Pick the perfect house-warming gifts for tiny-home owners
The best thing about buying a house is that you have somewhere to live and make your own. The second best thing is getting showered with presents.
Don’t judge my materialism — every major life event has been marked by gift-giving from friends and families ever since cavemen started carving on rocks.
Gifts are tricky to get right, and even trickier when the owner has a small home and thus very little space for unwanted or bulky items. These are some of the best gifts I was lucky to get after moving into my little cottage.
Artwork is really an ideal gift for any homeowner, but especially small space dwellers. They make for personal and meaningful gifts, and take up no storage space. I was lucky to get gorgeous prints and paintings from a few friends — I don’t have space to display them all at all times, but I rotate them frequently on my picture shelves and while they’re not on display they store away easily in a drawer. Jam Art Factory (jamartfactory.com) in Dublin and Hurrah Hurrah ( hurrahhurrah.ie) in Cork are two great Irish businesses to check out for beautiful prints.
Other items that are relatively easy to store — or which can be left out on display — are serving platters. I have two, both from Irish companies that I adore and now frequently buy from myself as gifts for others. The first is Slated (slated.ie), a husband and wife team that makes gorgeous platters, coasters, and table runners from Irish slate — and they can be engraved for a personalised touch.
Mine says Jenny’s Cheese and it tickles me every time I see it! The next is Botanical Ray ( @botanicalray on Instagram), a small company run by Amy Ray who makes the most beautiful serving platters and other accessories out of flowers in a clear resin. These can be personalised too, by choosing the recipient’s favourite flowers or even using flowers from a special event such as a graduation or wedding.
Anyone who owns a kitchen needs basics like a mixing bowl and sieve, but these can take up so much space. Enter nesting bowls. My set is designed by Joseph Joseph and comprises nine essential kitchen items that fit perfectly inside each other such that they take up only the space of one bowl. It contains a large mixing bowl, a colander, a sieve, a small measuring bowl, and five measuring cups and spoons. I use it every day and am repeatedly impressed by the cleverness of the design and how little space it takes up in my kitchen. I often buy these as gifts now.
In small homes, bulky hoovers are a pain to store. Thank goodness for diminishing vacuum cleaners. I actually got two and both are super useful - my robot hoover was a housewarming gift from my dad, and it’s excellent for a daily sweep to clean up dog hairs and crumbs.
Mine is the Kyvol E31 and it fits neatly under my couch, essentially taking up no space at all. So far I’m thrilled with it. I also got a Dyson V7 trigger which is just super for stairs and getting into narrow spaces. It’s powerful enough to do heavy-duty cleaning when needed but tiny enough to store easily. Between those two I don’t need a large hoover - either would make a generous gift.
If you’re still unsure, you can never go wrong with something consumable such as wine, food, or candles. This is often a dream gift for a small-home owner, because they don’t have to store it (at least not for long!). Again there are some wonderful Irish companies to buy from here. Skelligs (skelligschocolate.com) make my favourite chocolate and they have delicious hampers available. Grá chocolates in Galway ( grachocolates.com) have the most divine range of chocolates and offer customisation options.
Did you know we even have Irish wine?! Check out Móinéir from Wicklow Way Wines ( wicklowwaywines.ie) — a range of three wines made from Irish berries — blackberry, strawberry, and raspberry. I absolutely adore these — you’d think they would be syrupy and sweet, but I promise you they’re not — you will be pleasantly surprised.
Finally, candles are always appreciated; check out Sómas in Cork ( somasstudio.com) for the most luxurious scents.
Just don’t do it. At least not in my house. The responsibility is too huge. If you simply must, get a cactus, or check out the gorgeous dried flower bouquets from The Crate ( thecrate.ie).
- Got a question for Jennifer Sheahan? Email homeimprovement@examiner.ie