There is an old custom of bringing bread and salt to a new house, so that the household never goes hungry. It is a good custom because it gets the essential thing right. A housewarming present should help a new house feel lived in. It should be used in the first week, not saved for a special occasion, and it should suit a home that is still half in boxes.
This guide is for anyone visiting friends who have just moved, particularly to somewhere older, smaller or further out than they were before. Everything below is in stock at the time of writing. We have grouped the ideas by room, starting where most people actually spend the first few weeks: the kitchen.
The kitchen table
The kitchen table is where a new house becomes a home. It is where the first proper meal happens, usually eaten off whatever plates have been unpacked, and where friends sit while the hosts apologise for the mess. Anything that makes that table work better is a good present.
A wooden board is the most useful thing you can bring. The 50cm wooden chopping board is large enough to work on and handsome enough to leave out. The 38cm round serving board and the acacia round board do double duty for chopping and serving. Our guide to oiling a wooden chopping board explains how to keep one going for years, and it is worth passing on.
Better still, turn the board into a meal. The acacia cheese board and knife set or the marble and wood cheese knife set make the obvious pairing with a good wedge from the local deli. Turn up with the board, the cheese and a loaf, and supper is sorted for the night. Our guides to putting together a proper cheese board and making a ploughman's lunch have more ideas.
And since we started with bread, the linen striped beeswax bag, at £22.99, keeps a loaf fresh without plastic. Our note on how to keep bread fresh explains why it works.
Glasses for the first evening
Glasses are often the last thing to be unpacked, and the first thing anyone wants. The set of six dimple base tumblers, at £23.99, covers water at supper and a drink afterwards. For a whisky drinker, the gold rimmed whisky tumbler, at £15.99, is a small and welcome present, best given in pairs.
Linen
Linen is one of the few things that improves with use, which makes it a good present for a house that will be lived in for a long time. The Jemima linen tablecloth in green stripe will come out for every Sunday lunch, and it hides a scratched or mismatched table, which is common in a new house full of old furniture. Our tablecloth size guide explains how to work out the right size. The rooibos cotton tea towel, at £28.50, is a smaller present along the same lines.
Storage
A move shows up how much stuff everyone owns, and how little of it has anywhere to go. Good-looking storage is a present that gets used straight away. The set of two green oval rattan baskets takes the clutter that collects by the back door: dog leads, gloves, post. The handwoven rattan laundry hamper is a larger present for a bedroom or bathroom, and the sort of thing nobody thinks to buy until they need it.
Scent and light
Every house smells of somebody else when you first move in: old paint, the previous owners' cooking, damp in the cellar. A gentle scent makes the place feel like yours sooner. The fresh linen and bois précieux reed diffuser and the santal and vanilla diffuser, at £42, give a hallway or sitting room a steady scent for weeks with no flame. Our guide to using a reed diffuser explains how many reeds to use.
Light matters even more. Older houses tend to have fewer ceiling lights, often in the wrong places, and a lamp transforms a dark room overnight. The antique brass table lamp with cream shade suits almost any room. For a study, the banker's desk lamp in antique brass is a classic. If they already have a lamp but the shade has seen better days, a natural linen drum lampshade is a quick fix. Our lampshade size guide explains how to match a shade to a base. The lighting collection has the full range.
For candlelight, the Eclipse brass candle holder is a small present that looks good on a mantelpiece or a kitchen table. Our guide to cleaning brass candle holders covers the wax and the tarnish.
The garden and the hearth
If the move came with a garden, plants are the traditional present, though a good pot lasts longer than most plants. The Brooke rustic glazed pot suits a doorstep or a windowsill. Add a wool pot scarf, at £7.99, to keep the slugs off whatever goes in it. If they are new to gardening, our guide to planting spring bulbs in pots is an easy first project.
If the new house has a wood burner or an open fire, the reclaimed steel log holder, at £24.99, will be used every evening through the winter. The By the Fire collection has more for that corner of the room.
Something larger
If you are a parent helping a grown-up child into their first house, or a group of friends clubbing together, a larger piece can anchor a whole room. A bordered wool rug in taupe or duck egg blue warms up cold floorboards. The brass clover side table gives a reading chair somewhere to put a cup of tea. These are presents that stay with a household through several moves.
How to give a housewarming present
Keep it practical and keep it portable. A new house has no room for anything that needs assembling or finding a place for. Bring something that can go straight into use that evening, along with something to eat or drink, and leave the larger presents for later in the year when the boxes are gone.
Many of our pieces are sent straight from the maker, so you can have something delivered direct to the new address if you cannot visit. Each product page gives a dispatch time where the maker states one, and an order with several items may arrive in more than one parcel.
For more ideas by price, see our gifts under £30 guide, or browse the Host collection for things to bring when you are asked round for supper.