Ten housewarming gifts that get used after the first week

Someone you like has moved and there is a party on Saturday. Wine and a candle will be received politely and forgotten by Tuesday. These are ten gifts that are still in use a year later, with a rough guide to budgets at the end.

Things they will pick up every day

Number one is a decent doormat, a heavy coir one that is big enough to actually wipe your feet on. It sounds dull until you have lived in a house without one for a month. Pair it with a key hook for the hallway and you have solved two small daily irritations without spending much.

Number two is a set of good tea towels in plain cotton, six of them. Nobody buys these for themselves when they are furnishing a whole house, and the two they own from the old flat are grey. Number three is a toolkit: hammer, screwdrivers, tape measure, spirit level, in a case that fits under the sink. For a first flat, a cordless drill with a box of bits is the better version, if you want to spend a bit more. Every picture in that flat will be hung with it.

Something soft, and something alive

Number four is a throw blanket in a colour that goes with anything, grey or a dark green. It ends up on the sofa within the hour and stays there for years. If you want to add to it, two cushion covers in the same tone let them try a look without committing.

Number five is a plant they cannot kill. A snake plant or a pothos survives three weeks of forgetting, which is what the first month in a new house looks like. A pot of basil and one of mint for the kitchen windowsill works too. Bring it in a proper pot, with a saucer. A plant in a plastic nursery pot is a chore you have handed them.

For the kitchen and for having people round

Number six is a big wooden chopping board, end-grain if you can stretch to it. It gets used at every meal and looks better after five years than on day one. Add a set of glass storage containers and you have sorted the leftovers problem in one go.

Number seven is for the ones who like to host: a slate cheese board with three knives, a decent corkscrew, a serving tray that is not from the same shop as everyone else's. A coffee table book about their new city works as a gift and as decoration. If you know they cook for a crowd, a slow cooker or an Instant Pot will be running every Sunday.

Something with their name on it

Number eight is a nameplate for the front door or the letterbox with their surname on it. It makes the front door theirs. A few photo frames in different sizes do the same job inside, and give them a reason to print the pictures that live on their phone.

Think about how they actually live. For a couple with two jobs and a toddler, a month of a meal-kit delivery or a one-off cleaning visit beats any object. For the one who is already sanding the skirting boards, a proper sanding block and a set of decent paintbrushes will be noticed.

Number nine sounds too small to count: a rubber stamp with their new address, or a sheet of address labels. In the six weeks after a move everything from the bank to the vet needs the new address, and they will use it thirty times. Add a box of good writing paper and it becomes a proper present.

What to spend

Small budget: a tin of good coffee, a bar of Marseille soap, a small succulent in a nice pot. Middle budget: the drill, decent bed linen, the chopping board, a set of storage baskets. Big budget: a piece of art they picked, a stand mixer, an air fryer, a smart speaker for the kitchen.

Number ten is the one that fits, whatever it costs. The most expensive gift at the party is rarely the one they use most. The tea towels usually win.

If you have no idea what the new place is missing, ask them to create a wishlist before the party and send you the link. You get to pick something they need, and they get one fewer candle.