So, you know someone who just moved? How exciting! It’s like all the excitement of getting a new place, with none of the expenses and hassle of packing and moving - you can experience the thrill vicariously. When someone new moves into the area or if your friend has a new home, stopping by to say hello with a small housewarming gift is the nice thing to do. The thing is, everyone brings flowers or candles or wine as housewarming gifts, but none of these are particularly useful. (You can give me the wine, however!) Here are some ideas for housewarming gifts that are sure to be welcomed and practical.
1. An Address Stamp
How about a new address stamp for the individuals or family that just moved? A self-inking rubber stamp is a wonderful way to help the homeowner tell people that they have a new place to send their mail. And they make these things really cool nowadays with all sorts of options for font, layout, and ink color. This is a gift that a homeowner can actually use.
2. A Prepared Dinner
If we’re talking truly useful, a gift of one or more prepared, warm-up-ready dinners can be a lifesaver to a new homeowner. Look, when you’ve been unpacking boxes and possibly containing unruly children and/or pets all day, the last thing you want to do is forage through your unfamiliar kitchen to cook something for dinner. Takeout is great, but that gets expensive. That’s where you, gift-giver, come in. Whip up a family-sized dish of lasagna, or something else that everyone loves (find out if there are any vegetarians or people with special diets in the house), add some bagged salad and a frozen dessert, and you are automatically the greatest person ever.
3. Home Fire Extinguisher
In terms of practical gifts that the recipient may not have already, consider a home-sized fire extinguisher. The National Fire Protection Association predicts that most people will face five home fires in their life (ask me about the time my best friend’s twins set the kitchen trash can on fire making toast), so this is a gift that could literally save lives. Of course the hope is that they will never have to use the present, but it’s still a great choice.
These are just a handful of ideas for great housewarming gifts for the new homeowner in your life. It’s important to think outside the box when it comes to this sort of housewarming present, because usually everyone has the same idea, and you can’t do much with six bouquets or potted zinneas and twelve Yankee Candles.
