Have you ever finally moved into your new apartment for rent, feel like you are all settled in, only to find that you need to run to a different store each day just to cook a meal?
We want to help you avoid using a knife to open a can of soup, bending 3 spoons to get a scoop of ice cream, using a frying pan as the cover for a smaller frying pan, and using tinfoil (the duct tape of cooking) for everything from a colander to a roasting pan. Not that we have had personal experiences with these innovative methods of improvisational cooking, of course.

(photo courtesy of Mia Mabanta)
To that end, we are going make some lists for our Apartment Guide, but first wanted to get some input from other renters before we compile our final lists.
This first list will focus primarily on items you need for your kitchen, since this room is home to the most overlooked items.
So, check over our list and let us know what additions that you would make.
For the Kitchen Table
- Microwavable Dinner Plates
- Forks, Spoons, knives
- Knife Set similar to this one.
- Bowls – small and large
- Glasses- small and large
- Coffee Cups
- Wine Glasses
For Cooking on the Stove and in the Oven
- 1 quart and 2 quart saucepan
- 4-5 quart dutch oven
- Skillet or frying pan
- Saute pan (straight sides and cover)
- Glass Casserole dish (13×9)
- Roasting pan
Miscellaneous yet Necessary and often Overlooked
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons
- Meat thermometer
- Big mixing bowls
- Cutting boards
- Potato peeler
- Rubber spatulas
- Metal spatulas or flipper
- Can opener
- Big spoons – wooden or plastic
- Salad tongs
- Colander
- Oven mitts
- Tea kettle
- Ice Cream Scooper
Household Supplies
- All-purpose Cleaners (409 and Windex)
- Dish and Laundry Detergent
- Sponges
- Toilet Paper, Kleenex and Paper Towels
- Garbage Bags
- Aluminum foil
- Saran wrap
- Ziploc Bags
We’ll continue to run these lists by you, the renters, so that we can compile comprehensive lists that other renters can print out and bring with them when they go shopping.
Tomorrow, we’ll put up a list of necessary food items, which will attempt to include all the things that are necessary to sustain basic human life in your apartment for rent.

bottle opener.
Good call, lauren. the old matt would have said, screw that, i’ll just use a lighter or the handle of a steak knife, but the new matt, the one who uses lists, and organizes things beforehand, he says, “thumbs UP”
thanks!
Well That certainly brings to mind a corkscrew.
I like that the essential items list has been expanded to include tools necessary for the liberation of libations from there respective containers.
next on the list, items for expediting imbibing? a funnel?
Good list I had forgotten some of the main ones!! How about tea towels
Love the name of this band, but they actually are a real tiger, no phoniness here. Nicely done.
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