What Do I Need for My First Apartment: 13 Things, 3 to Skip

Dear M,

You asked me last night what you actually need for your first apartment, before you sign the lease on the Astoria studio on 31st Street. I have been thinking about this since you called. The answer to what you need for your first apartment is partly on this list and partly whatever the radiator and the landlord tell you in the first month. Here is what I would tell my own younger sister if she were moving into a 380-square-foot studio with a Murphy bed she did not pick, a radiator she has not met, and a landlord whose last name she still cannot pronounce.

I am going to list 13 things you need, in the order you should buy them. I am going to list 3 things every list tells you to buy that you should skip. I am going to end with 1 thing you should not buy for at least six months. None of this is from a magazine. All of it is from the first apartment I rented, which was a 520-square-foot basement efficiency in Sunnyside the year I graduated from Hunter. I lived there for 11 months. I lost $200 of my security deposit because I bought things I did not need and drilled holes I should not have drilled.

Dear M: The Letter I Should Have Sent My Younger Self

The 13 things you need, in order.

1. A mattress cover. Not a mattress topper. A mattress cover that zips. The Murphy bed in the studio came with a mattress that was older than both of us. I bought a $35 zippered cover from Target before I moved a single box in. The landlord checked it on move-out and I got $80 back. Skip the topper, get the cover.
2. Two sets of sheets. You will wash one and sleep in the other. The Target $30 set lasts 18 months if you do not bleach it. Skip the $120 set from West Elm. You will move again in 24 months and you do not want sheets you have to fold carefully.
3. A shower curtain. Not a glass door. A $15 cloth shower curtain from Target with the rings. The landlord in Sunnyside charged $80 to clean the glass door I installed on day 3 and removed on day 7. Skip the glass door. Skip the curtain rod upgrade. The $15 tension rod works.
4. A toilet brush. You will use it the day you move in. Skip the cleaning service subscription. The brush is $6. The subscription is $40 a month.
5. A plunger. The $5 one from the bodega on Steinway works as well as the $40 one from Lowe's.
6. A fire extinguisher. The 1-pound kitchen one from Home Depot for $24. Your lease probably requires it, and you told me the landlord on 31st Street checks on the first walk-through. Skip the 5-pound one. It is too heavy to lift over the stove.
7. A bed frame riser set. If the Murphy is too low and you want under-bed storage, the $25 plastic risers from Amazon work. Skip the wood ones, they splinter when you drag the bed to clean.
8. A 12-piece towel set. Not 6 towels. Twelve. You will wash every week and run out by week 3 with 6. The $40 set from Target is fine. Skip the monogrammed ones from Etsy.
9. A basic first-aid kit. The 100-piece $20 kit from Rite Aid has everything you will need in the first six months. Skip the pre-packed "apartment" kit, it has three things and a $40 price tag.
10. A small tool kit. The 30-piece $25 set from Home Depot. You will use the screwdriver once a week. Skip the 100-piece set, you will lose half of it in the first move.
11. A laundry basket. The $12 plastic one from Target. Skip the canvas one, it mildews in the bathroom if you forget it.
12. A 5-pack of sponges. You will use one a week. The $4 pack from the dollar store is fine. Skip the Mr. Clean sponges, you will lose them in the couch.
13. A lamp. The $30 desk lamp from Target with the LED bulb already in it. Skip the floor lamp, you will trip over it twice a week and the landlord will charge you to patch the wall.

The 3 Things Every List Tells You to Buy That You Should Skip

First is a welcome mat. You will use it for two weeks, then drag it inside and forget it exists. The landlord does not care if you have a welcome mat. Skip it.

Second is a "first apartment" gift basket. Someone will buy you one. It will have six candles, a wine glass, and a bar of soap. The candles will never get lit. The wine glass will break in the first move. Skip the basket.

Third is a printer. Every list says you need a printer. You do not need a printer. The public library on Steinway has free printing and you can sign any document on your phone. Skip the printer.

The 1 Thing You Should Not Buy for Six Months

The 1 thing you should not buy for at least six months, M, and the question you really asked me last night when you said "what do I need for my first apartment" without realizing you were asking it.

A piece of art. You will want to hang something on the wall above the Murphy bed in the first week. You will go to HomeGoods and buy a framed print for $45. You will drill a hole in the wall for the nail. You will patch the hole when you move out and lose $40 of your deposit. The hole is inevitable. The art is not. Wait six months. If you still want art on that wall in month 7, you will know what to buy and where to drill. In the first six months, the apartment will tell you what the wall needs. The wall does not need art in week 1.

Three Pieces of Advice I Would Give My Younger Self

Three pieces of advice I would give my younger self, M, if I were writing this letter to the girl moving into the Sunnyside basement all those years ago.

The first is to take a photo of every wall on move-in day. The landlord will not notice the scratch on the south wall when you move in. You will not notice it either, until move-out day, when the landlord will claim you made the scratch and dock $80 from your deposit. The photo on move-in day ends the argument.

The second is to ask the landlord, in writing, what counts as damage. The Sunnyside landlord sent me a one-page list. I taped it inside the kitchen cabinet. I read it before I drilled any hole. The Astoria landlord on 31st Street has a 4-page list, which is unusual, but you should ask for it in writing on Tuesday before you sign.

The third is to live in the apartment for one month before buying anything that costs more than $50. The thirteen things on this list will get you through the first month. The fourteenth thing you want to buy will be the one the apartment tells you to buy, not the one the magazine says. Wait.

When you ask what you need for your first apartment next year, when the lease renews in Astoria and you are signing the second one, you will already know.

P.S. Two Things I Forgot in the First Paragraph

I will come over on Sunday with the mattress cover and the fire extinguisher. I will bring my tool kit because the Murphy bed rails need a screwdriver you do not have. I will leave the tool kit in your closet when I go.

Two more things I should have said in the first paragraph. You do not need a rug. The carpet in the studio is the landlord's carpet. You will clean it on move-out. If you spill something, blot it. Do not buy a rug to cover the spill. The landlord will charge you to clean the rug, and the carpet underneath, when you move out. Skip the rug. You also do not need a coffee maker. The bodega on 31st and Newtown has $1.50 coffee. You do not need a TV. Your laptop streams everything. Skip both. Buy the lamp instead.

You will figure this out, M. You figured out college. You figured out the breakup. You will figure out the radiator.

You asked what you need for your first apartment, M, and the answer is everything on this list, nothing on the magazine list, and one thing you cannot buy until month 7.

Love, Your sister