Last Updated on December 30, 2020 by HodgePodgeDays
Unless you want to enter the space race, then buying a home is pretty much always going to be the most expensive thing you ever buy. Of course, it is. You typically need fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds. Unfortunately, though, for new homeowners, the spending doesn’t stop there because you may want to create a budget for things to fill your new home with otherwise, well, you’ll be less of a homeowner and more of a squatter in a bricks and mortar shell.
After all the furore, excitement, stress, exhaustion and giddiness that goes into buying a home – pretending to read documents, signing those documents, speaking to lawyers, trying to get a mortgage, landing a house, having that house fall through and then finding another one etc. – you get to that moment where you slide your new keys into the lock of your new home, open the door with a smile so big Nasa can see it from space only to be slapped by the realisation that your home looks incredibly, how do we say, magnolia.
You have a gorgeous new home, but you also have a lot more shopping to do:
Every House Needs New Keys & Locks
This needs to be every single person’s first new home purchase. Period. It doesn’t matter whether you have bought an old Victorian property that has been lived in for hundreds of years or a brand-spanking new build that has never before been graced by an owner; you need to change the locks. You just don’t know who else has keys. Builders you never met, cleaners you haven’t heard of, neighbors you can’t remember the name of, co-workers of the previous owners. Who knows. So, start by getting a deadbolt put in and then have a locksmith come over as soon as possible. Your home is your castle, after all.
You Have To Have A Complete Toolkit
Every single home needs to have a well-stocked toolbox. There be things you want to do to your home, tweaks you want to make, DIY projects you want to take on and little things that start to bug you. So don’t waste any time in heading to B&Q or Homebase to get the essentials. Clawhammer, assorted screwdrivers, hacksaw, wireless power drill, tape measure, paint brushes, assorted screws, staple gun and anything else that falls within that bell curve.
Entertaining In The Great Outdoors
You have your own home, which means you have bought some small slice of mother earth. You have your own piece of the great outdoors. First things first, you need a lawnmower. Trust us, you may not have been a gardening fan before, but you will start to become very lawn-proud now you have your own lawn. You will also want to show it off by entertaining outside, even if it is just entertaining yourself. We’re talking the kind of thing that you can find at Bridgman.co.uk; gardening sofas and lounging sets, lawn chairs, outdoor dining tables, patio furniture and a sunbrella. Oh, and don’t forget the barbecue. Every garden needs a barbecue. And there you have it, the new homeowners garden starter pack.
Get On It With The Appliances
If you’re buying a new-new home then it is probably going to come with some “state-of-the-art” appliances. That’s pretty standard these days. However, if you’re buying an older home (cue that Victorian example we used earlier), then you will find the previous owner has left with most of the appliances. That’s kind of what happens. The bigger purchases that you cannot live without are things like a cooker, a fridge, and a washing machine. That is the staple diet of every home on the appliance front. But you will also want to load up on the smaller things too; kettle, four-slice toaster, toasted-cheese maker, microwave and that sort of thing.
Don’t Forget About All Those Fabrics
There is a lot to cover on this front, and not one of them should be neglected or pushed down the to-do list by that thing called time. Let’s start with new towels for your bathroom. Yes, you may well have plenty of towels, but nothing is going to drag that new bathroom look down like old and tattered towels. All that time you spent painting tiles will be for nothing. Basically, your old towels will be much better off used for deep cleans now. Next up is fresh linen for each of your bedrooms because, well, fresh linen is what makes a bedroom feel fresh. Another thing you will want to get while on the fabric thing is curtains for each of your main living rooms. Nothing spruces up a space quite as much as curtains long enough to make a puddle on the floor. It just creates that homely feeling. And last but not least, rugs. You will want to get some rugs to grace the floors of your larger rooms. We’re talking your living room and bedroom, but maybe even your bathroom. Having an old Persian rug to fill the gap in your bathroom is a great way to add an edge to this room, trust us.
We Have To Mention Pets
If this is your first home, and that is kind of what we have geared this blog post toward, then you will be moving from a rented place. That means you may not have had the freedom afforded to you now, and that usually means you weren’t allowed pets. Landlords and ladies are so weird about pets. However, that is all in the past now. You have your own home and nothing says home more than a dog or a cat. It is that gorgeous feeling of coming home after a day of work, knowing that you have bits to do on the house weighing on your mind, only for all this to evaporate as your puppy bounds toward you, tongue out and eyes big. It is that feeling of being totally complete and content. It is the trick to having that home life you grew up watching on TV, the white-picket fence and big smiles.
With all of these ticked off, there is just one thing left to do: enjoy your home.