Moving is one of the top five most stressful life events. Considering the other four are death, divorce, marriage, and having a baby, relocating should be rather simple!  But it’s not.  Whether you’re moving across town or clear across the country, the contents of your life are picked up, packed up and shuffled around.  And that can leave even the most excited mover feeling a little unnerved.  So rather than give someone a plant to celebrate the new digs, consider the type of move they’re making and deliver a thoughtful gift card to make the transition more manageable.

• Downsizing. Give someone who has to move everything they own into smaller or fewer storage compartments the gift of organization.  Get a gift card to a home supply or organization store and attach it to a label maker, a matching set of hangers, or those new hooks that stick but don’t ruin walls.  It’s so much easier to settle in if you have a place for everything.
  

  Gift card to the hardware store attached to a paint brush or some other DIY necessity.

• Moving on up! If your friend is moving up in the world instead of down, then she’ll have more rooms to decorate (and dust and clean).  Get her a new toilet brush (who wants to pack that?!?) or another cleaning supply and attach a home store gift card.  She’ll think of you every time she cleans her new bathroom!
• Moving to the city. Find an online map (or blog or newspaper article) of all the hot spots in the new area.  Get a gift card to a restaurant or another attraction you think he’ll enjoy.  You can package it up with driving directions or the bus/subway schedule. Or buy a little bottle of red paint, a brush, and attach the gift card with a note that reads, “Paint your new town red!”
• Moving to the suburbs. If you’re moving to the burbs, you gotta have a barbeque.  Get a gift card to a barbeque store or local butcher.  Attach it to a new spatula, rib rub, or barbeque mitt.  Throw in a quote from Homer Simpson, “You don’t win friends [or new neighbors] with salad.”
• Just plain moving. As my sister Shannon (Designer and host of DIY Network’s Fresh Coat) will tell you, the easiest and most economical way to update a home is to change its color.  Get a gift card to the local paint or home improvement store and pair it with a new drop cloth, stir stick, or paint brush.  And if you want to be a real friend, offer to come help paint!
• Fixer Upper. If your friends just bought the money pit, chances are good they’ll be spending a fair amount of time at the home improvement store.  Get a gift card to the one closest to their new home and attach it to a “quick fix” product like duct tape, super strength glue, lubricant, or a miracle remover.
• Finishing Touches. Even if the new home is move-in ready, there is still some decorating to do and pictures to be hung.  Get your friend a picture hanging kit, a level, or museum putty to hold knick knacks in place.  Pair that with a gift card to a home decorating store in your area.  “Just a little something to make your house a home.”

If you have an idea of your own, please share it with me.