Use this as a prompt list while walking through the house. The point is not to record everything on it — it is to stop you from forgetting an entire category.
Living room and family room
Television and mounts, streaming devices, sound bar or receiver, speakers, gaming consoles and games, sofas and sectionals, armchairs, coffee and side tables, bookcases, books, area rugs, curtains and blinds, lamps, wall art and framed prints, mirrors, plants and planters, fireplace tools, board games.
Kitchen and dining
Refrigerator, range, oven, microwave, dishwasher, small appliances — coffee machine, stand mixer, blender, air fryer, toaster — cookware and bakeware sets, knives, dishes, glassware, flatware including silver, serving pieces, dining table and chairs, sideboard, table linens, wine and spirits, pantry contents as a batch.
Primary bedroom
Bed frame and mattress, dressers and nightstands, bedding and linens, television, jewelry and watches, handbags, sunglasses, perfume, clothing by category, shoes by category, safe and its contents, luggage, closet systems.
Other bedrooms and children's rooms
Beds and mattresses, desks and chairs, dressers, computers and tablets, instruments, toys and hobby collections, sports equipment, books, decor.
Home office
Desktop and laptop computers, monitors, printers and scanners, docking stations, desk and chair, filing cabinets, network gear including router and mesh nodes, uninterruptible power supply, cameras and lenses, microphones, external drives, software licenses, office supplies as a batch.
Bathrooms
Hair styling tools, electric razors and toothbrushes, scales, towels and linens, cabinets and shelving, decor. Small individually, meaningful as a group.
Laundry and utility
Washer, dryer, laundry racks and baskets, iron and board, vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners, water filtration, shelving, cleaning supplies as a batch.
Garage, workshop and shed
This is the room people underestimate by the largest margin:
- Hand tools, socket and wrench sets
- Power tools — drills, saws, sanders, compressors, welders
- Workbenches, tool chests, shop vacuum
- Lawn mower, trimmer, blower, snow blower, generator
- Ladders, wheelbarrow, hoses, sprinklers
- Bicycles, roof racks, car care equipment, spare tires and wheels
- Garden furniture in winter storage, grill and smoker
- Paint, fasteners, lumber and consumables as a batch
Attic, basement, crawl space and off-site storage
Holiday decorations, stored furniture, camping and hunting gear, water and ski equipment, out-of-season clothing, archived documents, family memorabilia, deep freezer and its contents, shelving. Do not forget a rented storage unit — it is usually covered under the same policy at a reduced limit, and it is invisible during a walkthrough of the house.
Outdoor
Patio furniture and cushions, umbrellas, outdoor rugs, fire pit, grill, planters, statuary, outdoor lighting, play equipment, trampoline, above-ground pool and pump, hot tub, security cameras, mailbox and address hardware.
Cross-cutting categories worth a dedicated sweep
| Category | Why it is missed |
|---|---|
| Musical instruments | Stored in cases, out of sight |
| Collections — coins, stamps, cards, vinyl | Value concentrated in small volume; often scheduled |
| Firearms | Kept in a safe, low theft sub-limit |
| Art and antiques | Value depends on provenance, not appearance |
| Business equipment used at home | May be excluded from residential contents entirely |
| Items on loan to family | Still yours, rarely in the house during the walkthrough |
How to use the list without drowning
Walk each room with the checklist open, photograph broadly, itemize what is over your threshold, and batch the rest. Then look at the cross-cutting table above and ask which of those six lines applies to your household — that question alone tends to recover several thousand dollars of coverage that would otherwise have gone unrecorded.