As someone who writes about and reviews automotive gubbins, tools, and outdoor gear, homeware does not usually feature on my work to-do list. But in a timely scenario, I moved house recently and was offered a Noah’s Box to review just before I did.
Like most of us, I still spend a lot of time using cookware, cutlery, bedding, and other various household items and therefore know what is good and what isn’t. I accepted and was pleasantly surprised at what turned up.
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Recommended
Noahnoahsbox.com
What is a Noah’s Box?
Founded on the premise of time and cost-saving, Noah popped up in 2018 (not 2446 BC) initially offering a Student Kit consisting of all the homeware essentials that students require, from cutlery to bedding. Today, there is a range of starter kit boxes from Noah. The Kitchen and Baking kits are more specific, while the Student and Home Mover kits contain a wider range of products.
Which kit did you test?
Appropriately, I tested one of the Home Mover kits - the £279 Premium kit made up of more than 90 items from pots and bedding, to towels and scissors (see the full list of items here).
How did you test the kit?
Since moving in late July, my partner and I have been using the kit items every day, as one normally would.
Trying and testing
I decided to approach this kit armed with the same principles I carry when testing tools, automotive, and outdoor gear. That is, we all like value, and £279 for almost 100 essential household items is, but it should by no means be the most important factor. The items in the kit need to be durable and useable, not some tat lifted from a clearance bin of a budget homeware store.
Before I jump to how good the kit was, I would like to point out that while hauling two enormous boxes up to a fourth-floor apartment on your own is a battle, having your other half wake up to the surprise is very worthwhile.
I was surprised. Everything in the kit - the bedding, the towels, the cutlery, the pots, even the pizza cutter - is of a high standard. The non-stick aluminium Haden pots, in particular, stand out for this because pots often suffer from sub-par build quality, with flimsy handles and non-stick coatings that last five minutes. Not the case, here.
The stoneware crockery is heavy and solid. It'll last as long as you and then some, provided you don't drop any of it.
My other half was very impressed with the comfort of the bedding too - and she insisted I make special mention of it.
What’s to like about Noah?
Other than consisting of items of genuinely good quality, the idea itself is a very good one. For yourself or as a gift for others, the kits take a lot of hassle out of moving house or away from home, for example.
Noah also plants a tree for each kit sold. While that doesn’t exactly offset the manufacturing of nearly 100 items, it’s 100 times better than nothing. Additionally, for every 20 kits sold, Noah donates one to the YMCA.
What’s not to like about Noah?
It sounds extraordinarily lazy to say so and it annoys me, but there’s not much to criticise about the Noah kits. There was plenty of plastic packaging, but it is all recyclable. And it is worth mentioning that while the kit starts at £279, if you want double or king-sized bedding, the price bumps up to £294 and £320, respectively.
A company could always do better in terms of sustainability, but Noah is a reasonably new company still establishing itself, sort of like those trees it planted. It shows intent with its efforts thus far, and will hopefully improve further as time goes on.
Verdict
Recommended
Noahnoahsbox.com
The Noah kits are a novel idea that work superbly in practice because they consist of useful, quality items. The Home Mover Premium Kit bears all the necessities and then some (pizza cutter and garlic crusher, for example), which certainly makes a move much easier, particularly to a first home, and I thoroughly recommend it as a potential option. It, therefore, gains very high marks.
Score: 4.5/5
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Chris Williams is a contributor to What's The Best. He also writes for CAR and Parkers.
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