Housewarming Gift Ideas and Free Home Printables

It’s definitely moving season where we live and the housing market is absolutely insane right now.  Houses in the Vancouver area are flying off the market and selling way above asking price.  Even in the suburbs where we live the housing prices are skyrocketing.  It kind of makes me scared to think about how my kids will ever be able to afford a house around here when they are older.  Anyways… with lots of my friends on the move at the moment, I have housewarming gift ideas on my mind and wanted to share some ideas with you as well as a couple of free printables.

I’ve had lots of fun over the past year delivering those famous green Swiffer boxes to some amazing families {you can see a couple a them here and here} but, for my last post as part of the official Swiffer Ambassador Team, I thought that I would switch things up a bit.

I decided to package up some Swiffer products {as well as some of my other favorite cleaning supplies and a few other fun goodies} into a practical housewarming gift.  We all know that moving is a huge task and the first thing that you want to start with when you move into your new home is a clean slate.  I’ve seen a few of my friends’ houses that they were moving into and they were definitely in need of a serious clean!

This housewarming basket is filled with practical items that the new house owners can use to get their new home fresh and sparkling again as well as a few special touches to make it their own. I’m sure that most of us have moved at least a couple of times throughout our lives and I think that we can pretty much agree that the process can be quite overwhelming.  The end result is definitely worth it, but it can be a long road to get into your new home!

For those of you that are in need of a quick, easy, and thoughtful housewarming gift, here’s the rundown…

First you need to choose something to hold all of your items in.  While you can just dress up a plain box if you choose, why not make the packaging practical too?  Use a laundry hamper, wooden crate, or pretty basket as your base and it can then be put to good use once the gift has been opened.  I picked this bin up for about $10 at Home Sense and it will work great for storing blankets, pillows, pet supplies, toys, etc.

Next you need to choose your cleaning supplies.  When picking your cleaning supplies, think of what you use the most and what items would be most needed when someone moves into a new home.  Here’s what I included in mine…

• Swiffer Sweeper. The Swiffer Sweeper can be used with either their dry pads for all of the dirt, hair, and dust bunnies or used with a wet pad to target those caked on marks or mud.  It’s super light weight and is so quick and easy to pull out for those little daily cleaning tasks.  You can read more about my cleaning tips here to get the most out of your sweepers.
• Swiffer Wet Jet. The Swiffer Wet Jet works great for powering through those heavier messes and really dissolving caked on grime.  You can find more info on using it here.
• Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  If you’ve never tried a magic eraser before, they really are magic!  I use them daily in our kitchen {you can see how I use them to clean our glass top stove} and they also work great in the bathroom for getting rid of any mold and mildew, soap scum, and those nasty hard water stains.  And if you are a chalkboard fanatic like me, they are also awesome for removing chalk pens and reducing the “ghosting effect” when you switch out your designs. They would be perfect for a new home owner for cleaning up scuffs on the walls, baseboards, and cupboards, grease and grime in the kitchen, and so much more.  They can pretty much be used for anything!
• Microfiber cloth and polishing cloth – These are my basic cleaning staples that I could never live without and I use them everywhere.

• Swiffer Dusters.  These things are serious dust catchers and work great for getting into all of those little places that are often hard to dust.  You can even get extender handles to be able to reach up to dust light fixtures, fans, etc. without having to climb up on a chair!
• Command Hooks.  I seriously use these EVERYWHERE in my house (and the adhesive tabs too).  I have them on the inside of our kitchen cabinets to hang our measuring cups and spoons, in the inside of our bathroom cabinets to hang cleaning cloths, in our hall closet to hang our Swiffers, and in pretty much every other room of the house to hang a variety of photo frames and other decor items.  I love that I can easily put them up and take them down without leaving any marks because I always seem to be switching things up!
• Printable.  While we all want a clean home, we still need to make time for those things that make us happy and generally want to spend as little time cleaning as possible.  I think of this quote often when I start to get stressed about not having everything done around the house.  It’s a good reminder too for new home owners to take some time out of their busy moving to routine to just relax.  You can print it out and add it to an inexpensive frame {IKEA is good for this!} or use it as a housewarming card.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE HERE

I printed mine out as a 4×6 and just mounted some scrapbook paper on the back to make it into a card.

Finally, add a couple of fun touches that the new home owners can enjoy once they are finished cleaning.  You can add whatever you like for this but I added a tin of homemade cookies, a pretty key chain to hang their new house key, and a simple printable that they could place by the front door to welcome them home each day {I actually printed one off for me too!}

I thought this key chain from Rustic Rose Designs was so cute! I added a little vintage key to the key chain so it could be used as a display if they don’t want to use it for their main key chain.

I also made another printable that is perfect to greet the new home owners as they come home every day.  If you print it as an 8×10 it will either work in a 5×7 frame or an 8×10 frame if you like a more minimalist look.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 8×10 PRINTABLE HERE

My favorite Property Brother, Jonathon Scott, also has some tips for starting your new home with a clean slate!

For those of you that are in the process of moving or are just settling in, I hope you enjoy your new home!

Thanks so much to Swiffer for including me in their Swiffer Fanatic Program this year!  As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.