How to thank your housewarming guests

Twenty people come to the housewarming and nineteen of them bring something. One neighbour turns up with a cordless drill that ends up being used every month. A thank-you text the next morning feels a bit thin against a drill. A small gift back is a nicer way to say thanks, and it does not have to cost much; most of what follows costs very little per guest.

Cheap gifts that still feel like a gift

A small plant does the job better than anything bought in a shop. A pot of basil, a succulent from the market, a cutting from the monstera in your new living room. It fits the occasion, since you are the one who just put down roots.

If you would rather make something, a jar of jam, a bottle of chilli oil or a tin of biscuits shows you spent an afternoon on it. For something they will use, a candle, a bag of coffee beans, a bar of good soap or a wool throw all work. Better still, buy from the street you now live on: honey from the farm shop, a loaf from the bakery on the corner, a print from the woman who sells at the Saturday market. That way you thank the guest and show them the neighbourhood at the same time.

The note is the part they keep

Write a card by hand and mention the thing they brought, or a moment from the evening. "Thanks for the drill, it has already hung six shelves" beats "thank you for coming" every time. A couple of specific lines are plenty.

Photos hold up well too. A print of the group on the stairs in a cheap frame, or an album sent round afterwards, works for nearly everyone. If you like making things, coasters with a picture of the new front door are a keepsake that gets used.

For close friends, put together a small bag around what you know about them. Beans and a mug for the one who drinks four coffees a night, seed packets and gloves for the one who spent the whole party in your garden.

Send them within two weeks

Aim for the two weeks after the party. Leave it much longer and it starts to look like an afterthought. Set aside a Sunday afternoon and do them all at once.

Wrapping matters a little. Brown paper and string look homemade in the good way, and a small box the guest can reuse for the sock drawer beats a gift bag. Put the card inside the parcel, because the card is what people hold on to.

For friends who live far away, pack anything breakable properly and slip a photo from the evening in with the card. A parcel with a picture in it still feels personal from three hundred kilometres away.

When a gift for everyone is too much

Not everyone can send twenty parcels, and after the cost of moving, most people should not. There are other ways to say thank you.

Cook dinner for the ones who helped carry boxes, or host a games night once the sofa has arrived. A housewarming is about hospitality in the first place. For the guest who cares about a cause, a donation in their name says more than soap. For your closest friends and family, a message with photos from the party and a phone call the week after count for as much as anything wrapped in paper.

Keep a drawer for next time

You will host again, probably by the first summer. Keep three or four things in a drawer, such as a candle, a bar of chocolate and a soap set, so you are not running to the shop after every dinner.

It also helps to create a wishlist before the next party. Guests who want to bring something can see what you would actually like, nobody turns up with a fifth chopping board, and you know exactly who gave what when it is your turn to say thank you.