Housewarming Gifts

How to Choose Housewarming Gifts for a New Home

Most new homes are missing the same small things, and the best housewarming gifts fill one of those gaps. Pick the gap first and the gift usually picks itself.

Start with what the house is missing

People moving in have a couch and a box labeled "kitchen." They rarely have a candle worth lighting, a glass worth pouring into or a plant pot that isn't a nursery pot. Zodax's Bandol glassware comes in six shapes, from an everything glass to a decanter, so it's easy to match a gift to how the host actually drinks. Bergs Potter's Simona pot runs from 12 to 18cm, which covers a windowsill herb and a floor plant alike.

Match the gift to the host

New home gifts work best when they match a habit. A host who cooks gets Fox Run's acacia salt cellar or French Home's Laguiole olive wood cake knife set. A host who entertains gets Clayton & Crume coasters or a Barfly muddler. A host who lights a candle at six o'clock gets a candle. When someone tells us they have no idea what to bring, we steer them away from clever and toward something the host will use up, because a candle burns down and a soap gets finished, and neither one ends up in a closet. A host who just bought a first place usually wants fewer things, not more, so one good object beats a basket of small ones.

Housewarming Gift Ideas by Type

Gifts for the home fall into a few useful groups, and each one has a different job. Here is how we sort them on the floor.

Candles, matches and room scents

Housewarming candles are the easiest yes. Carrière Frères, Trudon's sister house, comes in six scents including Cedar, Lavender and Tomato. Mistral's candle comes in four, Black Amber, Bourbon Vanilla, Cedarwood Marine and Salted Gin, and the same four scents come as bar soap if you want a gift that is smaller. Tatine and Trudon sit beside them for the person who already owns a good candle and wants another. Scent is personal, so if you don't know the host, go quiet. Cedar, Lavender and Sandalwood are harder to dislike than anything sweet.

Add HomArt matches, which come in illustrated designs from rare snakes to butterfly specimens, and the gift is finished.

Glassware, pots and bar pieces

Glass and ceramics are the most durable new home gifts. Bandol glassware is the one we reach for first, with six pieces to pick from. Bergs Potter's Simona and Copenhagen pots come with their saucers, so there is nothing else to buy. For a host with a bar cart, a Viski gold weighted barspoon or a Barfly muddler is a small piece they will use every weekend. Glasses suit couples especially, because they come in sets and two people can use them the first night.

Kitchen pieces and small treats

The Cincinnati tea towel from Beyond Cushions is the gift we point out-of-town guests toward. In the Curious Kitchen's Strawberry Jalapeño Jam is the one for a host who has a cheese board. Kalastyle Soap Co.'s Wood Aromatics Cedar Wood Hand Salve lives by the sink. Small, useful, and not much to carry into a party.

Candles and scents, housewares and barware each have their own page if you want to see more.

Housewarming Gifts in Cincinnati

We are a lifestyle store in Over-the-Rhine, 17,000 square feet at 1401 Reading Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45202. If you are looking for housewarming gifts in Cincinnati, it helps to see things in person, because a candle is easier to pick when you can smell it. Open every day but Tuesday: 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm. CityBeat named us Best Interior Designer in 2024, and the people who furnish whole houses through the Design Studio will help you pick a gift too. Bring the host's name and a rough budget. They also have strong opinions about what a first apartment needs. Rosemary's is inside High St., on the second floor, and keeps the same hours.

Pickup, shipping and presentation

Free shipping on orders over $150; domestic standard shipping is otherwise $15. In-stock online orders are usually ready for pickup in about two hours. We don't offer traditional gift wrap. Purchases go out in High St. branded tissue and premium bags with cord handles and a gold-foil logo, and we sell select wrapping paper for anyone who wants to wrap at home. Our housewarming gift guide goes deeper on what to bring to a new home.