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SPONSORED LISTINGS
Great Housewarming Gifts for Your Even Greater Friends
- by mswen
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- November 09, 2008
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So your excellently good friends are buying a house. Maybe you, too, are a homeowner and are finally frigging glad that this fun-loving couple who loves to drag you out for drinks and food and $250 bar bills now has a mortgage to pay just like you do. Or maybe you're still renting an apartment and sleeping on a futon, and this news suddenly makes you feel totally left out and kind of envious and maybe worrying that you'll never see your friends again. But this isn't about you! Your best buds are making the biggest investment of their lives, and they deserve (and need) your support and happiness. Which means a gift. Some swag. Possibly a present. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Something personalized
People, in general, are narcissists. Which means that they love things that specifically pertain to them. This type of a gift is especially great for a new (and especially first-time) homeowner, since they’ll need constant reassurance that they’ve made the right decision in buying the house.
A personalized gift will give them a sense of pride in their new place, and will make their new house really feel like their own. (Even though it won’t really be “their own” until after thirty years of mortgage payments. But it’s not necessary to point that out to them.)
Screen printed posters by Ork make great housewarming gifts for those friends moving to the big city.
A personalized wall decal is a cool way to decorate new digs.
These cool, vintage-y prints sport nicknames of different cities.
Anyone who moves will appreciate a set of return address labels to use for bills and holiday cards. These Felix Doolittle designs are especially great.
Something really helpful
Moving is completely stressful. No matter how organized your friends are, no matter how well-labled each box is, things can go missing for weeks (or, for good. I’m still looking for the set of coasters that disappeared during our move two years ago). And since a new house means new rooms and things to clean and fix, new homeowners won’t even have some of the stuff they’ll really need, anyway.
So while it might be completely unglamorous and uncute and borderline boring, putting together a batch of basic home goods and tools might just save their sanity when they want to just hang a picture and they realize that they don’t even have a nail. Or a hammer.
Filling a cool (and reusable) container with must-have home necessities might not elicit the giddy “ohmygodyoushoulllldn’thave!!” respose you’re looking for, but seriously: these are the things they need most.
Home Depot Inc
75 Mystic Ave, Somerville, MA 02145
Now that they’re homeowners, the once-boring Home Depot will be your friends’ home away from home. Walk the aisles and choose from practical things like measuring tapes and screwdrivers and batteries and lightbulbs, or just make it easy on yourself and grab a gift card. It’ll be used within 24 hours.
Now that they’re homeowners, the once-boring Home Depot will be your friends’ home away from home. Walk the aisles and choose from practical things like measuring tapes and screwdrivers and batteries and lightbulbs, or just make it easy on yourself and grab a gift card. It’ll be used within 24 hours.
Even if the house they bought is brand-spanking new, when your pals move in, they’ll want to clean. So stock them up with pretty-smelling, non-toxic cleaning supplies like those made by Method. And don’t forget the hand soap!
Target Stores
1 Mystic View Rd, Everett, MA 02149
Find Method cleaning products here, along with tons of excellent houseware goodies to go along with them. Grab a plastic bin or container, fill it up with a bunch of cleaners, add some sponges and a dustpan, and you’ve got an instant gift.
Find Method cleaning products here, along with tons of excellent houseware goodies to go along with them. Grab a plastic bin or container, fill it up with a bunch of cleaners, add some sponges and a dustpan, and you’ve got an instant gift.
Check out more cute cleaning stuff here
Because a new mortgage typically means they WON’T be hiring a cleaning lady.
Something alive
Moving into a new place is totally exciting, but it tends to take a few weeks (months?) before you start to feel settled and at home. It takes time to do the things that add personality and warmth to a home, like paint, organize, and decorate.
In the meantime, things like fresh flowers and plants are a quick way to pretty up even the most chaotic surroundings. And, yes, even your manly friend Wilson needs some pretty in his new digs.
How excruciatingly cheery are these adorable guys?
Ilex Designs
73 Berkeley St, Boston, MA 02116
For something really special, Ilex fits the bill. Forget baby’s breath and weird, green filler — each creation is designed with the flowers as the focus, and the result is more like art than an arrangement. The extra cost is totally worth it.
For something really special, Ilex fits the bill. Forget baby’s breath and weird, green filler — each creation is designed with the flowers as the focus, and the result is more like art than an arrangement. The extra cost is totally worth it.
The irony will not be lost on your friends when you present them with this money tree plant. And, as legend has it, “good luck follows with each unfurling leaf.”
Getting the home goods in Boston
Something incredibly cool
Sure, your friends are moving into their new home with lots of stuff. Stuff they’ve collected over the years; practical, necessary stuff that worked just fine in their previous place. And, chances are, that stuff will work just as well in their new house.
But, as their fabulously hip friend, it’s your job to gift them with something they might not normally treat themselves to. Some sort of awesome item for their new house that you know they’ll love, but won’t buy because — well, they’ve just emptied out their savings account for the down payment and there’s really not much money left for anything else.
So, if you’re confident that you know their taste, surprise your buds with something wickedly cool and special.
This salt and pepper shaker won a design award, and here’s why: it comes as a single vessel, and it must be broken it in half to separate the units. So great!
Since your friends may no longer be able to splurge on pricey martinis at their usual spot, gift them with these amazing martini glasses to soften the blow.
These lover-ly porcelain keys from Black Ink are sweetly symbolic of their new home.
Black Ink
101 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114
For the most awesome selection of random, totally unique, and well-designed gifts around, Black Ink is a must-visit.
For the most awesome selection of random, totally unique, and well-designed gifts around, Black Ink is a must-visit.
Something to eat and drink
If you’re bored and feel like witnessing a sociological phenomenon, pay close attention to your friends during the first few days in their new home. Your once hedonistically imbibing buds will not think about or ingest food or drink for at least 48 hours. They will be on auto-pilot: unpacking, arranging, cleaning, going back and forth to Home Depot, and the like. This is all due to adreneline, dear readers (and to the fact that they can’t remember where they packed their pots and pans), so as a friend it’s your responsbility to make sure they are taken care of.
Whether its bringing them a pizza, or a big pot of your homemade chili, or sandwiches from the local deli, any form of nourishment will be inhaled and totally appreciated. Want to go a step further? Do a quick grocery shop for them — chances are, they’ve tossed all of the food that was in their old fridge, which means they’ve got nothing in their new one.
Don’t forget the water! Keep your friends hydrated by stocking their fridge with plenty of it, like tasty Fiji water (available at Whole Foods).
Whole Foods Market
15 Washington St, Brighton, MA 02135
Whole Foods has a great prepared food section filled with yummy nosh. From fancy sushi, to home-style mac and cheese, fill a few containers with your friends’ faves and they will fall in love with you all over again.
Whole Foods has a great prepared food section filled with yummy nosh. From fancy sushi, to home-style mac and cheese, fill a few containers with your friends’ faves and they will fall in love with you all over again.
Are your friends unsure if they can even drink the water straight from their faucets? The charcoal filter in the center of this water pitcher will give them clean, mineral-rich water.
Something symbolic
In the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Mary and George Bailey gift their friends with three symbolic items: “Bread, that this house may never know hunger. Salt, that life may always have flavor. And wine, that joy and prosperity may reign forever.”
And, really, with the state of the economy today, what new homeowners wouldn’t appreciate a little luck on their side?
Gray salt is known as one of the best, go-to gourmet cooking salts around. Find it at specialty shops like Formaggio Kitchen.
Formaggio Kitchen Inc
244 Huron Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Once you hit this absolutely fantastic fine foods shop, you will hate to set foot inside a regular grocery store ever again. It’s chock full of fine chocolate, high-end olive oils and balsamic vinegars, incredible cheeses, and countless other specialty items.
Once you hit this absolutely fantastic fine foods shop, you will hate to set foot inside a regular grocery store ever again. It’s chock full of fine chocolate, high-end olive oils and balsamic vinegars, incredible cheeses, and countless other specialty items.
Pair your gift of salt with a cool salt box to store it in, like this wooden one from NapaStyle.
A special event (like buying a home) deserves a special bottle of wine, like this one by The Laughing Magpie (available at Brix).
Brix Wine Shop
1280 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118
For a special bottle of wine, Brix is the place to head. Simply give their staff a little to go on (like red or white, your price range) and they’ll pair your friends up with the perfect bottle.
For a special bottle of wine, Brix is the place to head. Simply give their staff a little to go on (like red or white, your price range) and they’ll pair your friends up with the perfect bottle.
What is luckier than a horseshoe? Your friends can hang this anywhere they please to add a bit of good energy to their new place.
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.jpg "AlexandraF")
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Wow, great guide with fabulous ideas… why has this guide not made it into the hands of my friends…. might just include this guide link in my future evite to my open house! Love it!
.jpg "aliciak")
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What fun address labels! I do love those Ork posters—have thought about buying the Brooklyn one!
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