7 necessities to buy for your new home

Buying a new home is incredibly exciting, but the next steps are just as important! It is easy to focus all your energy on acquiring your new property, but you must not forget to look at the bigger picture – even if you are not a first-time buyer, likelihood is that you will need to make a purchase a two in preparation for your new home! Whether it is obvious or niche, this blog will take you through the necessities that you need to consider buying when moving into a new home.

1. Basic Furniture

Firstly, you are going to need some furniture. Furniture is found all over the house and is something we cannot really live without as it offers comfort, practicality as well as great storage. If you are a first-time buyer this is especially important for you because you may need to start from scratch in your new home. As you can see below, I have compiled some of the main rooms to think about, listing the key pieces of furniture to consider for these rooms.

• Kitchen – Chairs, Table.
• Living Room – Sofa, coffee table, TV stand/small table for the TV, bookcases/shelving (e.g., for DVD’s/stereo/TV boxes)
• Dining Room – table and chairs, sideboard, place mats.
• Bedrooms – chest of drawers, bedside table, wardrobe, clothes rail with hangers, storage cupboards, bed and mattress if not already provided.
• Study – office desk, office chair, filing cabinet, printer, space for a PC if you prefer a computer instead of a laptop.

It is important to note that you can mix and match what you want in which room, these are just suggestions. If you want a TV in your room and storage containers in the study, go for it! This is the beauty of buying your own home, you are in control of where everything goes.

The above essentials are the more basic requirements to your new home, now to get into more of the niche necessities which are easy to forget about, but just as important…

2. Safety Items

Health and Safety is always a top priority, so to have equipment ready in case of an emergency is a necessity. Some items will come with the house as a prerequisite depending on who you buy from, so always make sure you have a look at what is included and what extra bits you need to buy. Safety items to consider include:

• Smoke detector. This will usually come as a prerequisite, but it is important to know how to use them and where they are in the house.
• Heat detector. This is suitable where smoke detectors are not, for example in the kitchen where there is likely to be smoke when you cook on the odd occasion. You don’t want an alarm going off every time you sit down for dinner!
• House alarm. This is very important to ask your home provider about, as they can likely get them fitted or recommend you to a company which can sort this out if you want it.
• First aid kit. This may be a piece of kit which you think you do not need… until you actually need it! Accidents happen all the time, having a first aid kit (even if you are not properly trained) is always a good idea.
• Fire blanket/extinguisher. If a fire breaks out, it is always great to have either of these on hand to quickly put it out ASAP.

At Clarendon Homes, we fit all our properties with smoke and heat detectors, as well as manuals on how to use and install them safely. We will also listen to any health or security issues you may have and do our best to cater for them.

3. Laundry

I think we can all agree that a new clean home deserves new clean clothes. Before moving in, make sure to ask the seller you are buying off if the home comes with laundry facilities, mainly a washing machine and dryer. If these facilities come with the home, make sure you know the brand prior to moving in, so you can be assured of their quality or problems other customers faced. If you decide the products they provide are not for you, see if you can change out the one they offer with one you may prefer. If they do not provide all your needed laundry facilities, make sure you ask around for advice on which brands to buy from if you do not already have an idea, as this will aid in your decision making.

At Clarendon Homes, we provide washing machines and quite often washer-dryers with our newly built homes from recognised high-quality brands such as Bosch, Caple, and NEFF.

4. Kitchen Appliances

Everyone can remember the basics to what we need in the kitchen but remembering everything is harder than you think! So here is a list of some of the key kitchen appliances you will want to remember:

Dishwasher, cutlery, glasses, plates, bowls, utensils, cooker, oven, microwave, toaster, blender, kettle, pots and pans, rubbish bags, tea towels and a big stock up of food upon arrival.

Many of these may already come with the house (e.g., the oven and microwave), but it is important to perform due diligence, so you know exactly which are missing on the day of your arrival. This is by no means an exclusive list, so if you think of other kitchen appliances you need feel free to get them too! Everyone is unique so people will have different things in their kitchens, this list is simply a good starting point for when you are moving in.

5. Smart Home and Technology

In the modern era, having good technology and a connection to the internet are incredibly important – especially during COVID-19. With the amount of people working from home ever-increasing due to the pandemic (ONS, 2020), a lot of us depend on good technology to earn our living. This new adapted lifestyle of mandatorily working from home will not last forever, but the after-effects will – i.e., the consensus is that working from home will reduce once the pandemic is over, but it will still be present in the future as people have learnt to adapt to it.

As well as good Wi-Fi and devices to work from, other bits of tech you may want to purchase include wirelessly controlled appliances (heating, security cameras, lighting), music systems (SONOS – which are included with select Clarendon builds) and a smart TV, because who doesn’t love a bit of Netflix in the evening?

We recommend talking to your home provider about technology available to your home before moving in, because a lot of the time they will point you in the right direction of what to get and where from. We also recommend setting up Wi-Fi before moving in, along with other essential utilities such as gas, electric and water.

6. Bathroom Essentials

When thinking of things to buy for your new dream home, the bathroom can often be a room which is easily forgotten about. Let me be the first to tell you that it needs just as much thought as the other rooms!

Things like bath matts, a charger for your toothbrush, soap, shampoo, towels and toilet rolls are all essentials for when you first move into your new home, as well as extra additions such as weighing scales and an air freshener to keep the room smelling fresh.

7. Decorative Pieces

This is where you add your own personal touch when moving into your new home. This can include posters, photos of family/friends, paintings, flowers, mirrors, candles… you name it! The world is your oyster with this one, everyone has their own preferences, so buy whatever catches your eye which you think would add personal value to your home!

At Clarendon Homes, we allow our customers to have a say in the interior finish of their home. From details such as tiles and carpets, to an entirely custom built home, we will listen to any requests and do our best to facilitate them.

A friendly reminder, not just for this point but for all the above too, is to make sure you are purchasing responsibly. We would all love a decorative piece in our lounge worth thousands of pounds, but it does not mean we should get one if it does not make financial sense! This being said, don’t forget to spoil yourself every once in a while, you are a new homeowner after all.

Got any questions or feedback on the blog? Or maybe a topic you would like to be covered in a future blog? Email cameron.hagan@clarendonhomes.co.uk today, I would love to hear from you!