The Best Housewarming Gifts for New Homeowners
Moving somewhere is an occasion for some personal renewal while setting down new roots in a promising new place. The downside to it all is having to make a new home actually feel like home. That’s where you come in, the well-intentioned friend or relative that wants to ease their loved one into their house as seamlessly as possible. Your intentional gift can do just that. We offer some tips on the best housewarming gifts for new homeowners, and we split them into categories ranging from ways to show them their new community to gifts meant to last forever.
Near-Future Necessities
The time people most need items is the first week or two after moving. This is when their favorite skillet to cook eggs with is buried in a box beneath five other boxes, among many other things they’re accustomed to. Sure, everything’s been moved, but it still feels like they came there with nothing but the clothes on their backs and what little they can get from boxes. As they figure out unpacking, give them the gift of a grocery store gift card, a new cooking appliance, or whip up a meal for them yourself. A gift card helps them get on top of their food situation while giving them some help getting other necessities such as garbage bags, tissues, and maybe diapers. A new appliance, such as a rice cooker, gives them immediate means to make their food themselves now and opens up a creative way to cook in the future too. Gifting them with your best homecooked meal is an especially loving way to welcome them to their new home—make enough for leftovers too so that it can last! The smell of cooked food is enough to lighten the feel of an unknown place and take the burden of cooking off their plate as they focus on unpacking. A bottle of wine to top it all off doesn’t hurt either.
Forever Fixtures
You can also get them a gift that will last them years. Present them with a piece of cookware or home décor, and you may see it used or displayed every time you visit. One great option is a sentimental item that reminds them of their previous home or even childhood home. If they’re just settling down for the first time, a gift that hearkens back to their parents’ home would help them make their new home their own. This could be anything from a certain framed print to that tiered serving tray their mother insisted on dragging out every holiday. If they’re more-so sad to be leaving, a framed picture of their old house or neighbors would do. Otherwise, there are many unique home gifts you can pick from. You can get them a colorful wreath for their door to show off to the neighborhood, or you can buy beautiful decorative books to dress up their shelves and end tables. A classic clock, or a specially designed table lamp, would also make for a nice gift. Quinn’s Mercantile can help you find these and many, many more home décor accessories that set your loved one’s home apart and get them feeling settled.
A Key to the Community
While you can’t get them the actual key to the city (though you may, I don’t really know), you can get them a meal or favorite item from an essential local business. Take them out for a tour and a meal, or get them a hefty gift card—both options will do just fine. If you do take them out to eat, that’ll give them social time that they may be missing if they’re too far from other people they know. You can even take the time to painstakingly write a little book of which stores offer the best kitchenware, the cheapest meat, or the most on-point decorations. When you’re writing the restaurant section, mark each place’s well-known dishes, what to watch out for, and any specific oddities. Tailor it to what they like. They’ll appreciate the deeply personal gesture and it’ll help them navigate much better than anonymous Internet reviews can. Once you give them a way to start getting to know their new community, they’ll feel much more comfortable and begin to branch out themselves.
A Tech Toy
Another good housewarming gift idea for new homeowners is a piece of tech they can use to smarten up their house. Many tech innovations have become mainstream in the home. Some headliners include alarm and home surveillance devices, smart speakers, and easy-to-use smart thermostats. The key here is that certain devices have become cheap enough that if you gift them to a new homeowner you won’t have to foreclose on your house in the process. Gifting them a security system gives them peace of mind in an area they don’t have a familiarity with yet. A smart speaker helps a new homeowner organize their hectic life with calendar features, and it can offer up soothing tunes for the lows of the moving-in process. And who doesn’t need a simpler thermostat in their life? Choosing a tech toy for a new homeowner is only bound by how imaginative you are, so intentionally seek one out for their personal use.
Practical Pieces
A functional gift is something no one will say no to. If you know your loved one is moving from a small apartment to a bigger house, you know they’ll need things to fill out their currently-bare rooms. Consider their style (and maybe straight-up ask them about what they want), then consider getting a practical piece for them. You can go with an end table perfect for use near a couch or a shelf so that they can finally display and easily access all their books. If you want to get more practical, purchase a desk for at-home work or a shoe storage bench ideal for placement in their front room. You can even go smaller. You can buy any number of cleaning products, ranging from a solid broom to a toilet brush. These may sound insufficient, but these are exactly the gifts no one gives but people need at some point. Make sure when “at some point” arrives, they already have a toilet brush and other necessities on hand to help move into the future in their home.
