An autumn housewarming wishlist that keeps you warm

Moving in October is a race against the weather. The boxes are still in the hall when the first cold morning arrives, and the flat that felt fine at the viewing in August turns out to have tiled floors and one ceiling light per room. A housewarming list written with warmth in mind sorts out the first winter before it starts.

Soft furnishings that actually get used

The rug comes first. A cold floor makes every room feel unfinished, and a wool rug of 160 by 230 cm under the sofa does more for a living room than any other single item. It also makes a good group gift: a good one is expensive, but four friends can easily share it.

On the sofa, one wool throw. A Tweedmill or a Pendleton blanket gets pulled over the knees every evening from now until April, while the fluffy acrylic one in mustard sheds and stays folded. Two velvet cushions in one dark colour are enough. Faux fur looks warm in a photo and that is about it.

Lighting for shorter days

The ceiling light in a rented flat is the main reason a new home feels like an office at seven in the evening. Put two lamps on the list: a floor lamp behind the sofa and a table lamp for the sideboard, both with warm bulbs (2700 K on the box). That pair changes the room more than everything in the decoration section put together.

Edison-style bulbs look good and give hardly any light, and salt lamps glow like a router. A string of plain warm-white lights along a shelf is fine, and a couple of scented candles in cinnamon or woodsmoke are an easy gift for the guest with a small budget.

A kitchen built for the season

Autumn cooking happens in one pot. A cast-iron casserole (a Staub or Le Creuset 24 cm, or a supermarket own brand at a fraction of the price that does most of the same job) makes the soup, the stew and the Sunday bread, and it can live on the hob between uses. Skip the bread maker and the soup tureen. They take up a cupboard each and come out twice a year.

Around the pot, add six deep bowls, a kettle that switches itself off, a set of large mugs and a bread board. The cheese board and the serving platter can wait until someone is actually coming for dinner.

Decoration that marks the season without much effort

A wooden bowl of pine cones from the park, a wreath of dried hydrangea on the door, a pot of chrysanthemums on the windowsill. All of it costs very little and none of it needs a shelf in January. Branches of copper beech in a tall vase last three weeks and look better than anything sold as autumn décor.

Wall art with autumn landscapes shows up on many lists and on very few walls a year later. Put a frame on the list and choose the print yourself.

Small practical things that matter

A coir doormat keeps the wet leaves at the door. Add slippers for the tiled floor, a bathrobe hook by the shower, and two big baskets for the throws and the hats that appear from nowhere in October. Nobody thinks to put these on a list, and everybody uses them within a week.

Leave the humidifier and the scented oils off. The humidifier needs regular cleaning, and the oils end up spilled on the new rug.

Write the list before the housewarming invitation goes out, so the friends who ask what to bring can pick the lamp, the throw or a share of the rug. You can create a wishlist in a few minutes and turn the cold flat into somewhere you want to sit by the time the clocks change.