1. An emergency light source. Keep a flashlight, candles and matches easily accessible (and charged, as the case may be). I hope you never need this, but if you do, you'll be greatly relieved to have it. We have both a flashlight and multiple candles in our entry dresser.
2. Towels. You may be an extreme minimalist who showers at the gym, but everyone needs towels at home. At the very least, two bathroom towels and two kitchen towels. Clearly we have more than two of each seeing as we've been married for six years. We actually have so many kitchen towels we keep them out of a drawer and on the kitchen counter in a wire basket.
4. A small toolset. A hammer, a flat-head screwdriver, a phillips head screwdriver, and pliers will suffice. You may not believe me, but you'll end up using it — to stop a running toilet, hang a picture, pry open a paint can, etc. We have all of the above and then some. Our most frequently used tools are conveniently located in one of the big kitchen drawers and the rest are in the basement or garage. When we lived in an apartment we rarely used more than a screwdriver and a hammer but after buying our house we have definitely accumulated lots of fun things.
5. Bedding. A necessity, of course. And, if you're over the age of 20 and are still sleeping on your sheets from grade school, you need new bedding. Thankfully we aren't sleeping on pre-marriage bedding but the sets we do have are over six years old. I've only bought one new jersey knit set from Target since then. It may be time for something newer and nicer, maybe when we buy our new mattress?
6. A small cleaning kit. Spills and mistakes happen, even if you have a cleaning lady. Your kit may contain only Dr. Bronner's and a sponge, but you'll use it at some point (hopefully regularly, to keep your place nice and clean). I try to keep my cleaning products to somewhat of a minimum and buy items that can multitask to avoid having too many bottles taking up valuable cabinet space. My most recent cleaning additions are the dish and hand soap next to our kitchen sink.
7. An extra set of keys. If you're forever misplacing things, you can keep an extra set by the door. Use it on days that you really can't find your primary keys. Alternatively, have a set made and give them to someone you trust. We learned this one pretty quick because the very same week we bought our house I locked us both out by accident. Dan had to break one of our basement windows to get back in and needless to say we have a couple of extra sets.
8. Art. Sometimes minimalism isn't cool. Frame a sentimental postcard, buy a reprint of a favorite painting, browse Etsy or local art fairs — just get something on the walls to make your home more warm and personal. This is something that took me a while to finally tackle after doing so many other projects shortly after moving in. We finally have new (free) art in our bedroom that I love, a thrifted pencil drawing I adore, and even a dining room plate wall.
10. One thing you really love. A framed drawing by your niece. A vase from your sweetie. A memento from a favorite vacation. Display one item that brings you joy, no matter how often you see it. This one was a toughie. While there are tons of things I really like in our house it was hard to come up with something I really love. I have to say I'm pretty smitten with my Matador and think he was worth every cent of his $10 price tag and then some.
Aside from that I'm falling in love with our new built-ins. They're painted, trimmed, and brimming with accessories but there are still some finally touches that need to be completed before I can share them with the world.
So how did you guys do? Does you home have everything it absolutely needs?
