I recently bought some new knives for my new apartment. Some tips that worked for me:
-Buy knives a la carte rather than in a set. It might seem more expensive, but you'll have more discretion over your knives and you won't end up stuck with a bunch of knives you never use. If you get a chef's knife first and maybe a couple others, you can take your time about expanding your collection.
-Handle every knife you plan to buy. If the store will let you, do some mock chopping on one of their cutting boards. If you want to keep this knife forever, make sure it feels good in your hand. And keep in mind that just because one knife in a line feels good doesn't mean that a different-sized knife will work as well for you.
-Quality is obviously key, but other people can probably chime in better than I on that subject.
-For knife storage, I recently purchased a
kapoosh. I'm not positive I love it yet, but it's very cool and is working out well so far.