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You've packed up all of your belongings - your furniture, your bed, your favorite books and other assorted valuables - but what happens when you get to your new apartment and realize you're severely lacking in the appliance department?
What do I need?
What you'll need will depend on what your landlord will have already supplied. Some apartments may come with microwaves, dishwashers, refrigerators with icemakers, washers and dryers, while others may only have washer and dryer hook ups and lack various kitchen appliances.
Be sure to discuss what amenities come in your apartment during your apartment hunting, and certainly before you sign a lease.
Top appliances for an apartment
- Coffee pot
While most of us would like to say that caffeine isn't a daily priority, it is wishful thinking to assume we could live without our daily jolt of coffee. Most standard coffee pots are relatively inexpensive, and if you live alone you can opt for a 4-cup model which can cut your costs even more (and it will limit the amount of coffee you brew!)
- Mini refrigerator
More often than not, your apartment will come equipped with a standard refrigerator in the kitchen. But what if you're sharing an apartment with multiple roommates, and need to keep your food items separate? Or maybe you buy your groceries or drinks in bulk and need somewhere to store surplus items. Whatever the situation is, a mini-fridge will certainly come in handy. You can even plug it in next to the couch for a convenient beverage bar that serves as an end table.
- Portable induction cooktop/Countertop burner
Let's face it, apartment kitchens don't always offer an abundance of space. If you live with others, you could be knocking into each other while one is at the stove and the other is at the sink. However, maybe you have lots of open space in the dining room a few feet over. Purchasing a small counter top burner can allow you to cook your meals right where you plan to eat them, without being too cramped. You burner can then cool down and be stowed in a cabinet in the kitchen.
- Toaster oven/Toaster
You'll never want a piece of toast or a crunchy bagel for breakfast more than when you don't have an appliance to toast your bread in the morning. Do yourself a favor and grab one the next time you're at the store. And while a toaster is suitable for bread products, you may want to consider a toaster oven for a few more dollars. With a toaster oven, you can toast bread, keep items warm, and essentially bake almost anything you could in a conventional oven, just on a much smaller scale and usually much quicker.
- Combo Washer/Dryer
If your apartment only comes with washer/dryer hook-ups, and there's no communal laundry facility, you'll want to get the most space-efficient appliance to wash your clothes. Instead of choosing a bulky washer and dryer that take up real estate (and more energy) in your laundry closet side by side, opt for a more compact washer/dryer stacked model. These usually have a top loading washing machine with a top-loading dryer directly above the washer. This way, you can easily grab your wet laundry from the washer and transfer it seamlessly into the dryer above.
- Mini A/C or cooling fan
You may not have central air in your new place, and you won't necessarily have the space for one or two more larger window units to cool your space down during the hot summer months. A space-saving and more economical alternative is a mini air conditioner. They come in a range of sizes from handheld to smaller window-sized units. These come in handy for anyone who doesn't have ceiling fans, bathroom fans, or lacks ventilation in the kitchen.
- Microwave
If you aren't much of a chef and are always on the go, and your apartment lacks a microwave—run, don't walk, to the nearest store that sells them. You won't realize how versatile this appliance is until you're heating up your soup or leftover mashed potatoes over the stove and waiting hours to thaw chicken breasts. Even popcorn becomes a challenge. You can find simple, no-frills microwave models for approximately $20 (for those on a budget), and they will fit nicely on your new kitchen counter without taking up too much space.
- Small dishwasher
Many times your apartment will have a standard dishwasher already installed; however, if you rent a space that only provides a sink, you may need to improvise. These days, many major appliance companies offer small dishwashers that can fit into narrow cabinet spaces as small as 18-inches wide. As an added bonus, you could even have the dishwasher installed to be concealed in a drawer that matches your countertops.