Kitchen Buying Guides for Your First Home
Every appliance and gadget guide we've written for Australian kitchens, with real Amazon AU prices, organised so you can find the thing you actually need.

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The three that matter first
Read this before buying anything else. It's the difference between $300 of starter kit and $300 of regret.

You'll use it five times a day, and the Sunbeam Arise (about $55 to $65) proves you don't need to spend a fortune to get it right.

The one bench appliance that earns its spot in week one; the Philips Essential (about $185 to $210) is the sane starting point if a compact footprint matters more than price.
Setting up a first kitchen is mostly a long argument with your own budget. You walk in thinking you need a $650-plus KitchenAid Artisan, and three weeks later you realise what you actually needed was a $55 Victorinox chef's knife and somewhere to put the leftovers. We've made those mistakes already, so these guides start from what gets used daily in a real Australian kitchen, not what looks good on a gift registry.
Every price on this page comes from a live Amazon AU check, not a guess. That's about $185 to $210 for the Philips Essential air fryer, about $55 to $65 for the Sunbeam Arise kettle. When a brand simply doesn't sell through Amazon here (looking at you, Breville slow cookers), we say so and point you at the Australian retailers that do stock it. No affiliate link is worth recommending something you can't actually buy.
If you're staring at an empty bench on moving day, start with the kitchen essentials guide and the three picks below, then come back for the fun stuff once the boxes are unpacked. The Sunbeam Arise kettle (about $55 to $65) pairs with the matching Sunbeam Arise toaster if you want a coordinated bench, and both are genuinely fine — check our toaster guide for its current price before you commit to the pair. The pizza oven guide can wait; the Ooni Karu 12 runs about $549 and your first dinner party isn't booked yet.
Everyday cooking workhorses
The appliances that do actual weeknight work. The Ninja FlexDrawer air fryer (around $350) and Panasonic's 27L flatbed microwave (around $295) headline here, but there's a $49 Russell Hobbs slow cooker for anyone furnishing a kitchen on a bond-refund budget, and the slow-Sunday end is covered by the $69.84 Amazon Basics dutch oven and an $83 Fityou sous vide circulator.



Coffee, tea and drinks
Where the budget quietly disappears. A pod machine like the Breville Nespresso Vertuo Pop costs around $98; the Barista Express Impress is around $794 and worth it only if you'll actually dial in the grind. The $96 Timemore C3S grinder is the cheapest real upgrade to your mornings, and the no-power brigade of a $27 Bodum Brazil French press, the $24 Primula moka pot and Hario's $31 cold-brew jug lives here too.



Blending, mixing and baking
Smoothies, soups, cakes and the occasional bread phase. A $79 Nutribullet 600W handles most of it; the KitchenAid Artisan (around $650 to $800) is for people who know they'll bake, and the Kenwood Chef XL at around $349 is the value play nobody mentions. Fresh pasta starts with the $97 Sur La Table crank roller, and the EasiYo yoghurt maker (around $47) needs nothing but boiling water.



Knives, prep and keeping food fresh
The unglamorous stuff that makes cooking less annoying. A $99 Stanley Rogers knife block covers a first kitchen perfectly well. Pair it with a $31 Hiware bamboo board and the Sistema Brilliance containers (around $45), and leftovers stop dying at the back of the fridge. Then the $23 OXO handheld mandoline, an $18.99 Sinnsally pull-cord chopper, the $14 HomeFashion scale and a $22 TempPro thermometer finish the job.



Whitegoods and getting organised
Full-size fridges and dishwashers mostly sell through Appliances Online, Harvey Norman and the Good Guys rather than Amazon. Both guides say so plainly, and the Midea benchtop dishwasher (around $549) is the rental-friendly exception. The pantry and fridge organisation guides cost almost nothing to act on; Kmart airtight containers run about $5 each.



Set up every room in the right order.
The room-by-room checklist we’d hand a mate on settlement day, with the verified pick for each job. One email, then we leave you alone.
Kitchen questions, answered straight
What should I buy first for a brand-new kitchen?
Start with the boring trio: a $55 Victorinox Fibrox chef's knife, a $49 Tefal Comfort Max frying pan and the Sistema Brilliance storage set at around $45. That's roughly $150 and covers most weeknight cooking. Appliances can follow once you know how you actually cook in the new place.
Is an expensive coffee machine worth it for a first home?
Only if you'll use it daily and don't mind a learning curve. The Breville Barista Express Impress (around $794) makes genuinely good espresso, but the $98 Vertuo Pop pod machine gets most people through the renovation months. Buy the grinder first either way: the Timemore C3S is about $96 and improves whatever machine you end up with.
Air fryer or microwave first?
Microwave, narrowly, because reheating leftovers is daily life and the LG NeoChef 23L runs around $219. Add an air fryer in month two; the Philips Essential at about $185 to $210 suits one or two people who specifically want the compact footprint, though the similarly-priced Ninja Air Fryer Max (around $180) is worth comparing for its larger capacity, and the Ninja FlexDrawer (around $350) feeds a proper household. If the new place came with a decent oven, the air fryer can wait even longer.
I kitted out my first kitchen in one panicked weekend and used about half of it. Start with the essentials guide and let the bench fill slowly; the gadgets you skip now are the ones you'd be donating next year anyway.
Anish Puri, NestPathCERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.





