Homeware gifts: candle gifts, mugs & plant pot huggers

Choosing homeware gifts

Good homeware gifts fit into the person's home without asking them to redecorate. Look at the colours and materials they already live with, and choose one well-made piece rather than several small ones. Something used every day, such as a mug or a candle, is easier to get right than a large ornament. Bouclé and Habulous make most of the presents here, with smaller ranges from So Just Shop and Nick Munro. Every brand was checked for how its products are made and what goes into them.

Candle gifts and home fragrance

Candle gifts are an easy present for almost anyone. Bouclé makes soy wax candles with essential oils, candle trio bundles, a miniature winter candle trio and a winter aromatherapy candle and room spray gift set. It also makes rattan reed diffusers, room sprays, incense cones and incense holder sets, plus a candle snuffer and long safety matches in an amber glass jar. IMperfectionists makes a candle that melts into hand cream. For Christmas, Bouclé's fir tree, orange oil and mulling spice candle suits the season.

Handmade mugs, vases and plant huggers

Habulous makes stoneware by hand in Britain, including birth flower mugs, personalised name mugs, bud vases, match striker pots and wonky bowls. Its plant hugger decorations, such as the butterfly, budgie, tortoise and triceratops, perch on the edge of a plant pot and make a fun present for a plant lover. Habulous also makes ceramic flower stems that never wilt. So Just Shop sells hand-painted mugs, block print tea towels and cushions.

New home gifts and housewarming ideas

For a first home, think about the things people forget to buy, such as a cutlery set, an oil pourer or a good tea towel. Nick Munro makes Duetto and Venezia cutlery sets and Queens teapots, and Keep This Cracker makes reusable crackers for a first Christmas in a new place. Wrap a candle with a box of matches, or pair a mug with a bag of tea, for a present that feels complete. Order handmade and personalised pieces early in December. Candles has more soy wax candles, Dinnerware has handmade mugs and plates, Plants & Greenery has ceramic plant pots, and Eco-home essentials worth building a room around has more ideas for the home.