When you move away from home for the first time to university, it can prove to be a daunting prospect. Even more so when you must pack up your childhood bedroom and figure out what to leave behind and what to take. Very tough for us hoarders out there.
Mostly though, you’ll end up taking a lot of stuff you don’t need, even when your parents have given you a list of essential things to stick to that are vital to your survival.
Noah’s Box is here to save the freshers out there struggling to figure out what kitchen equipment they need to cook their first meals, or even what bedding to pick for your student halls or house. Noah's Student Starter Pack could potentially save several trips with a car crammed full of junk because you can get the big box full of essential homeware items delivered directly to your new student digs.
Here at What’s The Best, we’ve checked out what’s inside the Noah’s Box Student Starter Pack and put it to the test. Read on to find out what we thought.
noahsbox.com
What is a Noah’s Box?
Founded on the premise of time and cost-saving, Noah Box 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?
I put the OG Noah’s Box Student Starter Pack to the test, filled to the brim with over 65 items (see the full list of items here). I basically could have arrived at student halls with just a backpack of clothes and a framed photo of my dog.
The Student Kit starts from £179 and go up to £209 if you choose the premium options. You can also pick and choose from premium extras, like stainless steel cookware and a white waffle duvet cover, which I opted for.
What did you like about Noah’s Box Student Starter Pack?
First impressions when two enormous boxes arrived on my doorstep and the delivery person didn’t try to help me indoors with it, was, this is a two-person job. You’re going to need your new roommate to help you lift it up the stairs, or if you’re lucky, carry it to the elevator.
Once the initial sweat droplets from heaving the boxes inside dried up, I was able to tear them open and see what was inside. The double duvet cover and bedding was neatly tucked up in one box – handy to set aside for my bedroom as I opened up the second larger box.
Mostly made up of kitchen equipment, the item I rated the most was the box of 12 utensils that are usually so difficult to find separately and end up costing a fortune when you’re out shopping for the utensils yourself.
I didn't really need instructions for any of the equipment in the box, but a great touch for students who may not know what to even cook in the kitchen was a small booklet of simple recipe ideas all with QR codes you scan that takes you to the website.
What didn’t you like about Noah’s Box Student Starter Pack?
The only item I had a slight issue with was the size of the bath towel, it wasn’t large enough for me personally, and ended up feeling quite short if I was to use it to cover my modesty on the dash back from a shared bathroom. Perhaps as with the bed linen choices, it may be worth having towel sizes to pick from.
As we look more at ways to be sustainable and eco-friendly, I would be amiss not to mention the amount of packaging. Understandably some of it is needed to protect the pans from scratching, but the baking tray was the only item wrapped in paper, it made me wonder why the whole box wasn’t padded with recycled shredded paper or cardboard.
Even then it would probably be possible to reduce the amount of cardboard and wrapping left over once I’d unpacked all the items. Those trips to empty the rubbish at student halls can certainly be a pain for us lazy ones out here, but then keeping the box itself to repack my belongings when I move again is a plus.
However, it’s worth taking into consideration that Noah’s Box also plants a tree for each kit sold, so it does offset the manufacturing of nearly 100 items in a small but beneficial way. Add to this for every 20 kits sold, Noah’s Box donates one to the YMCA, it is clear the company is considering different ways to give back.
How I tested Noah’s Box Student Starter Pack
There are probably two types of people: those who take the bedding out of the packet and put it straight on the bed, or those who wash it first in their own laundry detergent before making their bed.
I did fall into the first category, but the bedding had a slight smell from being in plastic and if you are sensitive to any type of material, it’s probably easier to wash it yourself first. If you’re an impatient student with only one set of bedding (no matter that your parents told you to take a spare) then whack on those sheets and cosy up.
The 10.5 tog duvet is of such good quality, I was seriously impressed, certainly thick and warm enough for those cold rooms if you have no heating. There are simply no cutting corners with a Noah’s Box, even if the initial price tag of £179 may seem like a steep lump sum when compared to what you save if you’d bought everything in the box separately (according to Noah it’s around 40 per cent), it is affordable and still of high quality.
The simple white dining set for two including bowls, side plates, dinner plates, glasses and mugs, will make you feel like an adult in your student halls, and I wouldn’t blame you if you kept them hidden in your room so they didn’t get smashed, as I thoroughly enjoyed serving food in them.
Perhaps the most essential of all the items is a good set of sharp knives and a chopping board that come in handy for chopping up vegetables, slicing and draining meat thanks to the groove in the wooden board.
Every single item in the box was used and tested throughout day-to-day life, can’t find a pair of scissors? Noah’s Box has it checked for you. Tea towels, a colander, a pair of oven gloves and of course plastic containers to stuff your leftover takeaway curries in so you can have it for breakfast the next day.
Verdict
Honestly, I can’t fault Noah’s Box. Aside from figuring out how to get the box up to your room in student halls if you’re on a higher floor, the fact it can be sent straight there means less hassle for you and probably your parents.
The bedding options are gender-neutral and whether you opt for plain or patterned, it’s a great way to add a touch of personal style in a simple way when you settle into your room which often tends to be pretty lifeless. As I mentioned above, the bath towel would need to be bigger, but they are definitely very soft and not scratchy to use.
If you’re moving house on a budget or heading to student halls, buying a Noah’s Box kit ahead of time and scheduling it for when you arrive is a no-brainer. Starting from scratch when you’re probably going to be lugging everything around with you to each new house you move into with your uni pals will be of huge benefit in the long term.
4.5/5
noahsbox.com
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Natalie Corner is the Deputy Commercial Content Editor for Bauer Media, working across brands such as What’s The Best, Yours, Mother&Baby, Heat and Closer, specialising in lifestyle and fitness content.
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