As to kitchen knives....you don't need a big set with 10 different knives. Just buy a good chefs knife and a boning knife and a pearing knife and you're good for damn near everything you need.

Beyond that you can get a bread knife if you ever do up bread you'd need one for, and a cheese knife if you slice your own cheese. I highly recommend you get knives that the blade goes from tip to heel, and avoid ones with an unsharpened/flat heel area.

Then you want a decent wet stone to keep em sharp and learn to use it. Just get a combination 500/1000 (ish) grit and a 2000 grit and that's plenty for a kitchen knife. Then get a honing steel and you'll only have to sharpen your knives a couple times a year.

Also, if you're a home cook with no aspirations of becoming a professional chef or hosting huge meals all the time, no reason to break the bank buying something like a $200 chefs knife. Victorinox makes a perfectly fine dishwasher safe chefs knife for like $40. If you're happy with hand washing and drying a knife right after you use it, go for a high carbon knife instead. They get sharper and stay sharp longer but the added care may not be worth it to you.