Housewarming gift, birthday or Christmas: how to choose tableware that gets used
The nicest gift is one that stays in use. Something someone picks up every morning or puts on the table when guests come over, and thinks of you for a moment as they do. Tableware does exactly that, and it doesn't have to be big: a set of cups or a bowl is often enough. In this blog you'll read what to give for a housewarming, a birthday or at Christmas, and how to choose the right colour.
Why tableware is a gift that lasts
Tableware gets used. Not once, but for years, and every time someone takes it out of the cupboard there's a small moment of remembering the person who gave it. That makes it one of the few gifts that gain more meaning over time rather than less.
There's a story to it too. Our ceramic comes from Portugal and is finished by hand. Thanks to the reactive glaze, the colour changes during firing in the kiln, so no two pieces are exactly the same. So you're giving something that only exists this way.
And it's easy to use. Everything is dishwasher- and microwave-safe, so you're not giving any worry along with it.
Housewarming gift: what to give for a new home
Anyone who's just moved has sorted out the big things by now. What's still missing are the pieces that make a house complete, and that's exactly where a good housewarming gift sits.
The olive oil bottle is our favourite for this. In Southern Europe, oil is a classic gift for a new home, which makes it a symbolic gift for a new house with a story attached. The bottle is ceramic from Portugal, holds 700 ml of oil, and the handle lets you pour one-handed. Sand-coloured, so it suits almost any interior. For 34 euros you give something that goes straight onto the counter.
Looking for an original gift for a new home with a bit more weight? Then the salad bowl is the next step. Twenty-eight centimetres, big enough for the whole table, and the piece you put out when you want things to look cared for without any effort. Anyone who's just moved invites people over, and this is the first thing they miss.
Are you giving as a group, for example with colleagues or a group of friends? Then combine the bowl with the bottle. Together they set a table.
Birthday gift: start with what someone uses every day
For a birthday you usually give just one gift and the budget is lower. So you choose something that goes straight into use.
A set of coffee cups is the easiest for this. Two cups for 25 euros, stackable, with ribs in the ceramic so they sit comfortably in the hand. It's the first thing someone reaches for every morning, and that's exactly why it stays.
Side plates are the second we often recommend. They're there as a plate for cake, but just as good for an amuse-bouche or as a side plate with tea and other drinks. Anyone who gets visitors regularly uses them more often than they'd expect. They come as a set, so you give something someone can set the table with right away.
Do you know the birthday person loves to cook? Then the salad bowl is a gift for a cook that says something. You don't just give something beautiful, but something they can put their own dish on the table with.
Christmas and the holidays
Around Christmas it's not about one plate but about the table as a whole, because that's the moment when more people are seated than the rest of the year.
Choose a shade that works all year and make the table festive with what you add to it. Beige and earthy tones do that well, because they look warm by candlelight. That way you give a Christmas tableware set that looks just as good in January.
The salad bowl is the piece you need most at Christmas. There's more on the table than usual, and one big bowl saves you a pan to pass around. It's oven-safe, so you can finish a dish in it and put it straight on the table.
Cake plates come next, with the coffee and cake after dinner. And the olive oil bottle stays out all evening for the bread beforehand.
Unsure about the colour? Then a gift card leaves the choice to the recipient, and you know for certain it'll be used.
How to choose the colour without asking
Look at the other person's interior, because that tells you more than the tableware they have now.
Light wood and white walls call for beige or off-white. Dark kitchens, concrete and steel come into their own with green and deeper tones. If in doubt, choose beige or sand. That's the colour that suits almost everything and that someone can build on later.
That last part is exactly why a small gift works well. Because all our lines have the same matte finish, a single piece always fits what someone buys to go with it later. A set of cups from today will still match the tableware set they choose in two years.
Choose tableware with intention
Giving a gift means guessing what someone will like. Tableware makes that easier, because it's not about taste alone but about something that works every day. Mimo is for people who consciously choose what goes on their table, and that applies just as much to what you give someone else.
"The nicest compliment we get is when someone tells us that the tableware they were once given is still on their table every day."