Purchases for new house - looking for recommendations

[TechWife]

Hello all! We will be moving into our new house before too much longer, and I have a shopping list of items we will need.  I'm looking for recommendations on brands to look for or avoid, places to shop or avoid, specific items to look for/avoid, etc. Does anyone have ideas for the following:

New towels/washcloths for bathing - we are replacing the tattered, worn towels we have had for several years. Looking for low lint, soft, absorbent. It's hard to tell quality/absorbancy/lint when looking at things on shelves.

New towels/washcloths for kitchen - replacing worn, stained, tattered items. Absorbancy is most important, I think.

Trashcans - need under sink trash can and recycle can for the kitchen. I've never had cans under the sink and don't even know what to look for. Do they come with lids? What size?

Knife block - our current block is under the cabinet, but since we are have under the cabinet lighting in the new house, we won't be able to use it. Do you have a knife block on your counter or do you have one in your drawers? What do you recommend for functionality? What do you not like?

Refrigerator - this is probably the biggest purchase. Prefer for side by side with an in door water dispenser. I don't like the models with the freezer at the bottom.

Mattresses/Box Springs - Need two queen sets. One will be for ds, one for the guest room. Has anyone purchased these items from Costco? How is the quality? We need to buy one set right away and can wait on the second set if needed.

Bed frame w/headboard - Need two queen size. We need to buy one right away, but can wait on the second one if we need to. Neutral styling for both - not overly feminine or masculine, although if there is something ds would like to have that is reasonably priced, we can do it. He doesn't have any preferences right now but may as we start looking at things.

Entertainment center/table/whatever you call it now - to hold stereo equipment on shelves (six components) and a flat screen tv on top. I'm thinking of looking at Home Goods for this - has anyone bought furniture there?

Those are the things that are the biggest or I am wondering the most about. I know there will be other little things that crop up that we will need as we go (shower curtains, etc.) but I'm not thinking ahead on that stuff as it isn't too hard to find.

 

 

 

[Ottakee]

For towels, my Kohl's Big One towels have held up well.  Watch for their big sales.

For kitchen rags/towels, I found that the 12 pack of wash cloths from Walmart work great 

[Scarlett]

How exciting!

[Bambam]

We purchased these towels (and matching hand towels and washcloths) from Amazon over 2 years ago. These have held up well. We also have some from Lands End, but they have not held up nearly as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SP0BQ8C/

I also purchased these kitchen towels from Amazon. I got tired of ones that the hem came undone or they got stained. I like the thickness. I like the dark color options. But I don't love the print. I wish they had solid colors. But they have held up very well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0776KTKY8/

[matrips]

Bath Towels- the basic bed bed and beyond color last ones have been great.  Inexpensive too.

kitchen towels- still loving our Costco multinpack from years ago. They actually dry things well.

fridge- I’d go for American made.  I hear lots of complaints of people trying to gets parts for Samsung and Lg and even most Kenmores are made by lg and/or Samsung.  We bought a whirlpool.

Trash cans- Rubbermaid has perfectly sized ones for under the counter.  They even have differed colored options if you want a separate color for recyclables.

knife block - love our new in drawer one!  Went with the 16 knife one which is great.  And Got rid of our knife block.  https://smile.amazon.com/Noble-Home-Chef/b/ref=bl_dp_s_mw_14943325011?ie=UTF8&node=14943325011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Noble+Home+%26+Chef

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

The bath towels and washcloths and hand towels we have bought at Costco have been cheaper and more long lasting and held their color far better than the Macy’s ones that cost more.  I’ve been VERY happy with them.

I have a knife block on my counter, and it’s fine, but if I had to do something else I would get two of those very heavy magnetic knife strips for the wall and put one by the stove and one by the sink, with the knives assigned based on where they are used the most.

I have never tried the Costco mattresses, but am very happy with the hotel mattress packages that we have bought in the last 4-5 years.  One thing to know—having been to a mattress store and tried all the mattresses in it, my take away impression is that the ‘good’ mattresses now are all much thicker than the good old standard thickness, and so that has to be accounted for in the choice of a box spring or I would have to use a stair step to get in bed.  I found this surprising.  I did get a platform bed from Wayfair and have been happy with it.  It was very reasonably priced and was sturdy and well made.  Plus you can customize it with an assortment of different headboard designs if you want a headboard—in my case I needed to be headboard free because of the placement of the window in that particular room, and it was nice to have that option as well.

Fridge—I bought one a year or two ago, and it was horrifying to do.  I am used to things lasting a long time, and it is clear that there is no Speed Queen equivalent for fridges.  Generally, to meet the newer energy standards the motors are undersized, so they run more than in older models, and don’t necessarily keep things quite as cold.  Electronic ones are the only ones that are really quiet, so if that’s important to you you’ll need to get electronics.  Check the ambient specs for that—mine is not supposed to ever be in less than 50 degrees or higher than a certain fairly AC’ed number as an operating zone, a much tighter spec than I was used to worrying about, and one that I feel like we have to take seriously because of the electronics.  I bought a Samsung, and also for the first time ever I bought the extended warranty—keeping my fingers crossed for sure.  I would not have bought this without having a cheap noisy spare fridge in the basement as a fallback in case of failure.

For entertainment systems, these pop up free or almost free all the time in our neighborhood, and that is the first place I would look.  The second is IKEA, which has sturdy stuff for this application, with designs that blend in well.  I don’t adore the quality there but have learned that for something that needs to be plain and sturdy it’s a good choice and also cheap enough that if I later find the perfect alternative I don’t mind disposing of it.  YMMV.



 

[Tap]

I would start at Costco and go from there. Pretty much everything I have on your list is either Costco or IKEA. LOL 

[Ottakee]

For a bed, we bought a foldable frame from Walmart.  Super easy to put together and sturdy.  

The Tuft and Needle mattress has been a huge hit here with my 2 kids that I bought them for.

We bought a box spring from Amazon that I have been very happy with as well.

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Ottakee said:

For towels, my Kohl's Big One towels have held up well.  Watch for their big sales.

For kitchen rags/towels, I found that the 12 pack of wash cloths from Walmart work great 

 

How do the Kohl's towels do with lint, absorbancy & drying time? I pull so much lint out of my lint trap when I do towels, and my towels are about 8 years old. It seems like they shouldn't be loosing so much all the time. They take a long time to dry & I am careful not to overload the machine.

[Ottakee]

7 minutes ago, TechWife said:

 

How do the Kohl's towels do with lint, absorbancy & drying time? I pull so much lint out of my lint trap when I do towels, and my towels are about 8 years old. It seems like they shouldn't be loosing so much all the time. They take a long time to dry & I am careful not to overload the machine.

I don't have much trouble with lint.  Then again, I am not super fussy either 

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Bambam said:

We purchased these towels (and matching hand towels and washcloths) from Amazon over 2 years ago. These have held up well. We also have some from Lands End, but they have not held up nearly as well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SP0BQ8C/

I also purchased these kitchen towels from Amazon. I got tired of ones that the hem came undone or they got stained. I like the thickness. I like the dark color options. But I don't love the print. I wish they had solid colors. But they have held up very well. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0776KTKY8/

I like the bath towels - they have a lot of great colors for me to consider. Basically, towels are going to be the "color pop" in the room. Grey tile floor & shower, white shower wall, black countertop.

I think I'd prefer terry cloth for the kitchen towels, though.

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Carol in Cal. said:

The bath towels and washcloths and hand towels we have bought at Costco have been cheaper and more long lasting and held their color far better than the Macy’s ones that cost more.  I’ve been VERY happy with them.

I have a knife block on my counter, and it’s fine, but if I had to do something else I would get two of those very heavy magnetic knife strips for the wall and put one by the stove and one by the sink, with the knives assigned based on where they are used the most.

I have never tried the Costco mattresses, but am very happy with the hotel mattress packages that we have bought in the last 4-5 years.  One thing to know—having been to a mattress store and tried all the mattresses in it, my take away impression is that the ‘good’ mattresses now are all much thicker than the good old standard thickness, and so that has to be accounted for in the choice of a box spring or I would have to use a stair step to get in bed.  I found this surprising.  I did get a platform bed from Wayfair and have been happy with it.  It was very reasonably priced and was sturdy and well made.  Plus you can customize it with an assortment of different headboard designs if you want a headboard—in my case I needed to be headboard free because of the placement of the window in that particular room, and it was nice to have that option as well.

Fridge—I bought one a year or two ago, and it was horrifying to do.  I am used to things lasting a long time, and it is clear that there is no Speed Queen equivalent for fridges.  Generally, to meet the newer energy standards the motors are undersized, so they run more than in older models, and don’t necessarily keep things quite as cold.  Electronic ones are the only ones that are really quiet, so if that’s important to you you’ll need to get electronics.  Check the ambient specs for that—mine is not supposed to ever be in less than 50 degrees or higher than a certain fairly AC’ed number as an operating zone, a much tighter spec than I was used to worrying about, and one that I feel like we have to take seriously because of the electronics.  I bought a Samsung, and also for the first time ever I bought the extended warranty—keeping my fingers crossed for sure.  I would not have bought this without having a cheap noisy spare fridge in the basement as a fallback in case of failure.

For entertainment systems, these pop up free or almost free all the time in our neighborhood, and that is the first place I would look.  The second is IKEA, which has sturdy stuff for this application, with designs that blend in well.  I don’t adore the quality there but have learned that for something that needs to be plain and sturdy it’s a good choice and also cheap enough that if I later find the perfect alternative I don’t mind disposing of it.  YMMV.



 

I'll check Costco on the towels - they seem to have them every time I have looked there.

What is a hotel mattress package?

Am I right in thinking a platform bed doesn't need a box spring?

I would never have thought to check the temperature specs on the refrigerator. That wasn't on my radar at all, so thanks for the tip! Quiet is something I'll have to think about. We will have a first floor master and noise tends to bother me when I try to sleep.

What do you mean by "electronics" on a refrigerator? Do you mean a smart refrigerator? I am avoiding those for many reasons - mostly the expense but also privacy concerns.

 

[TechWife]

1 hour ago, Tap said:

I would start at Costco and go from there. Pretty much everything I have on your list is either Costco or IKEA. LOL 

That would make everything so easy! I just wish I could find someone who has one of their mattresses to get an idea of what they are like.

[Tap]

Just now, TechWife said:

That would make everything so easy! I just wish I could find someone who has one of their mattresses to get an idea of what they are like.

We have had a couple from Costco that were great.  One we had replaced under thier warranty because it sagged after a year or so. When we called the mattress return phone number, they said it was a known problem (lots of replacements) and it wasn't a problem to get a refund. We had had it for several years at that point, so they definitely stand by thier products.  

We also have 3 IKEA mattresses, and DD has 2. They are all going strong and are comfortable. We did buy higher end ones, so take that into consideration. 

[Selkie]

These Swedish dishcloths are my favorite. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W7XCMGS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like an in drawer knife block, because the less clutter on my counters, the better. I think ours is the same one that matrips already recommended. 🙂

We love and adore our GE fridge, and hated the Samsung we had previously. It was a real lemon. I found the reviews on gardenweb.com to be very helpful when picking out appliances.  

Our bed is from Pottery Barn, but it isn't great quality for the price. If I were in need of a new bed, I'd look on Wayfair. We've gotten several pieces of furniture there (desks, tables, dining room chairs, upholstered chairs) and been very pleased with the quality. 

[prairiewindmomma]

5 hours ago, TechWife said:

Hello all! We will be moving into our new house before too much longer, and I have a shopping list of items we will need.  I'm looking for recommendations on brands to look for or avoid, places to shop or avoid, specific items to look for/avoid, etc. Does anyone have ideas for the following:

New towels/washcloths for bathing - we are replacing the tattered, worn towels we have had for several years. Looking for low lint, soft, absorbent. It's hard to tell quality/absorbancy/lint when looking at things on shelves.

We splurged and bought Cacala brand Turkish bath towels. They are not fluffy but are essentially no lint. They dry VERY quickly and are huge. We bought ours on amazon.

New towels/washcloths for kitchen - replacing worn, stained, tattered items. Absorbancy is most important, I think.

Threshold brand at Target.

Trashcans - need under sink trash can and recycle can for the kitchen. I've never had cans under the sink and don't even know what to look for. Do they come with lids? What size?

Knife block - our current block is under the cabinet, but since we are have under the cabinet lighting in the new house, we won't be able to use it. Do you have a knife block on your counter or do you have one in your drawers? What do you recommend for functionality? What do you not like?

We have a knife block. I have mixed feelings about it. I would rather mount a magnetic strip and just keep my favorite 4-5 knives always available.

Refrigerator - this is probably the biggest purchase. Prefer for side by side with an in door water dispenser. I don't like the models with the freezer at the bottom.

Mattresses/Box Springs - Need two queen sets. One will be for ds, one for the guest room. Has anyone purchased these items from Costco? How is the quality? We need to buy one set right away and can wait on the second set if needed.

We have purchased two sets from Costco in the last four years. I don’t like the memory foam set. The other has been fine.

Bed frame w/headboard - Need two queen size. We need to buy one right away, but can wait on the second one if we need to. Neutral styling for both - not overly feminine or masculine, although if there is something ds would like to have that is reasonably priced, we can do it. He doesn't have any preferences right now but may as we start looking at things.

wayfair.com

Entertainment center/table/whatever you call it now - to hold stereo equipment on shelves (six components) and a flat screen tv on top. I'm thinking of looking at Home Goods for this - has anyone bought furniture there?

I haven’t been super happy with HomeGoods furniture. (Or world market’s, fwiw.)

Those are the things that are the biggest or I am wondering the most about. I know there will be other little things that crop up that we will need as we go (shower curtains, etc.) but I'm not thinking ahead on that stuff as it isn't too hard to find.

 

 

 

 

[PeterPan]

So around here the normal thing is to buy your entertainment center at the amish furniture store. Have a good laugh about that. Have you thought about wall mounting the tv? I've gotten tv mounts online through walmart (and legit brands) that they didn't stock in the store that were a great price. 

For knife blocks, amazon. They come in sizes and colors. I have a massive one I bought to hold dd's knives and mine. Then she went to college and took all her knives with her!! Oops. I think this might be what I have, though maybe in more of a cherry look                                             Wusthof 25-Slot "Mega Block," Acacia                                      But you know, lots of sizes and options.

For towels, to me that is so personal. I have towels from Kohls. I think they're the Vera Wang. They're fine. I've gotten some towels from Target for my dd and my ds' bath, and they're not as nice but they're still fine. It's always safest to buy one, wash, decide for yourself. Like start with a wash cloth maybe so it doesn't cost much. I chose the Vera Wang because they had the perfect colors I wanted for my bath and they were thick. No issues with quality or ability to get me dry. I like my towels thick and they are and they've stayed that way for 10 years now.

For the frig, I'm pretty unforgettable because I'm the woman who took EVERYTHING from my frig to the store and put it in to decide which model, haha. But hey, I really like my frig! I like bottom mounts, but I think roll with what you like. I have a Kenmore and they're about over, right? Have you checked consumer reports? 

Bed frame. Again, we would do an amish store here. And we have a local company that makes mattresses and is just a really straight shooting kind of place, not upselling, always honest. Don't do like my mother and pay $$$$$$$$ for some swanky foam mattress a salesman sells you. I slept on it this week and that was SO awful. Guests want normal. Do for yourself whatever you want, but normal for guests, lol.

I hope you enjoy your new house! 

[Laura Corin]

We've had good luck with an IKEA spring mattress.

[linders]

11 hours ago, TechWife said:

 

New towels/washcloths for bathing - 

Great luck with the towels/washcloths we have gotten from Costco. Meet your criteria of soft, low-lint, long-lasting.

Trashcans - need under sink trash can and recycle can for the kitchen. I've never had cans under the sink and don't even know what to look for. Do they come with lids? What size?

Do you have a pullout cabinet for the bins? Most of these seem to need the standard tall kitchen trashcans, and I usually see them without lids. (Ours is lideless.)

Knife block - our current block is under the cabinet, but since we are have under the cabinet lighting in the new house, we won't be able to use it. Do you have a knife block on your counter or do you have one in your drawers? What do you recommend for functionality? What do you not like?

After decades of a knife block taking up space on the counter, I bought an in-drawer bamboo knife block and love it! It is in the drawer immediately below the counter where we do most of our chopping/cutting/carving. It is like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Cook-Home-Drawer-Bamboo-Storage/dp/B00DHH0LX4/ref=zg_bs_13840851_12?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1BF0WEEGNQHEHCH0WFT5

 

 

[lmrich]

Love our bath towels from Costco. 

I ordered bedding from Amazon. 

I shopped at HomeGoods, Target,  and Hobby Lobby for decor.

Best of luck!

[Carol in Cal.]

12 hours ago, TechWife said:

I'll check Costco on the towels - they seem to have them every time I have looked there.

What is a hotel mattress package?

Am I right in thinking a platform bed doesn't need a box spring?

I would never have thought to check the temperature specs on the refrigerator. That wasn't on my radar at all, so thanks for the tip! Quiet is something I'll have to think about. We will have a first floor master and noise tends to bother me when I try to sleep.

What do you mean by "electronics" on a refrigerator? Do you mean a smart refrigerator? I am avoiding those for many reasons - mostly the expense but also privacy concerns.

 

Hotel mattress package—We called a place we had vacationed at for a week where we found the beds really comfortable and asked whether we could buy the same mattress for home use.  They connected us with the manufacturer.  We ordered a set and they made it up and delivered it.  We have LOVED these, and supposedly they are more durable than typical home mattresses.  

The platform bed we got had slats on a roll as the platform.  I think we could have avoided the box spring completely, but the mattress manufacturer requires one as a condition of the warranty and we didn’t want to chance losing that.  So we ordered a Bucky board from the mattress company to use as a box spring.  That is a 5 inch deep box that does not have springs but supports the mattress really well while not lifting it as high as a box spring.  We asked the mattress folks about its function, and they said that the springs in a box spring kind of compensate for a mattress that has started to break down, but that that is very late in mattress life if it happens at all.  So we decided not to worry about it.  

Fridge electronics—our fridge is not a smart fridge, but it does have an electronic control pad.  Quiet was crucial to us as our fridge is in a great room and also the master bedroom is right on top of the kitchen area.  So we bit the bullet and got electronics.  I had been considering an ice maker/water server, but all of our friends with those have ones that pretty much don’t work, and when asked about them they say that they kept breaking down and were expensive to fix so they gave up on them.  So I hunted up a fridge that didn’t have this built in, and gained quite a bit of interior space that way.  I planned to get just the freezer ice maker, but they made random noise when they spit out the ice, so I planned to turn it off at night before going to bed.  Then I read the reviews, which said that it took a very long time for the ice makers to start making ice, so I figured if I turned it off every night I would never have a realistic hope of having enough ice for even meals.  I ended up getting no ice or water handling, and buying a chest freezer for the basement, which is much more efficient than the fridge freezer.  We keep most of our frozen food in the chest freezer, and mostly use the fridge freezer for making ice in trays (many trays, LOL) and for the ice cream maker bucket, and for homemade ice cream.  This was extremely helpful when we had the ‘planned’ power outage recently due to the CA wildfire issue.  

[gardenmom5]

are you a Costco member?  most of what you're looking for can be purchased there, and usually fairly good deals.

[J-rap]

Regarding the under-the-sink trash can in the kitchen.  We moved into an apartment after being in a home for 25 years.  I'd never had an under-the-sink trash can, and I bought several, returning each one because they were either too high, too small, or whatever.

I finally found this one, and it's perfect:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GX4CI2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Somehow it's small enough to fit into a small area, yet it holds a lot.  Because it's under our sink, we don't need a lid.  

For beds.  You can get a "platform" style now which doesn't require a box spring.  Then you can get the mattress itself online, one of those mattresses in a box.  (We've used Nest, but there are a lot!)

If you really like the more traditional box spring/mattress set-up, we also ordered a Saatva box spring/mattress (all online, great customer service and set-up and warranties), and have been really pleased with it.  

https://www.saatvamattress.com

We recently got a very standard metal bed frame at Target, although the Zinus line on Amazon seems really good and durable too.  (We've bought a couple of those in the past few years).  We've also gotten headboards separately, which can be easily found for under $200.  You can add those anytime.

 

[Targhee]

Towels - Costco has great bath towels that lasts long time. Doesn’t have a huge color variety but they are great. They have great sheets too. Not the cheap options but the higher end options (but still cheap, it’s Costco)

Knife block - we for years had a Henkels block on the counter and it was great. I wanted clear-as-possible counters in the new house so we bought an in-drawer block and I love it! The entire drawer has sharp implements and small cutting board and is located where I do fresh food prep so it’s perfect. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009NMVV4/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

mattresses - we have twin mattresses from Costco and they are good.  We ordered a Queen firm mattress from Sleepzz and are very happy with it. They let you no-risk sleep on it for 90 days (free return) if you don’t like it. 

Home Goods - we have bought some things here. None of the furniture has ever been really solid, so I would only buy piece that need to look nice but won’t be getting much touching.  This is a good store for throw pillows and other soft goods.