Christmas gifts for the home have one advantage over most presents: you can picture where they will go. A set of decorations goes on the tree, a bowl goes on a table, a kitchen tool goes in a drawer. This guide groups gifts from our shop by budget, from under £20 up to £89, and answers a few common questions, including what to take a host and what works for Secret Santa.
Prices were checked on the shop when this was written; the product page always has the final word.
Christmas gifts for the home, by budget
- Under £20: two Christmas decoration sets at £19.99, and four manual vegetable choppers at £8.81 to £13.99.
- £20 to £30: a set of six baubles at £24.99 and a set of six bells at £29.99.
- £30 to £50: a set of nine decorations at £34.99 and a bell garland at £49.99.
- £79 and £89: paper mâché bowls, made by hand in Jaipur.
There are more sets in the Christmas collection.
What is a good home gift?
A good home gift is one the other person does not have to make room for, and the budget decides a lot of that. At the lower prices, the easiest gifts already have a place waiting: the tree for a few weeks, or a kitchen drawer. At the top of this guide's price range, a decorative bowl needs a surface of its own, so it suits someone who has just moved or likes to change a room round. There is more on that in our housewarming gift ideas.
What to get someone for Christmas
Set the budget first and let it narrow the choice. As a rough guide, the sets under £20 suit a colleague, a neighbour or a host; £20 to £50 buys a larger set or a garland for family and close friends; and £79 or £89 buys a set of bowls for someone whose home you know well. If you do not know them well, a set is safer than a single piece, because it can be split between a tree, a window and a shelf. Our guide to how to decorate a Christmas tree shows how to spread a set round the branches so it reads as one scheme.
What are good Christmas gifts for women?
The honest answer is the same as for anyone: something that suits her home and her taste, rather than a list sorted by gender. In budget terms: if she decorates a tree, a £19.99 set of decorations is easy to place. If she has just moved, one of the bowl sets below, at £79 or £89, is useful from the first day. If she enjoys cooking, a manual chopper under £14 is a small, practical present.
Gift ideas under £20
Two of our Christmas decoration sets are £19.99. Both are made by hand, so each piece varies slightly in shape and colour.
- Four red and white toadstool decorations, £19.99: red caps with white spots, each toadstool on its own hanging cord, for the branches of the tree, a wreath or a garland.
- Two geese, a drum and a bauble in green and white, £19.99. Four pieces, each with a hanging loop, that suit a full-size tree or a small tabletop one.
Four manual vegetable choppers also cost less than £20. They have their own section below, because they are kitchen tools, not decorations.
What are good Secret Santa gifts for women?
The best Secret Santa gift is one nobody has to explain. A set of decorations works for women, for men and for a colleague you barely know: it can go on a tree at home or on the office tree, and it does not depend on sharing a sense of humour. Secret Santa gifts for work colleagues follow the same rule.
Both £19.99 sets fit a £20 limit. We would not put a kitchen tool with sharp blades into a Secret Santa, where you cannot be sure who will open it.
From £20 to £30
- Six red and white baubles, £24.99: four round baubles, one long drop and a flat star, with folk-art stripes and flowers.
- Six white bells with red dots, £29.99, ready to hang from braided cords.
What's a good hostess gift for Christmas?
Something the host does not have to deal with on the night. Flowers need a vase and water at the busiest point of the evening. A small set of decorations can go straight on the tree or into a drawer for later, and it is not used up by the end of the party. The bells and the red and white baubles both work, and so do the two £19.99 sets.
Should I bring a hostess gift to a Christmas party?
If you are invited to someone's home for dinner or drinks, it is usual in the UK to bring something small, though a good host will not expect it. For a big party or an office do, you do not need to. A card and an offer to help with the washing up are welcome either way.
From £30 to £50
- A set of nine decorations, £34.99, in red, green, white, gold and yellow: baubles, stars, a striped candy cane and a little gift-box shape. Hang them on the tree, or pile them in a bowl or on a tray in the middle of the table. There are more ideas in Christmas centrepiece ideas.
- A colour-block bell garland, £49.99, with bells in pairs of colours such as navy and white, or pink and midnight blue. It can be draped round a tree or hung across a window, a wall or a staircase, so it also suits a home with no room for a tree.
All of these, like the sets above, are for indoor use, away from open flames and heaters. They are decorations, not toys: keep them where young children and pets cannot get at them.
Bigger gifts: paper mâché bowls at £79 and £89
A bowl stays out once the decorations are packed away, which makes it a good choice for someone setting up a new home.
- A pair of footed bowls in a natural mud colour, £79. Two sizes; the large bowl is about 14 cm tall and 28 cm wide.
- A set of three bowls in three sizes, £89: a deep sand-beige bowl, a chalky off-white bowl and a small oatmeal-greige bowl on three short legs, all painted by hand. Three pieces can be split between the hall, a shelf and the coffee table.
Both sets are made by hand in Jaipur from recycled paper. Each bowl varies slightly, and all of them are light to lift. They are for dry use: whole fruit, potpourri, keys or post. They are not waterproof, never go in a dishwasher, and only need a wipe with a dry cloth.
In December, whole clementines or pine cones in a bowl on a sideboard are about as simple as Christmas styling gets; see what to put in a decorative bowl for Christmas. More bowls are in the paper mâché bowls collection, and there is more on care in how to look after paper mâché.
Gifts for home cooks: the kitchen tools we stock
Alongside the décor, we stock a small range of manual vegetable choppers. They are kitchen tools, not handmade pieces. Four of them cost less than £14:
- Wonder Chopper, £8.81, pull-cord.
- Quick Chopper, £9.50, pull-cord.
- Master Chopper, £12.99, pull-cord.
- Bingo push chopper, £13.99, push-down.
All four are manual, with metal blades and no plug or batteries: you pull a cord or press down to work the blades inside the closed bowl. They are hand wash only. The blades are very sharp, so these are presents for adults who cook, to be kept out of reach of children. You will find them in Kitchen Tools.
Two offers worth knowing
UK standard delivery is free on orders of £49.98 or more, and £5.99 below that. On orders of £100 or more, 10% comes off automatically at checkout, with no code. So the bell garland at £49.99 qualifies for free UK delivery on its own, and the £79 bowl set with the bell garland comes to £128.99, which is enough for the 10% off. Both offers were in place when this was written; your basket shows what applies to your order.
