The beginner's guide to maintaining your first apartment - a room by room guide of what you'll need.

There is a lot of talk in the mainstream media about people staying at home later because of the huge cost of housing, particularly in Sydney and Auckland.  The average age for men to leave home according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics is 20.9, while for women it is slightly younger at 19.8.  If you attended university the chances are that you stayed in a student hostel for the first year.  These are also known as party houses and amenities and furniture was probably provided for you. 

So what happens when you move into your first apartment?  In addition to the bond, which will make you want to cry because it is expensive there are so many different things you will need. 

I have been out of home for 12 years now but I've been very lucky.  I have either been in apartments, buildings or houses where amenities have been provided, and that includes sheets, towels and pillows.

Now, before I moved into my fully furnished apartment this week I had bought some things - a chest of drawers, a rubbish bin, a lamp, a couple of cushions, cushion covers and storage boxes along with peelers and a fish slice for the kitchen.  I had also realised I would need some things for the kitchen so bought a couple of pans but this week after moving I realised just how little I actually had.  The night I moved I had to buy pillows, a plate, some glasses and then today I decided to cook and I had no utensils or a dishwashing brush so I had to buy that too.

It has me thinking how much you actually need when you move into a new apartment, so I have compiled a list of things you will need when you move into your first apartment.  With the help of Google I have broken the list down into rooms.  This will of course differ if you are in a studio apartment or a small apartment rather than a house.

Kitchen
You'd be amazed at how much you actually need for a kitchen.  I was amazed but like I've said, I've always been in places where the things have already been there.

• Kitchen utensil drawer divider.  This way all your utensils will be nice and organised.
• Utensils.  You need knives, forks and spoons to eat your food.
• Pots and pans.  These are useful for cooking.
• Spoons and spatulas, you'll also need these for cooking.
• Dish rack.  This will be helpful for drying your dishes.
• Dish washing brush.  They help get the grime off.
• Tea towels for drying your dishes.
• Can opener.  Unless you want to use a knife to open your cans you'll need one of these.
• Vegetable peelers.
• Knives for cutting vegetables and other food items.
• Plates.  You will need plates and bowls to put your food in or on.
• Mugs.  These are good for coffee.  Glasses won't do the job.
• Sponges, these will help with cleaning dishes.
• Rubbish bin.  You may even need a bin for each room.  You don't need plastic bags though, you can just use the ones you get at the supermarket and that saves you ending up with a stack of plastic bags you won't use.
• Kettle.
• Toaster.
• Microwave.  You don't need a microwave, but if you want to quickly heat food it will come in handy.

Bedroom

• Sheets.  This may seem obvious but until you move into your first apartment you won't realise how much stuff you actually need.
• Pillows.  Again, until you move you won't realise something as obvious as pillows.  If you have cushions then these could do the job as well.
• Cushion covers, pillow covers and duvet covers.  These will keep your pillows looking and feeling nice and clean.
• Rubbish bin.  It wouldn't hurt to have a bin in your room either, that way all your rooms will be tidy and clean.
• Lamp.
• Drawers.  Even if your place is fully furnished you will need drawers for your clothes or other miscellaneous items.

Bathroom

• Rubbish bin.  As I've said, you need a bin for every room in your house to keep rubbish down.
• Bucket and mop.  A bucket and mop is essential for cleaning.
• Toilet brush and toilet brush holder.  Just in case you need to clean your toilet. 
• Toothbrush holder.
• Soap holder.
• Towels.

Living room

• Cushions.  Even if your place is fully furnished you may need some cushions.
• Depending on how much you like to entertain you'll need some chairs even if you already have some.  It gives people options and the more seats you have the more people you can invite over.
• If you're in a studio then you could get a room divider and that way your "bedroom" will be private and guests won't see your sleeping quarters.

Miscellaneous

• Wall art.  It isn't essential and some people like blank walls but wall art can brighten up your place and give it character it may not otherwise have.
• Hooks.  These are the 3M hooks that you can stick onto walls and doors.  They can be real space savers if you need to hang up bags or coats outside of your wardrobe.
• Clothes horse.  When you live in an apartment you do not have the luxury of hanging your clothes outside and if you don't have a laundry in your building you will need a clothes horse.  This will save you both time and money.  Nobody wants to hang out in the laundromat for a couple of hours or waste money, so save yourself time and money, and get a clothes horse.
• Rugs and mats.  Rugs will brighten up the space like the wall art and give it character it may not otherwise have.
• Vacuum cleaner.  This is one of those unavoidable things.
• dust pan and brush.  This is useful when you don't want to get out the vacuum cleaner and good for those little messes you need to clean up.

I hope this list of things you need has helped you out.  Now of course, there are consumables like salt, pepper, cleaning products and air freshener that you will need but these are things you can buy over time.  The list of items you need for your apartment are absolutely essential and this is keeping it simple on the assumption that your place is furnished or you already have things like a bed, table, chairs, drawers and book case or other storage.  If you want portable storage you can buy storage boxes or containers from IKEA.