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Here’s an uncomfortable truth about housewarming gifts: their giver is motivated 10% by kindness and 90% by an excuse to drop by and scope out the new place. I have a life goal of seeing every apartment in New York City, so if I turn up on your doorstep with a candle, know that my curiosity probably outweighs my generosity.
Maybe you’re shopping for a loved one who's setting up a kitchen in their first home (they’ll need a coffee maker, stat). Or maybe you're trying to solidify a spot at every elaborate dinner party the Premier Host of your friend group throws in their new apartment (trendy napkins or a downtown-chic set of cutlery should do the trick).
Whatever the situation, sending a dependable cast-iron skillet or a powerful blender will make you a part of your friend’s new home and the meals they cook in it, even when you’re not invited to dinner. Fingers crossed you get invited to dinner a lot, though. Below, you’ll find a list of housewarming gift ideas that will add life and color to the new space.
- A blender that’s pretty enough to live on the countertop: Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender, $99 on Amazon
- An affordable gift that will last a lifetime: Victoria 12-inch Cast-Iron Skillet, $25 on Amazon
- Practical-but-cute dish towels: Food52 Waffle Dish Towels, set of 3, $28 at Food52
- A beautiful wooden cutting board: Sonder Acacia Wood Cutting Board, $70 on Amazon
- A cozy baking dish: Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware Square Baker in Nectar, $100 at Williams Sonoma
Colorful dinner napkins
A silver lining to the dark, stormy hellscape that is moving? You can get rid of your grease-stained napkins and not-so-subtly hint to anyone within earshot that you want replacements as a housewarming gift. If you’re the one giving the napkins, you can choose a whole new personality for your gift recipient with just a few squares of cloth. Will their kitchen vibe turn cottagecore after you give them a checkered linen napkin? Or will vibrant pink and red stripes lead them down a maximalist-meets-Barbiecore path? Only you can decide.
Baking dishes
If you want to gift a classic piece of cookware from a trusted brand, but don’t want to splurge on a Dutch oven, the baking dish from luxury cookware brand Le Creuset is a great alternative. It comes in more than 12 colors, and can be used for everything from Thanksgiving sides to breakfast casseroles and one-pot oven dinners. Plus, a few other fun baking dish options.
A fancy bottle of olive oil
This olive oil is worth the hype—it ranked highly in our staff olive oil taste test—and the bottle is pretty enough that it doubles as a home decor gift. Or opt for an olive oil, honey, and vinegar gift box, complete with a chic pour spout fitted for the ceramic cruet.
A trusted piece of cookware
A cast-iron skillet is such an essential kitchen tool,ti’s the one I’d take to a desert island (good luck to me, hauling all eight pounds of it there). In our product test, Victoria has repeatedly usurped the popular favorite, Lodge. For an upgrade that’s perfect for vintage cast-iron fans, go for the Lancaster skillet, which mimics the smooth surfaces found on classic cast-iron cookware.
A bucket of sea salt
Is the Maldon bucket cliché at this point? Even if it is, something as genuinely useful and delightfully playful as a three-year-supply* of finishing salt is a gift that never goes out of style.
*Depending, of course, on frequency of use, but that’s how long it took to get through my last one, and I salt liberally and often.
A blender
Every new kitchen needs a blender. There’s power in the basics—especially if you’re giving a housewarming gift to someone moving into their first solo space, or friends who are brand-new homeowners. For apartment dwellers with limited space, Zwilling’s take on the personal blender is sleeker than most, and it performed in the top of its category when we tested blenders. For a more experienced cook looking to upgrade to the very best model, you can’t beat the Vitamix 5200.
A wooden cutting board
A sturdy wooden cutting board is truly multifunctional. This one is reversible, so you can go from prepping vegetables to serving a charcuterie board simply by flipping it over. The deep groove around the edge is also ideal for catching juices when you’re carving meat dishes.
A stunning new flatware set
Is it a little weird to choose somebody’s flatware for them? Maybe. But you can’t go wrong with a very classic set like the one below from Made In. For a splurge, the show stopping cutlery set from Sabre is perfect for the new owners of a mid-century house covered in warm mahogany, because you’re really happy for them and not at all jealous. Plus, find a few more economical-but-equally-cool suggestions below (including a set that's a bit of a dupe for the Sabre).
Stylish salt and pepper grinders
Last year we broke the important news that you might need more than one pepper grinder, so even if the new home-dweller in question already has a Peugeot, it doesn’t hurt to expand their repertoire. Go for a stylish set made from acacia wood, or choose a bold, color-blocked set for your friend who’s embracing kindercore.
A stand mixer
If you’re looking for something ultra-special to give a sibling or friend for their new house, you can’t beat a stand mixer—it’s the ultimate symbol of domesticity.
A classic salad bowl
This wave-shaped bowl is generously sized, which is essential for optimal salad tossing. It can also be used as a serving piece or fruit bowl, or as I prefer to use my wooden bowl: as a landing place for random clutter including but not limited to, unopened mail, chapstick, paper clips that came out of nowhere, and a lightly-used dish towel. Everyone needs one of these, probably.
Taper candles
Taper candles are a go-to housewarming gift because your host will eventually find an occasion to use them—plus, the whimsical colors and funky textures below will add instant cheer to a new space.
Fancy hand soap
The best host gifts are fancy versions of everyday things—it’s hard to justify buying $35 hand soap for yourself, but you’d be so excited to receive it as a gift. Cult scent house DS & Durga makes a hand soap version of their Big Sur After Rain scent, which evokes “rain on the Pacific coast.” Meanwhile, Aesop and Le Labo soaps have powers, not just of sanitation, but of establishing your bathroom as a Room of Note. With this soap on the sink, a room transcends bathroom, and moves to the elite tier of water closet. If I see it in your home, I will be giving myself a makeshift bath—you’ve been warned.
Dish towels
Dish towels are the perfect housewarming gift because you can never have enough of them,and they’re easy to lose in a move—just don’t opt for a dish towel that’s so pretty it can’t actually be used. The best sellers below achieve the perfect balance of style and function, which is what you want from something you’ll use to wipe up kitchen spills.
Silicone bags
The Stasher is the It-Girl of reusable bags. Even if the price point is a little annoying, these bags deserve their status because they’re durable and dishwasher-safe. If the new resident in question already has a few, there’s a good chance they’ll love having even more food storage options in their new house.
An emergency kit
It may sound like a bit of a downer gift, but should your host find themselves in a situation where they need to make use of an emergency kit (let’s hope they don’t!) they’ll be thankful that you showed up as the kooky prepper with the emergency kit at their housewarming party.
A fun serving platter
A serving platter is one of the enduring housewarming gifts for a reason, and you’ll find options to fit a variety of styles below. I find it so difficult to choose between the opulent vintage looks and the funky modern options below. Hopefully the person you’re shopping for has a more clearly defined sense of style.
Or a serving tray
May your best friend’s new home be filled with many breakfasts in bed, dinners in the living room in front of the TV, and parties featuring elegant trays full of cocktails. Make all their dreams possible with a great serving tray like the ones below.
A cheese board—and cheese to go with it
Here’s the move: Arrive at your friend’s new home with a stunning cheese board gift and the cheese to serve on top of it. It’s the perfect gift set for the selfish gift giver, because there’s always the hope that your friends might put the cheese out while you’re there.
A durable mat for their kitchen
Doormats are predictable housewarming gifts, but a vinyl floor mat for their kitchen? Inspired. This one is durable and easy-to-clean, and it looks like vintage tile work, so it can add a touch of classic French bistro to your home—no matter where it is.
A better coaster set
I’m convinced that coasters were actually invented by the Housewarming Gift Industrial Complex. No one has ever bought themselves a set of coasters in the history of time, but we all have them somehow. And good thing, because we need to respect wood.
Food-themed home decor
It’s not enough to eat food; we must incorporate its image into the very walls and surfaces that surround us. Get the forager in your life a mushroom-printed throw blanket. Encourage comfy martini sipping in the living room with an olive throw pillow. Or make the pasta girl in your life say that’s amore! with a poster that really sums up the whole vibe.
A small army of scented candles (and other ways to freshen a room)
Maybe your friend walked into a living situation with a strange, unplaceable odor. Maybe they love to cook fish. Maybe you’re just drawing a blank about who they even are and what they even like. When in doubt, get a candle. And when a candle doesn’t feel right, get a diffuser. Strange smells are a fact of life, and these gifts are tools in the battle we forge against them.
A dried flower arrangement
Houseplants are another classic housewarming gift, but if the new apartment dweller or homeowner in question doesn’t have a green thumb, a dried flower arrangement is a great option. It will last much longer than fresh flowers, and it adds just as much beauty to the table. I find these dried arrangements particularly charming in mini versions like the one below from Afloral.
Glassware
Every new home needs more glassware—drinking glasses could easily have broken during the move. You can’t go wrong with a classic set from Bormiolo Rocco because they’re the perfect balance of thin and durable. For a fun twist, get the crinkly version.
More specifically, wine glasses
Wine glasses may, in fact, be the best housewarming gift to deliver to the new homeowners after an exhausting day of unpacking. If their wine glasses are still in a box, you’ll arrive with something to drink from (just add a bottle of wine). The paper-thin stemware from Glasvin is worth the splurge, but recently the brand came out with a more affordable line called GV Home. I’ve been drinking out of these glasses for the past few weeks, and have found that they offer the same delicate, elegant sipping experience as their luxe counterparts.
A coffee maker
Obviously, a house only becomes a home once it has a coffee maker. Find a few of our favorites below, and read our coffee maker review to select the best housewarming option for your loved one based on their coffee preferences and skill level.
Electric kettle
If the person whose home you are warming is a tea drinker rather than a coffee lover, then opt for a new electric kettle to warm up their mornings. And if they obsess over their morning pourover, you’ll want to opt for a goose-neck model.
Looking for more suggestions? Check out more gift guides below, including coffee supplies that would make a thoughtful housewarming gift for the highly caffeinated, gifts under $25, and gifts for bakers:
