StowcaseLiving room
Usually the single most valuable room, and the one to do first.
Home inventory checklist
Work down the list one room at a time. The checkboxes are not saved, so use this as a session worksheet or print it. Keep the permanent record in the app.
For every item
Eight things, and four of them are optional.
- ✓What it is in terms specific enough to re-buy it, including brand, model, size, and finish
- ✓Which room it is in
- ✓How many, where there is more than one
- ✓Serial number, on anything that carries one
- ✓What it would cost to replace new, today
- ✓What you paid and roughly when, where you know
- ✓Condition, if it is not simply working and undamaged
- ✓A receipt, appraisal, warranty, or photo of the serial plate, if one exists
In Stowcase, photographing the item fills in most of these before you type anything, and the room stays selected between saves so a room is one continuous pass. The reasoning behind the order is in the main home inventory guide.
Room by room
Eight passes through a house.
Rooms are ordered by value returned per hour spent. Start at the top; the garage will still be there.
Kitchen and dining
Appliances feel like part of the building. They are not.
Bedrooms
Open the jewelry box and the closet. That is where the value is.
Home office
The room with the most serial numbers per square foot.
Bathrooms and laundry
Short list, quick win, frequently skipped entirely.
Garage, basement, attic, and shed
Takes the longest, hides the most, and is where an inventory usually dies. Do it on a separate day.
Outdoors
Check whether your policy covers these at all, and under which section.
Collections and specialty
The categories most likely to exceed a policy sub-limit. Appraise, do not guess.
Almost always missed
The ten that never make the first pass.
Once the house is listed, the insurance guide explains what to do with the totals, especially for categories that may hit a policy sub-limit.
Keep reading
The rest of the home inventory guides
Home inventory: what, why, and how
The whole idea in one page: what belongs in a home inventory, why an undocumented claim gets paid at the adjuster’s number instead of yours, and the room-by-room method that gets it finished.
Home inventory for insurance
What an adjuster actually asks for, how replacement cost differs from what you paid, which categories hit a policy sub-limit, and how to produce a schedule you can email.
Moving inventory list
Number the boxes, record what went in each one, and arrive with a list that settles a damage claim against a mover instead of an argument.
Estate inventory
List and value household contents for probate, an executor, or a family division while keeping one clear record.
Home inventory template
A spreadsheet template with the exact column names Stowcase reads, so a list you already keep imports in bulk instead of being retyped.
Start your inventory