me.
In terms of like, more practical things? Definitely a laundry key, I love mine. A cold brew coffee maker is just a jar with a spigot on the bottom and a filter...I also love mine but don't get anything too fancy there. I also love my rice cooker if you eat a lot of rice highly recommend, again it doesn't need to be fancy. I'd buy the space heater once you know you need it, maybe your place is well insulated and you don't need it or maybe not.
My one major piece of advice for everyone moving in anywhere is ALWAYS BUY A PLUNGER BEFORE YOU NEED A PLUNGER. It's much nicer to have one on hand when the toilet starts to overflow instead of needing to go out and get one after it has already made a giant fucking mess everywhere. I think this advice applies to lots of things though. It's nice to have spares of stuff that is like critical. Have an extra towel, an extra set of sheets, things like that, just in case something goes wrong in the laundry or something like that.
Are you renting or did you buy something?
Anyway I have lots of opinions on this apparently so hopefully this was helpful.
My one major piece of advice for everyone moving in anywhere is ALWAYS BUY A PLUNGER BEFORE YOU NEED A PLUNGER.
I never get how it's not an absolute global standard not to have a plunger sitting out next to every toilet in the house. You guests will fucking thank you lol.
Every kitchen needs a fire extinguisher and every bathroom needs a plunger
Space Heater
Try a heated blanket. You can warm yourself directly, without having to heat the whole room.
Idk why I didn't think of this
Also anyone read that YA sci-fi book where the guy turns invisible because of a heated blanket
Get some art. Doesn't have to be expensive, just buy some prints off etsy or some shit.
Idk your sexual orientation, but if you wanna have a special someone over it def impresses them if you actually have some nice stuff on the walls. Bare walls/college dorm posters of the Godfather are a bit of a turn off I've learned.
Fumbling a baddie thanks to my five identical posters of Ex Machina (2014) starring Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac
Cold brew coffee maker
get yourself a french press, it can do hot and cold!
House plants, rugs, lamps and wall art go a long way towards making stuff look more adult-like and "complete".
As far as amenities go, a space heater is pretty meh and they cause a fair amount of house fires. Don't recommend it. Someone said heating blanket which I will second if you're trying to save cash.
Rice cookers are great, but honestly rice isn't that hard in a pot so I would prioritize other stuff first.
Bidets are life changing, and they help save on toilet paper which is nice.
The French press is a really cheap purchase for making coffee and quite versatile.
The French press is a really cheap purchase for making coffee and quite versatile.
Yes, I picked up a 1L and a 1.5L French press at an op shop, and use them for cold brew tea and coffee in summer. Just leave it in the fridge and yim yum
rice cooker was one of the best purchases i've ever made, it's the easiest way to make food when im very depressive since i can just turn it on and leave it for an hour or so. and rice is hella yummy and cheap and i eat it all the time
Bidet is god-tier. Get one -- even a cheapo cold only one is good, but if you have a few hundred saved, Costco often has sales on a pretty solid Toto model that's pretty no-fuss. I had a Tushy once, and getting the hot water from the bathroom sink was a pain.
Also, learn how to use drywall anchors for hanging shelves and shit -- you can buy a 4 dollar tube of spackle when you move out and patch any holes yourself.
One of the main steps from "livable" to "cute" is rugs and throw blankets for your furniture. They're good for decoration, but they also keep you warm. You can thrift them.
