7 Handy Little Items Every Home Needs

Everyone thinks about the big necessities when moving into a new apartment: repainting, buying furniture, and unpacking all your belongings. These are all important, of course, but there are the little things that really matter in a pinch — tools that you should keep handy in your kitchen drawer for when the need strikes.

You may not be grateful for this list today or tomorrow, but you will be someday. So, be prepared like a good scout. Your local hardware store should carry everything, except the last item.

Screwdriver, hammer and wrench

Realistically, every home should have a small toolbox, but at bare minimum you need this trio of tools. Just think: How will you hang up your framed pictures without a hammer? How will you assemble your furniture without a screwdriver? How will you tighten a bolt without a wrench?

Warning: Just because you own a wrench doesn’t make you equipped to handle plumbing repairs!

Tape measure

If you are shopping for furniture, you’ll want to know exactly how much space you have to fit in a bed, couch or dining table — especially if space is an issue. And when you’re hanging pictures, you’ll want to make sure you’re centering them.

What miraculous item will allow you to accomplish all of this? Why, a tape measure, of course.

Scissors

Scissors are highly underrated. You can use them to cut open boxes that are shipped to you, cut tags off your new clothes, or cut away the irritating plastic wrap around the cords of your new entertainment center.

In other words, scissors come in handy quite often. Therefore, get at least one sturdy pair and skip the pack of flimsy ones. Nice scissors might cost a little more, but they will literally last you decades.

Light bulbs

Say the light burns out in your windowless bathroom. If you have light bulbs in a drawer, you can solve the problem in about 3 seconds. If not, you’ll have to shower in the dark until you can run out and get some bulbs. Stock up now before it becomes an issue.

Calculator

Maybe you use an app on your phone or your computer, but you also need another reliable way (other than using your head and your rusty grade-school algebra) to do math. Most modern technology is convenient, but using a traditional calculator is quite efficient.

For example, it’s unlikely you would do your taxes by hand and without a calculator. And will your roommates trust your long division when you split the common expenses with just paper and pencil? Not likely, unless you’re a CPA.

Flashlight

If the power goes out, you’ll be glad you have one. Enough said.

Sewing kit

Let’s say you have a big date and just before you leave, you lose a critical button. Without a sewing kit, you’ll have to change your entire outfit, or frantically run around looking for a tailor. Or what if the pant hem on your best suit falls the morning before a meeting with your boss or a big job interview?

With a basic sewing kit, you can make a quick and dirty fix in about 2 minutes.

And one final thought: Keep these items in a place where you can easily find them when an emergency strikes. This is especially true about the flashlight! Don’t let the zombie apocalypse catch you unprepared.

“7 Handy Items Every Home Needs” was provided by Zillow.com.