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First Home Manual

About First Home Manual

First Home Manual is a practical buying guide for people setting up their first home in the UK. Every guide is written to answer one question: what should I actually buy, and what should I skip?

What this site is for

Moving into your first rental or buying your first home comes with a long list of things you suddenly need and no clear idea of what to buy. Most product review sites don't help — they're written for people who already know what they're doing, or they're just lists of products with no real guidance.

First Home Manualis different. Every guide starts with the problem you're actually trying to solve, tells you the minimum you need to solve it, explains what most people get wrong, and points you toward the right product for your situation — whether you're renting or owning, on a tight budget or spending sensibly.

Who writes it

I'm Jess — a 29-year-old homeowner in Manchester. I started this site because I wished someone had given me this kind of guidance when I moved into my first rental at 22.

The butter knife story

When I moved into my first flat, I owned exactly zero tools. Not a screwdriver, not a hammer, nothing. My first piece of furniture was a Billy bookcase from IKEA, and I tried to assemble it using a butter knife and the back of a shoe.

It took three hours. Two cam locks snapped. The back panel was wonky. I sat on the floor surrounded by Allen keys I didn't have a hex driver for and thought: there has to be a better way.

Over the next couple of years I bought three different “budget” tool kits from Amazon. The first had screwdriver bits that stripped on the second use. The second looked impressive (137 pieces!) but half of them were socket sizes I'd never need in a flat. The third — a Draper set — actually worked. It's still in my cupboard today.

That experience taught me one thing: it's not about buying the cheapest, and it's not about buying the most expensive. It's about buying the right thing for your actual life.

What this site covers

First Home Manual focuses on the practical, unglamorous purchases that first-time renters and homeowners actually need:

  • Tool kits and hand tools
  • Power tools for beginners (cordless screwdrivers, not professional drills)
  • Home safety items (smoke alarms, CO detectors)
  • Household appliances (dehumidifiers, vacuums, clothes airers)
  • Small but essential purchases people forget (picture hanging, extension leads, torches)

This site does notcover professional-grade tools, major home renovation, interior design, or anything that requires a tradesperson to do safely. If you're rewiring a kitchen or replacing a boiler, get a qualified professional.

How recommendations are chosen

Every product recommendation on this site is chosen the same way:

  1. Start with the problem.What is the reader actually trying to do? What's the minimum they need to do it?
  2. Research the options. We compare products across hundreds of verified UK buyer reviews, looking at real-world use rather than spec sheets.
  3. Recommend by situation.The right tool for a renter who can't drill is different from the right tool for a homeowner fitting shelves. We try to match the recommendation to the person, not just pick a winner.
  4. Say what to skip.Plenty of products look good in listings and perform poorly in practice. We'd rather tell you what not to buy than quietly ignore it.

We never recommend something because it earns a higher commission. If a cheaper product does the job just as well, that's the one we recommend.

Affiliate links

First Home Manual uses Amazon affiliate links. If you click a link and buy something, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is how the site pays for itself.

Our affiliate relationship with Amazon does not influence which products we recommend. We have turned down higher-commission products in favour of better-value ones. The full details are in our affiliate disclosure.

Get in touch

Found a better deal? Spotted something that's gone out of stock? Think I've got something wrong? I genuinely want to hear it. Drop me an email at jess@firsthomemanual.com.

— Jess, Manchester, UK