7 Things You Need in Your New Apartment

SEATTLE (Zillow) — Everyone thinks of the big necessities when moving into an apartment: repainting, buying furniture, getting along with roommates. These are all important, of course, but then there are the little things that really matter in a pinch – tools 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 your framed pictures without a hammer? How will you assemble your Ikea furniture without a screwdriver? How will you adjust your bicycle seat 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. 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, cut open that irritating plastic vacuum-packed container on the headphones you bought – in other words, scissors come in handy quite often. Therefore, get a sturdy pair rather than a flimsy one. They might cost a little more, but they will last you literally decades.