Moving to a new home is an exciting time, especially if your first-time buyers or on the lookout for your first family home. It’s the start of a new chapter in your life and one that will be memorable for years to come.
Regardless of whether it’s your first home or not, you’ll want something new to mark the occasion and celebrate your new beginning. If you’re lucky, friends and family will also want to treat you to something new! It can be useful to put together a list of things you’d like to buy for your new home, as well as things that may need replacing. This is not only practical but can help to make the overall process of moving in even more exciting.
Traditional Housewarming Gifts
Traditional housewarming gifts are often said to bring luck and fortune to the home. Here are a few of our favourites:
Candle
According to tradition, buying a new candle for your home symbolises ‘having light through the darkest times’. Fortunately, we have an extensive home fragrance collection for you to choose from. Just remember to light the candle on your first night in your new home.
Sugar
Sugar is supposed to symbolise ‘a life full of sweetness’ making it a perfect gesture for a new home. But don’t worry; you don’t have to buy a bag of sugar. There are more thoughtful and creative ways to give someone or yourself the gift of sugar. You could bake something sweet, such as a cake, or if your baking skills aren’t up to scratch, you could still give the gift of sugar but swap the bag for a simple sugar bowl instead. We have a variety of sugar bowls available including this gorgeous Portmeirion Water Garden Covered Sugar.
Wine
Depending on whether you enjoy a glass of wine, this idea represents ‘always having joy and never going thirsty’. A bottle of wine makes for a lovely moving in gift for yourself or friends, but why not spruce it up and match the wine with some beautiful wine glasses to treasure for years to come? We have the perfect wine glass set available too – Portmeirion Botanic Garden Crystal Wine Glass Set of 4.
Money
Money, specifically coins, symbolise good fortune and luck. Buying a money box to save up for those special occasions could be a nice spin on this tradition – one that is supposed to bring luck and prosperity.
Rice
Giving the gift of rice signifies fertility and gifting a newly married couple with children. Instead of just buying a bag of rice, you could present the grains in a stylish storage jar.
Like with the sugar, you probably don’t want to gift someone with a bag of rice, so you could either present the grains in a stylish storage jar, such as this Sophie Conran for Portmeirion storage jar, or you could buy a set of rice bowls.
Here are some alternative ideas to gift yourself:
Cup Set
You can never have too many cups, and everyone has their favourite, but moving into a new home is the perfect opportunity to buy a new, matching set. Our Sara Miller London Portmeirion collection has some beautiful, stylish and contemporary cups available, such as this Piccadilly Collection Flamboyant Flamingo Mug:
Vase
It is believed that having flowers in your home helps to increase happiness, reduce stress and increase your level of compassion towards others. A fresh bouquet of flowers in your new home every now and again will make you smile, at least, so why not buy a beautiful vase to house them in too? This pretty vase from the Portmeirion Exotic Botanic Garden collection will add a splash of colour to your home even when it’s empty.
A new home is the start of a new chapter. It’s the perfect time to think about the future and stay optimistic and enjoy making new, happy memories with loved ones in your new home.