Free printable
Home Inventory Checklist: Free Printable
By Jason Su · Updated September 18, 2026
A home inventory is two things: photographs of your rooms, and a list of what is in them. Both take about thirty minutes. The one rule that matters more than any other: keep the finished inventory somewhere other than your home. A careful list that burns in the same fire as the belongings it describes is worth nothing.
Why the list has to leave the house
This is the single most common mistake. People spend a weekend photographing every room and filing the pictures away on a laptop — in the house. When the house is lost, so is the documentation, and the insurance claim becomes a series of guesses.
Three places that work:
- A cloud account you can open from anywhere
- A copy with a relative
- The same fireproof safe as your other important papers — as a second copy, never the only one
See where to store important documents for the general approach.
What to record for each item
Five things, and the middle three are the ones people skip:
- What it is — in enough detail to distinguish it
- Brand and model — this is what sets the replacement value
- Serial or model number — photograph the label; it turns a claim from an argument into a formality
- Roughly when you bought it — age affects how claims are settled
- What you paid — or what it would cost to replace
Photograph everything. A picture of the inside of a drawer is worth more than any description. Two kinds of photos matter most: the room as a whole (to show quantity and layout) and the serial-number label on anything valuable.
The sheet
Rooms to cover
Tick as you finish each one. Most homes are done in six to eight visits of about twenty minutes.
- Living room
- Kitchen and pantry
- Dining room
- Primary bedroom
- Other bedrooms
- Bathrooms
- Home office
- Basement or attic
- Garage or shed
- Outdoor and patio
- Storage unit
- Collections (art, instruments, jewellery, tools)
High-value items
Anything worth over a few hundred dollars belongs here, even if it also appears in a room list.
| Item | Brand / model | Serial number | Bought | Paid | Replacement cost | Photo # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Room: ______________________
| Item | Brand / model | Serial number | Bought | Value | Photo # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Room: ______________________
| Item | Brand / model | Serial number | Bought | Value | Photo # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Things that are easy to forget
Tick these once you have photographed them — they are the ones most often left out of a claim.
- Contents of the freezer and pantry
- Clothing (by the closet, not item by item)
- Bedding and towels
- Kitchen appliances and cookware
- Tools and lawn equipment
- Holiday decorations
- Books, records, and media
- Sports and hobby equipment
- Items stored in a garage or shed
- Anything in a storage unit
- Items already stored at someone else’s home
Where I keep this inventory
| Copy | Location | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud | ||
| Paper | ||
| With whom |
The thirty-minute method
You do not need to catalogue every fork. Do this instead:
- Walk the house with your phone and film a slow video of each room. Open the closets and drawers as you go. That alone covers a large share of a typical claim.
- Photograph the serial-number labels on the big items — appliances, electronics, tools, bike frames, instruments.
- Write down only the high-value items using the table above. Twenty to forty lines covers most households.
- Add up your estimate and check it against your policy’s coverage limits. A mismatch is worth knowing about before a claim, not during one.
- Store a copy outside the house and tell one person where the copies are.
- Redo the video once a year — a two-minute refresh catches everything you bought since.
Frequently asked
Do I really need a written list if I have photos?
Photos prove what you had. The list proves what it was worth. Insurers want both, and the list is what makes the settlement a calculation rather than a negotiation.
How detailed should it be?
Detailed enough that a stranger could replace the item. “Television” is not enough. “Samsung 55-inch, bought 2022, serial photographed” is.
Should I include receipts?
If you have them, keep them with the list. If you do not — most people do not — a photo of the item plus a model number does most of the work.
What about collections or antiques?
Those usually need a separate appraisal. A standard policy may cap coverage for jewellery, art, and collectibles well below what they are worth. Ask your insurer what the limits are.
How often should I update it?
Once a year is enough for the video. Update the written list when you buy something significant. See how to review your plan once a year.
Does renters insurance need this too?
Yes — arguably more, because renters’ belongings are the entire claim. The method is identical. See the insurance policy tracker for keeping track of what you hold.
Next step
Film one room today. Not the whole house — one room, on your phone, with the drawers open. That single habit is the difference between a claim that takes a week and one that takes six months.
Then store the video somewhere outside the house, record where the copy lives, and add your policy details to the Insurance Policy Tracker.
This is a blank record sheet, not insurance advice. Coverage limits, depreciation, and claim requirements vary by policy and by insurer — please confirm details with your insurer and keep receipts for anything significant.