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Good gifts to give at a housewarming

I threw a dinner party at the end of August to christen my new home. I had no desire to wake up to a stinky dirty house the next day, filled with empty beer bottles, cigarette butts floating in glasses of wine or that my freshly varnished, white wooden floor no longer be white. So I decided to move the party outside to my garden. Not imagining that my dinner would end with the neighbours complaining about noise, or that it would get cold outside so eventually we moved the whole thing back inside for some music and dancing. Yep, the floor was black and I’m still finding corks and beer bottle tops around. Anyway that aside.

Peggy already wrote an article about what to take with you when you visit someone, read it here. I’m about to give you some tips on housewarming gifts.

Light

Candles are always good. But take note, not everyone appreciates a scented candle and coloured candles can be tricky. I find that those white paper lanterns always do well. And guess what: they’re affordable.

A Good scent

This hand soap from Skins Cosmetics smells just like a fancy hotel or restaurant. It’s not cheap and I find it one step too far buying it for myself. That’s why it’s so much fun to receive it. It is a big bottle so goes a long way and they also have a hand cream in the same scent.

storage

Baskets, also not something you buy for yourself very often. Yes, sometimes when I get home I think: “Mmm, I could use a handy little basket for this.”, but when I’m in the shop staring at the baskets I never know what I want or what to do with them or if I want to spend money on one.

On the couch

Anna + Nina is my favourite store for buying gifts (for myself). They have really cute plates, posters for walls, bedclothes, candle holders and lovely cushions. In all different colours. I reckon you could make many people happy with these.

 in the kitchen

If you pool resources you could buy a big present. Logical. And since you’re way out there if you’re not drinking green smoothies in the morning, a juicer is a great gift idea.

  1. Star lantern, €9,95, Anna-nina.nl
  2. Basket from Bangladesh, €14, Hema
  3.  Reverence Aromatique Hand Wash, €31, Aesop via skins.nl
  4. Pink cushion IKAT, €29,95, Anna-nina.nl
  5. Philips Sapcentrifuge Avance, €209,95, Philips via debijenkorf.nl