Photo by Kari Shea at Unsplash

Have a new homeowner on your holiday gift list? Luckily for you, there are gifts for your friend or family member in all price ranges. Whether you want to spend a chunk of money on a lawn tractor or just a nice small gift that will show you care, we’ve got you covered.

• Help with yard work -- Your new homeowner is so busy trying to get everything done, from moving to painting to unpacking boxes, he or she won’t have any time to deal with the yard. If you are low on money but would still like to help, offer to do yard work. You could promise to mow the lawn a couple of times or pick up the leaves in the fall. You might help till a new garden or plant spring flowers. If you really don’t like getting outside, pay for someone else to do the yard work. The national average cost to mow and maintain a yard is $148.
  
  
  
• Lawn care tools -- This is likely the first yard he or she has had, and now yardwork is necessary. Consider giving a lawn mower, string trimmer, hedge trimmer, leaf blower or chainsaw.
  
  
  
  
• Home repair books -- There’s always something to fix around the house, so there’s always a need for how-to books. There are DIY calendars, magazines and more, so the new homeowner can become her own handyperson.
  
  
  
• Tools -- A new homeowner likely hasn’t done much home repair, especially if he or she has lived in an apartment their whole adult life. So, tools will be necessary. A basic set of wrenches is a good start. Or you can give some basic power tools, such as a cordless drill, an electric screwdriver, sander, circular saw or air compressor.
  
  
  
• Personalized door mat -- There are so many options that you’re sure to find one that fits the personality of your friends. You can even find holiday-themed ones, such as Christmas or hanukkah. Some sites even have snarky or off-color doormats, but we’ll let you search for those on your own.
  
  
  
• Give the gift of light -- Every home has dark corners, especially when you’re just trying to get something done. Give your new homeowner some lighting options. There are lanterns, flashlights and more, designed to help out when the basic room lighting just isn’t enough. It’s also important to have a good battery-powered light source around in an emergency, when the lights go out.
  
  
  
• Ladder or step-ladder -- Everyone needs to change a light bulb once in awhile. Having a way to get up there is important. A ladder is something that you don’t know you need until you actually need it, and then you don’t want to have to borrow it from the neighbors. Look for step ladders, which come in many different sizes for many uses. A more serious do-it-yourselfer will need an extension ladder to get to the roof. Be sure to check weight limits if your recipient is a larger person.
  
  
  
• A houseplant -- A good basic gift for anyone with a new home is a houseplant. Plants clean the air and help liven up the home. A bonus is that they make you feel better, and help you concentrate. If your friend has pets, be cautious of what kind you give. Some plants are toxic to pets.
  
  
  
• Gift cards -- Homeowners will spend lots of money in home improvement stores, so consider giving gift cards to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace or a local hardware store. Home decor companies or organizations stores are also good places to shop for gift cards.
  
  
  

Whatever you give, your caring and thoughtfulness will show in your gift. And, hopefully, your friend will invite you over for dinner soon.

There's no denying... our FAVORITE thing to build is a live edge table. Hands down. 

For me, I love a good road trip & windshield time with my husband. When an order for a live edge slab comes up, I know there's a pretty good chance we'll head to a nearby small town, have lunch in the town square & head to the mill to scout out a slab or two. 

This particular table required two slabs to be joined together in the middle in order to be wide enough for their dining room space. While we were at the mill, we stumbled upon two slabs that were sliced from the same tree - held the same whirls and grain pattern just opposite of one another, creating a book-matched slab once joined together with tenons. I applied a beautiful food-safe walnut stain & once Kevin saw that, I grew a little worried he wasn't going to want to let go of this table! 

Can you see where they were joined together? (We sure hope not! Hee hee!)

Our client wanted their new dining table to be at a convenient bar height with hearty steel legs that would make it difficult to tip over. Kevin got to work welding these classic legs, painted them a matte black & added felt pads to the bottom to prevent scratches on our client's hardwood floors. 

Our client had their swivel barstools ready to slide up to their new table. I just LOVE the rich leather! 

Thank you to Tara Camp of Scout Lighting & Design Goods for introducing us to your wonderful clients and allowing us to take care of this project for them. We highly recommend Tara for her crazy beautiful lighting design skills - we even hired her to come help us out with our own lighting selections for our own home that we've been building (see older blog posts for more info on that if you're interested.)