Shopping for a New Home: The Best Amazon Purchases We Made
Since Brett and I moved into our first house a few months ago, we have been relying on Amazon more than ever before. There are so many little things you need in a house that we just hadn’t thought of, so Prime shipping has been incredibly useful as of late. Here, I wanted to share a handful of the most helpful finds we’ve gotten from Amazon lately, the things that either made the move easier or that have rounded out the home. Read on for the best Amazon purchases for our new home!
Table of Contents:
Shop The Best New Home Finds on Amazon
The Best Amazon Purchases for Our New Home
Best Amazon Purchases That Made the Move Easier
Feliway Cat Pheromones
Besides the actual physical move, we also had to prepare the cats for the transition. Feliway cat pheromones were so helpful; I got two new diffusers and set them up in the house a bit before we brought the cats over. I think the pheromones really helped the cats settle in to the unknown space more quickly. You can learn more about Feliway and how cat pheromones work in my Cat Mom Life blog post on the products here!
Box Cutter Utility Knife 12 Pack
When it came to unpacking, I kept misplacing the scissors or few existing box cutters we had. Brett ordered this 12 pack of utility knives so we could keep one in each room, and then have extras. It was really helpful to have extras so we could reliably find a knife to cut the packing tape and shrink-wrap from the move. My nails definitely appreciated it!
Steeped Coffee Single Serve Packs
Steeped Coffee was kind enough to send me a sampler of their single-serve coffee packs and they were such a help during the move. I could quickly and easily make a cup of coffee — or set up coffee to ice — with just a mug. This was super helpful for the awkward period of time where we were still living in the apartment but spending a lot of the days at the house, before I moved my coffee maker.
Dyson Cordless Vacuum
Great for both emptying and cleaning up our old apartment, and for general move-in mess, this Dyson vacuum is an absolute must-have. Having a heavy duty cordless vacuum that is still lightweight should be at the top of any new homeowner’s list, and I truly believe the Dyson brand ones are worth every penny!
The Most Useful Home Finds from Amazon
Ring Video Doorbell
I always knew I wanted to get a Ring Doorbell once we got a house, but I underestimated just how useful these things were! There is, of course, the peace of mind of being able to see who is at the door while I’m home, but I almost appreciate it more for when we’re away. They’re definitely a pricier purchase, but well worth it in my opinion.
DynaTrap Mosquito & Flying Insect Trap
Not the most fun part of Tampa home ownership, but summer bugs are not something you can ignore. After a few days of trying to power through bug bites when moving in, we realized how badly we needed one of these DynaTrap mosquito traps. We got the size that protects up to a half an acre and it’s made a noticeable difference in our outdoor experience!
No Soliciting Sign
Dovetailing off of the Ring Doorbell, this little “No Soliciting” sign has been pretty useful. The adhesive stickers aren’t the best, so we have to figure something else out to keep it up on the wall of our porch, but salespeople do seem to abide by it.
Rustic Wood Floating Shelves
Our bathroom doesn’t have a ton of storage space, so I knew I wanted to get some low-profile shelves of some kind for my daily beauty products. This set of two floating shelves seemed too good to be true at just over $20, but they are the real deal! They look great, were pretty easy to install, and come with a little hand towel bar (picture from before we added it). They easily hold my acne meds, moisturizers, hair products, and sunscreens, among other necessities. Brett ordered a second set to put up on his side of the counter, as well.
P.S. this set is similar but doesn’t have the little guard rail, if you’re looking for an even lower profile style.
2 Pack Bottle Cleaner Brushes
Like with the box cutters, I could not keep track of where many of our cleaning supplies were, including dishwashing brushes and sponges. This 2-pack of dishwashing brushes was helpful because it gave me a clean brush to use in the kitchen, as well as a second that wound up being useful for general cleaning around the house.
Hombazaar Vintage Industrial Book Shelf
A few weeks before we moved in, I ordered three of these rustic wood and metal bookcases for my office. While I eyed this ladder style from the same brand, I ultimately opted for two of the 5-tier shelves and one of the 3-tier option. One of the 5-tier shelves came really quickly (like within 48 hours), and the 3-tier followed soon after (within a few days). The second 5-tier bookcase took longer to arrive, but still got here before we moved in. The shelves were easy to put together and look really good — they exceeded my expectations in both their style and durability! Definitely in my top three of the best Amazon purchases we made for the home.
ecobee SmartThermostat
The latest addition to the best Amazon purchases we’ve made for the house, the ecobee SmartThermostat is pretty cool. We used to have a Nest in our old Boca apartment, and we knew we wanted a smart thermostat, so Brett did some research and found that this one would work best with our other smart home products. It gave Brett some trouble to install, so be warned that it can be tricky, but the system is really robust and the phone controls are so handy.
Pyrex Simply Store Food Storage Set
Having a uniform set of food storage containers has been super helpful with kitchen organization. I like to use glass containers for leftovers and meal prep where we can (exception being for these produce savers that really honestly work!). So, this Pyrex three-pack set has been great. Plus, it’s pretty affordable!
The Best Amazon Purchases for Decorative Finds
Ravinte Solid 3 Inch Rounded Foot Arch Kitchen Cabinet Handles
When we moved in, our kitchen cabinets didn’t have handles. We had always planned on getting drawer and cabinet pulls, but didn’t think of it as a huge priority. However, we underestimated how annoying it was to not have them, especially when moving all our kitchen stuff in. I ordered two sets of these handles because they were a really good price and I liked the color. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting them to be that nice. I thought I’d get them, see how they were, but that we’d probably have to shell out more money for nicer ones. Luckily, I was wrong. The handles are great — well made, durable, ergonomic, and came with all the required parts for installation. We had them installed throughout the kitchen, and even had extras to put on the cabinets in all the bathrooms of the house. 11/10, highly recommend.
Hotop Double-Headed Picture Hangers
For my office in particular, but also for throughout the house, I wanted to find some nice decorative hooks for small wall decor.
These double-headed picture hanging nails are lower profile than Command Hooks, and prettier than a regular nail. They come in a few colors in sets of 25 or 50; I opted for the bronze, which look more gold in real life. They were easy to install with a rubber mallet and they have a little track to hold twine or wire hangers.
Metal Decorative Tree Bookend Set
The industrial bookshelves listed above don’t have rails on the sides, so I needed bookends to keep my books in place. I wound up ordering two sets of these patterned metal bookends, and am probably going to need a third. There are three tree motifs in the set, which look nice from the side, but they’re pretty low-profile. I like that they are rounded rather than squared off, too. Cute, easy to use, and under $20 for the three sets.
Multi Tier Plant Stand
I had been in the market for an outdoor plant stand for a while when I came across this option on Amazon. The stand comes in a few different sizes, from 8 to 19 tiers. I opted for the 10 tier style, which was around $30. Be warned, it can seem incredibly overwhelming to put together at first. When I opened the box, there were so many pieces and few instructions. It took a bit, but, with Brett’s help, we got it securely put together. After the fact, I found this video which shows how to put it together. Overall, the stand is a great price, lightweight, easy to move, and works great for my smaller plants outside.
P.S. Looking for more planters, gardening tools, and patio accessories? Check out a few of my patio garden favorites on ShopLTK.
Shop The Best New Home Amazon Finds
What are some of the best Amazon purchases you’ve made for your home?
Are there any home finds that have been total game changers for you?
I’d love to hear about them (and maybe order for myself)!
*This post was originally published in September 2022. It was most recently updated on December 13, 2023.
We have so many of these in our house, too – the ecobee, ring, and feliway (well, the generic one called Comfort Zone!)
Thanks for sharing all of these finds!!
We just got the ecobee and it’s so handy! We’re loving it. I need to replace our feliway diffusers haha