First apartment checklist
Six rooms, 53 lines, must-haves marked. Tick them off as you buy — the list remembers, and the total updates as you go.
This is the whole first-apartment list with a pick on 42 of its 53 lines, a live price beside each one, and a running total so you can see what is left to spend. 33 lines are marked must-have: that is the version of the list that gets you through week one. Tick a line and the total drops. Nothing here needs an email address.
Your ticks are saved in this browser only, so you can close the tab and pick the list back up in the store. Nothing is sent to us, and there is no sign-up. Open the print-friendly version.
Your running total
- Ticked off
- 0 of 53
- Still to buy
- $1,444.70
- Whole list, every line
- $1,444.70
Totals add up the 42 lines where we have a pick with a live Amazon price, checked November 13, 2026. The remaining lines are supermarket items we do not price. Tick something off and the figure drops.
How to use this checklist
Four habits make the difference between a first apartment that comes together in a fortnight and one that eats a month of weekends and a lot more money than it needed to.
- Start with must-haves only. Turn the filter on and you are looking at 33 lines instead of 53. That is the kit that lets you sleep, wash, cook and clean. Everything else is an upgrade you can make once you know the place.
- Measure before you buy anything. Room dimensions and outlet positions, the free counter width in the kitchen and the height to the upper cabinets, and the route — doorways, the narrowest point of the hallway, the stairwell turn. Furniture that fits the room and will not turn on the landing is the classic expensive mistake.
- Buy used where condition does not matter. Plates, bowls, glasses, cutlery, cast iron, sheet pans, mixing bowls, bed frames, tables, chairs and shelving are identical secondhand. Buy a mattress, knives, nonstick pans, cutting boards, pillows and towels new.
- Take the list with you. Print it or download the PDF before you set off. A list on paper beats a list you have to unlock a phone and find a tab for, particularly in a shop with one hand on a trolley.
What each room covers
The six sections below are the order most moves actually happen in. Kitchen and bathroom first, because they are what makes an apartment liveable on the first evening; tools and safety last, because nothing breaks in week one but something will in month six.
| Room | Must-haves | Nice to have | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | 9 | 5 | cookware set, knives, cutting boards, plates and bowls |
| Bathroom | 6 | 3 | bath towels, shower curtain and liner, plunger and toilet brush, bath mat |
| Bedroom | 5 | 4 | sheets, comforter and a pillow, a lamp and light bulbs, surge-protected power strip, curtains or blinds, and a rod |
| Cleaning and laundry | 6 | 2 | all-purpose cleaner, sponges and cloths, broom and dustpan, mop and bucket, trash bags and dish soap |
| Tools | 3 | 4 | household tool kit, tape measure, damage-free hanging strips, screwdriver set |
| Safety | 4 | 2 | test the smoke and co alarms, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, batteries and a flashlight |
11 of the 53 lines are things we do not price, because they are supermarket items where own-brand is genuinely the right answer: cleaning spray, sponges, a broom, bin bags, hangers, batteries. The other 42 carry a named pick, and the reasoning behind each one sits in the room guide linked beside it.
Buy it in three waves, not one
The single most useful piece of advice on this page, and it saves money as well as weekends. Split the list by when you need it rather than by room:
- Night one. Bedding, towels, a shower curtain and liner, a plunger, trash cans, toilet paper and soap, plates and cutlery, and a lamp with bulbs. Enough to sleep, wash and eat.
- Week one. Cookware, knives, boards, a dish rack, cleaning supplies, curtains. Now you can cook properly and keep the place clean.
- Month one. A microwave, food storage, bathroom storage, the tool kit, the safety items, a drying rack.
- Months two to six. The sofa, the rug, a coffee maker, a second appliance, anything decorative. By then you know your space and your habits, and you buy for the apartment you actually live in.
Spreading it out means you buy what you need rather than what you anticipated needing while standing in a shop in week one, and that difference is usually worth a few hundred dollars.
Print it, or take the PDF
Both versions are free, neither asks for an email address, and both carry the same picks as the page above. The PDF links each product mention to our guide rather than to a shop, so it is still useful in six months when a price has moved.
If you would rather have the longer written version to read first, the same list is set out with the reasoning in first apartment essentials, and there is a one-page printable edition of that guide too.
What this list leaves out, and why
Furniture is not on it. A bed frame, a sofa, a table and chairs, a rug and a bookshelf are a different kind of decision — they depend on the room, they are the lines where buying used saves the most, and they are the ones worth waiting on. The numbers are in what it costs to furnish a first apartment.
Neither are the costs that land before you buy a single plate: the deposit, application and admin fees, first month’s rent, utility connections, renters insurance and a van. Together they typically come to two or three times the monthly rent, and they are the reason a move feels more expensive than the shopping list suggests. HUD’s state-by-state tenant rights pages, linked in the sources below, are the right place to check what a landlord in your state can and cannot ask for.
And it leaves out the paperwork. Photograph every room, every appliance and every existing mark before the boxes come in — it is the cheapest deposit insurance there is, and it cannot be done retrospectively. That list lives in your first day in a new apartment.
How the picks are chosen
Every price on this page comes from a live Amazon lookup and carries the date it was checked. We do not publish a number we cannot verify: if a price has not been refreshed within 48 hours it disappears and the line says “check price” instead of showing you something stale.
The picks come from published specifications, the physical design of the thing, and the patterns in what owners consistently report after a year of use — and we say which is which on every guide, so you can follow the reasoning rather than take our word for it. We do not run a testing lab and never claim to. The method is set out in full in how we pick.
Common questions
What do you actually need for a first apartment?
33 things, split across six rooms: cookware, knives, boards, plates, cutlery, a dish rack, a can opener, food storage and a trash can in the kitchen; towels, a curtain and liner, a plunger and a bath mat in the bathroom; bedding, a lamp, a power strip, curtains and hangers in the bedroom; cleaning supplies, a laundry basket and a drying rack; a tool kit, a tape measure and damage-free hanging strips; and an extinguisher, a first aid kit and batteries for safety. The other 20 lines on this list are marked nice to have, and they can wait.
How much does a first apartment checklist cost?
The running total on this page adds up the live Amazon price of every pick you have not yet ticked off, so the figure is this week’s, not an estimate. Switch on “must-haves only” to see the minimum. For the full picture including furniture and the move-in costs that come before any of it, read what it costs to furnish a first apartment.
Is there a printable first apartment checklist?
Yes, two ways, both free and neither behind an email form. The print-friendly version is one page of plain tick boxes you can send straight to a printer, and the downloadable PDF is the same list as a file you can keep on your phone or email to whoever is helping you move.
What is the difference between a must-have and a nice to have?
A must-have is something the apartment does not work without in the first week — you cannot cook without a pan, wash without a towel, or sleep without bedding. A nice to have is a genuine improvement that costs you nothing to postpone: an air fryer, a mattress topper, a stud finder. Buying the must-haves first and the rest over two or three months is how people end up spending less overall.
Do the tick boxes save if I close the page?
They do. Your ticks are stored in your own browser, so the list is still where you left it when you come back on the same device. Nothing is sent to us, there is no account and there is no email gate. A different phone or a private window starts fresh — print the list or take the PDF if you need it in two places.
What is not on this first apartment list?
Furniture and the costs that come before shopping. A sofa, a bed frame, a table and a rug are a separate decision we cover in the cost guides, and so are the deposit, application fees, utility connections and a van — together usually two to three times a month’s rent. This list is the household kit that turns an empty apartment into a working one.
Sources
Read next
- First apartment essentials, in detailThe same list written out as a guide, with the reasoning behind every pick.
- What it costs to furnish a first apartmentThree budget tiers room by room, plus the move-in costs that come first.
- The same list at its cheapestEvery line at the budget version that still works properly.
- Your first day in a new apartmentWhat to photograph and document before the boxes come in.
- The first apartment grocery listThe pantry and cleaning-cupboard shop that goes with this list.