10 Great Ideas for Housewarming Gifts

Looking for a housewarming gift?

1. Start them out right with the New Homeowner’s Gift Kit, including the New Homeowner’s Handbook, a one-year subscription to Money magazine and a cute house keychain for those bright-and-shining new keys.
2. What about a pair of fine champagne flutes, so the lucky couple can celebrate when you’ve gone and left them to enjoy their new home together?
3. … or a journal or memory box, to preserve a precious record of this domestic adventure?
4. Okay, this idea may not be terribly pretty or terribly romantic, but if you love someone and want to keep them safe in their new home… a smoke detector makes a truly thoughtful gift.DuPont makes self-charging smoke alarm, so no need to remember to change the batteries. It plugs right into any ceiling-mounted light fixture, and then you screw the lightbulb back in to a socket in the smoke detector, couldn’t be easier or more convenient.

5. 
   

   …or a subscription to a luscious lifestyle magazine full of ideas for a beautiful home — browse at the local newsagent’s or bookstore, and you’ll find a glossy publication to suit any taste and price range.

6. If she likes it hot, and he wants to sleep in a bracing-cold room, why not keep the peace by giving one of those electric blankets with dual controls: each can set the temperature to suit their own preferences, and keep harmony in the new home!



7. Since the Pretty Useful Tools I adore are, sadly, not yet available in North American stores, you can always give Ms. Fix-It this 30-piece Tool kit — “man’s quality tools, made for a woman” (cough, cough!). Tough but pretty-in-purple, with the basic tools for doing those all-important DIY home repairs or just hanging pictures.

8. 

   If you feel confident that you know the new homeowner’s sense of humor, a whimsical welcome mat for the mudroom floor is always welcome.

   As an avid animal lover, I once received the great gift of a sturdy door mat that said “Please Wipe Your Paws” — and another one way much more elegant, all fascinating Celtic knots in rough brown coco fibre — both mats lasted for years of hard use…

   

9. “Bless This Home” with a sweet Garden Angel figurine, or a traditional Pennsylvania-made Haus-Segan hex sign for indoor or outdoor display.
10. Food! Moving into new home is an exciting experience, but it’s also just about as exhausting as giving birth to twins — so who wants to plan meals or cook? Bring on the home-cooked goodies to heat and serve!