to ask about your best household items for £400?

[FluffyBlueJumper]

I am turning 40 in a couple of weeks and my Dad is asking me what I want - budget is around £400.

We are about to buy a new house - our offer was accepted yesterday - so I was thinking of asking for a non-essential piece of equipment for the house, something that would make my life better / easier everyday... but I haven't got a single idea. What would you suggest?

Thank you.

Maybe something for a special occasion? Something beautiful for Christmas perhaps? Or a lovely champagne bucket so whenever you use it you can be reminded it was for a special birthday from your Dad?

Or a piece of artwork perhaps

I'd be loathe to get something like a vitamix or fancy hoover as it's a bit boring and will run this course within a handful of years

I was going to say my bread maker and robot hoover, both of which I use several times a week and they definitely make life easier/better (but also, neither of which I would have bought for myself!)... but 1940s's suggestions are lovely and much more sentimental!

(& - can't edit - £400 would easily cover both the hoover and the bread maker, so maybe there's the option of something practical and something more frivolous/special, without spending all the budget?)

A print for the wall/ orignal art from a local artist.

Deff art work

I had a £300 budget for my 40th from my parents and chose a lovely piece of original artwork for my living room. I absolutely love it. My Mum and I had a day going round local galleries a few months after my birthday (once restrictions had lifted) so we had a wonderful day out too.

i think rather than a gadget type thing which will become obsolete in a few years something like a piece of art work or a bit of furniture.

We moved house earlier in the year and these things are things we bought that have given me real joy

Sofa bed - splits into 2 chairs, can be a sofa, fold down into a double bed or the other way can be a long single bed with headboard.

set of 3 prints (on proper canvas not paper) that goes with our new lounge, I got them framed and everyone comments on how lovely they are,

not new but I upcycled an old pine dresser by painted, spraying the handles gold and using it as a drinks cabinet.

a large sideboard to house all our board games. i searched and searched for one that was big enough for all the games but that fit in with the room

oak mantle for the new log burner - we werent going to get one but i'm glad we did

large set of hexagon photo prints from hellocanvas - absolutely love them.

if you are going gadget wise - cordless wall mounted hoover or my food mixer with blender and processor attachments.

Swing seat for the garden. The lovely wooden ones are about that price.

£400 wouldn't cover a Hoover and bread maker unless you're going for cheap options which I wouldn't do unless you have to

If you really want kitchen appliances type things then I'd go for a Sage bean to cup coffee machine, or a hotel chocolat hot chocolate maker or a bibo water filter. I have all of these and they make my life a lot easier plus they look lovely in the kitchen

Nice new bedding , really good quality with a decent duvet perhaps .

The other thing I always recommend but is a bit more than that budget is a Frame TV. Looks like artwork on the wall unless you’re watching it, and you can upload any artwork to it, or use the subscription service. I have the smallest size, 32”, and have not regretted it once.

Another vote for a bean to cup coffee machine!

Magimix
Condenser tumble drier
Robot hoover
A small pond in the garden (I get so much joy from it but was more than £400)

What about a piece of jewellery?

A silk filled duvet - LOVE mine, now 13 years old and still going strong

On 2nd thoughts if you haven’t got one already I would definitely recommend a ninja foodie ! They are sooo good .

A decadent chandelier or lamp.

I love my kitchen aid mixer. Coffee machine for me is a must, I like my Nespresso one but if I had £400 to blow is get a fancier one with a grinder (which would eventually pay for itself if you didn't buy as many take away coffees... That's my logic anyway)

RolyPolyBatFace oh no you're right... We have a Sage bread maker and a Neato hoover which I thought were about £150 and £250 respectively so would come in at £400, but just looked them up and the hoover in particular is more than that. (We used to have a Roomba hoover, which is about that price and was useful, but not quite as good as the Neato).
The Hotel Chocolat Velvetisers are nice, and would again leave a bit extra for something else too. Congratulations on the new house by the way OP, how exciting! Artwork is a great suggestion but potentially might be difficult as you're not in the house yet, unless you already have a good idea of how you might decorate?

I would get one of those super food processors that has a built in weighing scale and millions of attachments so you only need one appliance to cook anything you would ever want to cook. I'd also get a piece of art. Two things that will bring joy that you can take with you if you move

A beautiful piece of jewellery you can wear every day and then pass onto your kids.

I already have a very nice Kitchenaid stand mixer (it was my 30th birthday present...)

I am not into jewellery (and I inherited my mother's jewellery a couple of years ago so I have lots of hand-me-downs for my daughters)

A duvet is a nice idea, I will have a look too.

The sort of best quality expensive Christmas tree that fits your new house & will last you 20+ years? Every year you'll have a reminder of your dad at Xmas.

Vitamix or a magimix. Im baffled at people saying thats a bad idea as they will become obsolete in a few years. Why and how? Yes new models come along but so what, the one you have will still be totally fine.

Do you have a reading nook? A nice comfy armchair would be lovely.