You can get your friends and family gift cards or clothes this holiday, but a gift for the home is one that resonates over an over, whether it’s a useful item or purely for ornamental enjoyment. In an effort to keep the kitch and frivol down this holiday, we’ve rounded up a few items nearly anyone on your list will adore. Not only are gifts for the home the perfect hostess gift, but they’re perfect to gift to a family or couple you may not want to splurge on multiples for.
Call them gifts that keep on giving. Flip through our homebody gift guide below.
1. Diptyque Scented Oval, Baies, $45
You’ve heard of Diptyque candles. You’ve burned your way through one too many and splurged on the massive three-wicker. It’s time to move on to a scented oval. Bring that addictive bouquet of roses and black current leaves we all know and love from the Baies candle into every pockets of your home. Hang it inside your closet, bury it in your drawers, or tuck it inside your linen closet.
2. Cambie Blanket, Teal And White, $125
There’s a serious local following in Toronto for Cambie Designs’ alpaca blankets. We’ve seen girls wearing them as scarves and ponchos, but they also make excellent house-warming gifts because they’re too wonderful to want to re-gift (like you always do when you get a stack of house-warming presents). Made from super cozy 20% alpaca wool and 80% acrylic for added durability, we like this particular blanket because of its geometric design and its versatile nature. Get your hands on one over at the Chic Canuck now.
3. Apolis Transit Issue Table Candle in Cypress Fig, $44
We discovered the Apolis brand on our last trip to Los Angeles and were totally entranced by the scent that permitted the store. Sitting next to a stack if Kinfolk Magazines were their gorgeous Transit Issue candles which make great gifts for guys who fancy the finer things in life. The amber glass jars aren’t too expensive and come with a screw cap top that keeps dust out and the scent in. They’re also made in California from clean burning soy wax.
4. Nadège Holiday Macaron Set, $54
Everyone loves macarons. They’re colourful and make the perfect addition to a dessert table during the holidays. Nadège makes Toronto’s best and she’s been dazzling us lately with her gorgeous artist designed boxes and bright colourful packaging. Bring a sleeve of 25 for a larger party or 12 for a small gathering in this gorgeous holiday box. You’re sure to be the hero of the party!
5. Umbra Shift Asymmetrical Candle Holders, $30
For the person on your list that has everything but still appreciates a finely designed object, we think these Umbra Shift Asymmetrical candle holders would be perfect. Designed by Vancouver based designer Lukas Peet for Umbra Shift, these holders blend a visual imbalance with a physically sturdy design that can be interchanged with the different bases to create fun new combinations. We suggest giving them in a set of three for an impressive reaction.
6. Seamless Yarai Mixing Glass $65
So you’ve got someone on your list that’s a little bit of cocktail nut who enjoys their drinks shaken, not stirred. Well eventually they’ll come around to making the perfect old fashioned, negroni, or rob roy and they’ll need the perfect mixing glass for which to make it in.This seamless Yarai mixing glass comes full of class all the way from Japan, where the authentic ones are made. Pair it with an antique Hawthorne strainer in copper and a jar of Luxardo maraschino cherries, for a swanky rather impressive combination.
7. Marshall Stanmore Speaker, $400
Ever since our last glorious stay at Soho Hose Chicago, we’ve been obsessed with Marshall portable speaker systems. Needless to say this Stanmore would make an awesome gift this holiday for anyone who needs to kick their house party up a notch. The speaker draws from the classic design of an amps in sleek black or elegant cream with modern touches like Bluetooth connectivity as well as RCA and auxiliary inputs.
8. Nespresso Inissia, $149
Nespresso’s newest machine is a great gift for the coffee lover on your list. This nice little machine is not only compact, sleek, and perfect for any home, big or small, but it comes in five fun festive colours too! We’ve tried just about every machine in the Nespresso line up and the Inissia is by far our favourite because the selection of grand cru is pretty vast, and thus is suited to even the most sophisticated palette. Also, if you’re hoping to keep things green, Nespresso has an awesome recycling program at their stores so you don’t have to create excess waste like most pod-based machines do.
9. Cards Against Humanity $25
If you happen to know someone who for reason has never heard of Cards Against Humanity, this is the best gift ever, hands down. It’s been described as the extremely crass version of apples to apples, and it tag line is “a party game for horrible people.” This game will make even the dullest gathering loads more hilarious and we can almost guarantee someone will laugh so hard they’ll cry.
10. Drake General Store Marble + Wood Cheeseboards, $54-68
Earlier this year Drake General Store launched their House Party collection and we’ve been pining (pun intended) for one of these elegant marble and wood cheese boards. Let’s be honest, one can never have enough cutting board, especially for which to serve charcuterie platters on, and these oval, rectangular and diamond shape ones put all the others to shame. The ultimate house guests pair the diamond shape board with a bottle of Bestellen Olives and some Jackhammer cheese from The Cheese Boutique for major foodie points.