As we get older, it seems like one friend or another is buying a home or moving to a new apartment every week. If you’re soon headed to a housewarming party, you’ll want to make sure you find a gift that will be both heartfelt and practical and this list is sure to help you narrow it down.
Make it Customized
Put in a little extra effort and surprise your new home-owning friends with some personalized gifts that will blend perfectly with their decor. Whether it’s wall art with their names on it, a photo of them printed on a canvas, or some customized pillows for the couch, this is a heartfelt idea they’re sure to love.
House Upkeep
Moving into a new place means new upkeep essentials, and you can take the stress off of your friend’s back for the first month. If they’ve got a lawn to work with, buy them a month’s worth of gardening or landscaping services that will make their yard look its best right after they move in. They may also not be ready to pull out the mop and broom right after sending the U-Haul away, so gift them with a certificate for a cleaning service to make sure the house is as spick and span as it was when they moved in.
A Streaming Service
Help your friends take a load off of working a long week with a subscription to a streaming service that will make movie nights better than before. Whether it’s Netflix, Hulu, or SlingTV, you can find a streaming package that you know your friends will love—whether they’re sports junkies or comedy lovers.
Address Labels
Now that they’re in a new place with a new address, you can make all of their mailing needs a lot easier with a thoughtful personalized address stamp. Sites like Threedesigningwomen.com offer a bevy of customizable stamp options with different graphics and fonts. You can have their names monogrammed along with their address to make their letter sending easier than ever before.
Alcohol with a Twist
While it’s common to bring a bottle of wine or liquor to a housewarming occasion, you can do one better and really impress your friends with a unique but practical item. The Bar10der is an awesome do-it-all bartending tool, designed to help you make any cocktail or spirit combination your heart desires. If your friends are spirit lovers, this is the gift you need to get. This 10-in-one tool boasts a reamer, strainer, jigger, zester, muddler, and more (if you didn’t know what all those terms were, don’t worry because I didn’t either until I found this product). They’ll be bartending aficionados in no time, and you’ll be the one to thank.
A Night of Destressing
Moving is stressful, there’s no way around it, so help your friends work out some of the tension with a gift certificate to a local spa. You can tie the gift certificate to the neck of a wine bottle with a little congratulatory tag for a relaxing treat that they’ll definitely enjoy.
A Cheesy Gift
If they’re going to be entertaining a lot—and I am assuming they will since they are throwing a housewarming shindig—make sure they’re prepared with the perfect cheese board. Every entertainer needs a great one, and you can go above and beyond by getting it etched with their last name or their monogram. Make the present even more useful by providing a selection of dried meats and cheeses to make their first setup easy—they might even spread it out for action at the housewarming party.
A New Community
If your friends have moved to a community and are looking to get involved, grab them a gift certificate to a local event or class that they can take part in. It could be a six-week painting course, a boot camp you know they’ll love, or a gift certificate to a local restaurant hot spot. Any of these ideas will help them get their feet wet in their new area, and make the move even more seamless.
Skip the Grocery Store
The last thing they’re going to want to do after unpacking boxes is head to the store and bring home groceries, so save them some time and compile a bunch of local take out menus. Place them all in this hilarious but practical takeout menu holder from Modcloth.com. This is a great idea for those of us searching for housewarming gifts on a budget, and it will definitely come in handy on the nights where even turning on the oven sounds like way too much work.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
