A year and a half ago we bought our first home. We moved from a third story, two bedroom apartment to a 4 bedroom house with no steps. Even though the locations were just 5 minutes from each other, it was quite the change. No more stairs to climb, we now have a yard for the kids to play in, I have a home office for the first time and each child now has their own room.
In the past few months it’s finally started to feel like our house and no longer just a new place that we’re living. We’re comfortable and fully moved in and it’s every bit as awesome as I dreamed it would be when we were saving up for a down payment.
There have, however been some learning curves thrown at us. When things break no longer can we just call the apartment maintenance team and expect the problem to be fixed (at no additional charge or effort to us) within a couple of hours. No longer can we expect the grass to look great without lifting a finger to water or cut it and for some reason with extra space came extra clutter and the need to clean about twice as often as before.
To save you some trouble and lessons learned the hard way, here are a few must-haves for your new house (in my opinion).
1. A solid vacuum – I put this at the top of the list because it’s the most important. Other people’s carpet just totally grosses me out for some reason. You are going to want to get those floors CLEAN before you move in. And you’ll want to keep cleaning them like crazy long after you’ve moved in because walking on the carpets will bring up old dust and dirt from long before you moved in. It freaks me out y’all. A good vacuum is one of the best investments you can make, honestly. Other people’s messes are just so much worse than your own, and you are going to want those cleared up asap. I recommend the Hoover cordless Lift series – The Windtunnel 3 technology provides performance; suction power to lift and remove dirt!
2. Speaking of other people’s messes… you’ll want some of those magic eraser things too. Walls, and counter tops and doors and everything else… wash it down and sanitize with erasers. I think I went through about six boxes of those things and still could’ve used some more! Now before you think I’m crazy, I didn’t wipe down every single wall, that would’ve taken way too long. But there were black spots and food stains and other random things that I really didn’t want in my new home. Those little things that you don’t notice when it’s been there for months, but walking into your new house for the first time, you notice and you’ll want it GONE.
3. Candles – New houses smell kinda funny. Get some good candles or those plug-in things for every room. You’ll want to keep these going for the first week or so until your house starts smelling like YOUR house, not some one else’s.
4. Yard equipment that actually works – Another good investment to make right off the bat is on a good mower etc to keep your yard looking nice. Sure, you can buy a cheap one and call it a day and that will due for a little while, but you’ll have to replace it so quickly you’ll end up wasting money. Go to a hardware store and invest in a good mower while you are getting your Hoover cordless. This was my husband’s department, so I can’t recommend what you should get, just make sure it’s a good one so you won’t have to worry about replacing it any time soon.
5. Restaurant coupons – Moving is hard work, and just when you think you are done because all the boxes are in your house, you realize that you aren’t even halfway there because you still have to unpack! Some days you will just need to order pizza or stop by a local restaurant so you can rest after a busy day of unpacking. Scope out the area for the best places and try to get some online coupons set up for yourself before you move.
Are you moving soon or do you have tips to add to mine from a recent move you made? I’d love to hear them in the comments. Whether you are just moving or have been home for awhile I highly recommend the Hoover cordless for your floor cleaning needs! SO MUCH EASIER to vacuum without a cord, especially if you have toddlers who like to pull on it or chase you around and trip over the cord all the time!
The Hoover cordless line has 3 vacuums and a hard floor wet cleaner, and they all have interchangeable LithiumLife batteries that have double the capacity of their standard 18-volt lithium Ion batteries, which means longer runtime AND fade-free power, to make your life that much easier!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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