“Everyone needs a Spatula”

Essentials You Need for a Start Up Home

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I moved into a place on the West Mountain, after a few weeks of a painful apartment hunt in “The Hammer”. After starting out with no clue what kind of places were out there, what kind of amenities we preferred, and which locations we liked, we lucked out with little gem: a spacious 1-bedroom basement suite, with private laundry facilities, all inclusive utilities, and all for a few hundred bucks a month under our budget.

One thing I realised after driving downtown Hamilton was how much I dreaded the thought of having to make my way out of a place during rush-hour traffic. The Hamilton Mountain is certainly preferable, not to mention, there is far less of a population that looks like they’ve blown themselves through a recreational drug pipe.

At first, furnished apartments seemed convenient, especially since neither of us had any furniture, appliances, or household items of our own. Everywhere I’ve lived in the past either came furnished, or I’d sold the cheap furniture I bought for temporary use.

Well me and the man balled out with mainly brand new furniture, as we intend to keep things like our Leon’s sectional couch and king-size memory foam mattress for years to come. But once you furnish your house with the bare essentials, you come to know there’s appliances, sets and utensils you NEED within the first few days, even while you’re still on an old mattress on the floor waiting for your new bed to come.

Toaster

It seems like a toaster may not be an essential, as cremating bread is something you usually only do at breakfast, but really, everyone needs one. 2 slice or 4 slice? Depends on how many people you are cooking for in an early morning rush, or how many bagels you need to pack in your boyfriend’s lunch box.

A simple toaster is affordable, so don’t get caught up with fancy “features” like ‘Shade Setting’ or ‘Crumb Tray’. My favourite bullet point we came across for a toaster on Amazon was “Extra-wide slots for bagels and artisan breads”…truth is, for you first-time appliance shoppers, almost every toaster is designed with slots big enough to fit your bagels and artisan breads.

These perceived additional features can add quite a cost for a function you’ll barely notice and could have been spent on a swifter to dust up the crumbs.

Swiffer

It’s every woman’s best friend… oops, did I say that. Yes. Well women, step your game up and keep those floors clean, so you don’t need to do man jobs, like take out the trash and clean the gutters.

A Swiffer is a tool you can use between thorough cleans, dry or wet, to maintain the appearance of a healthy floor. Don’t be a lazy b*tch who substitutes a quick Swiff for the real mop and bucket. There’s certain things only a broom and dust pan, followed by a mop job will take care of. If you’re lazy like me and hate the idea of lugging out a vacuum, make sure to rent a place with hard wood or tile floors.

Cutlery Organizer

Now this one may not seem like a priority, but do you know how frustrating it is trying to dig around a drawer full of cutlery, knives and sharp kitchen utensils, stabbing yourself and drawing blood, when all you wanted was a fork to eat your Sidekicks? When I lived with my ex, he hated cutlery organisers, and although he was the one usually looking for a fork to eat his Sidekicks, he complained about how pointless it was to organise cutlery. One day in a fight I actually tipped up the organiser leaving the drawer a total mess… he cut himself in a search for a spoon later that night.

Cushions

I remember how hilarious it was seeing my guy push a shopping cart around Jysk with bath towels, a picture of a sunset, and two fluffy, white cushions for the couch. “Will we need cushions?” I remember him saying, as he realised how his macho manliness had dropped a few notches since taking an interest in choosing stuff for our new home. It’s not a bad thing, by the way.There’s nothing wrong with a guy being ‘house proud’, but it’s just never something someone who used to competitively bodybuild saw as a potential interest, I guess.

But it’s true; you’re going to want to get comfy, and it’s a pain to keep grabbing pillows from the bedroom. Plus your couch looks bare without them, and bedroom pillows with head sweat from the night are kind of an eye sore.

Shower Curtain

This one is without a doubt an essential, unless you have a fancy glass-enclosed shower, like at a Hilton Hotel. If you move into a place and there is already a shower curtain there, chances are it’s covered in soap scum and body hair, and you’ll need a new one. This is the chance to jazz up and create a theme for your bathroom. I chose a pretty, yet masculine enough for my guy to appreciate shower curtain and a beautiful broken-mirror soap dispenser to match. With grey bath towels matching this theme, I don’t know what else says class.

Mirrors

Who the hell can go through the day not knowing what they look like? Our apartment came with a bathroom mirror and mirrored doors in the hallway, but the lack of a large bedroom mirror has been anything but a nightmare (I refuse to wear my hair in a towel in front of my man because I look like Roger, the alien from American Dad, so I can’t keep my hair up, in a towel, drying, while applying make-up out in the hallway.)

Selecting a mirror with the appropriate size for its intentions, which also matches your dresser can be quite a task…especially when you can buy a mosaic mirror online for $70 but wait 3 weeks, or drive your asses to Ancaster and pay $100 to get it that day. It’s the difference of $30 that now becomes the price of a bag of milk, bagels and chicken breasts that keeps you from purchasing it right away.

Microwave

Lets be serious here. From Pizza Pockets, to popcorn, to steamers, and microwaveable dinners, every single person or young coupe appreciates this appliance to get the job done quick. After a day of multiple home store visits and fitting in time to go to the gym, microwaveable options are key for picky eaters who share different eating habits. They’re also key when you’re working, and one of you has to heat up the food the other person made while you were not home, and vice versa.

Couch blankets

This may sound cheesy, but when you find someone who you can’t get enough of, snuggling on a sectional with a duvet with that person seems better than a night out dancing, drinking Porn Star drinks out of a plastic cup in a sequin dress… even though you’d have more photos to post on social media.

If you have couch-specific blankets to swaddle under, you’re more likely to spend time enjoying your home. Long story short, couch blankets determine the amount of time you intend to spend having nights at home, cured up in the peace of each other’s company, rather than dining out or being ‘socialites’ because your living room is not exciting.

[I included this photo specifically, because this is what my guy does on the couch like a little jungle cat]

Frying Pan

It’s every couples’ long-term goal to purchase a fancy Jamie Oliver Cookware set for $129.00, reduced from $229.00 when they are on-sale at Canadian Tire (this isn’t a real specific example by the way. Until you notice a price drop on a set including various pots, pans, and baking dishes, and your budget limits to choosing one item for stovetop cooking, a non-stick frying pan is your safest bet. We have been at our house almost tow months now, and although a pot would be nice, the frying pan has become a multi-purpose tool for cooking sausages, frozen veggies, and even pot-recommended Sidekicks.

So in conclusion, when you are starting off scratch with your starter home, you will need to invest quite a bit of money in the items you may not think of when your budget for the move. Everyone needs a couch, TV and mattress, but the extras mentioned above will make your life a hell of a lot easier while you continue to get settled and learn how to live with the person who has finally given you a reason to “adult” and settle down.