There is a special category of person who gets genuinely excited about a beautifully made dish brush. You know the type. Their kitchen towels are folded instead of vaguely compressed into a drawer, their broom is attractive enough to hang in public, and they can explainin surprising detailwhy one cleaning cloth is superior to another.
For that person, the 2017 holiday season produced a wonderfully unconventional collection of gifts. Instead of novelty mugs, battery-powered gadgets, or yet another candle, Gift Guide 2017: 8 Gifts for the Domestic Set celebrated objects used for washing dishes, dusting furniture, polishing wood, hanging laundry, removing crumbs, and generally keeping a home civilized.
The original Remodelista guide, published on November 30, 2017, brought together eight practical household objects ranging from an $8 cleaning cloth to an $87.50 Scandinavian washing-up bowl and brush. Its central idea was wonderfully simple: an ordinary domestic tool can become a memorable gift when its materials, craftsmanship, and design are better than what someone would normally buy for themselves.
Editor’s note: Prices mentioned below are historical prices associated with the 2017 guide, not current retail quotes. Some products have changed in price, retailer, packaging, or availability since then.
Why Give Household Tools as Gifts?
Cleaning equipment does not immediately scream “holiday magic.” A broom beneath the Christmas tree sounds suspiciously like the opening scene of a fairy tale in which someone is about to receive several additional chores.
Yet well-designed household essentials occupy an interesting sweet spot. They are useful enough to avoid becoming clutter, but luxurious versions often feel too indulgent to buy during an ordinary supermarket run. That makes them surprisingly effective gifts.
The concept has aged well. Modern gift guides from Apartment Therapy, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, HGTV, Architectural Digest, The Spruce, Food52, Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart, Serious Eats, and Consumer Reports continue to feature practical kitchen and household products alongside conventional decorative presents. The basic lesson is consistent: usefulness does not prevent an object from feeling special, particularly when it improves something the recipient does every day.
That philosophy explains the enduring charm of this particular 2017 gift guide. These are not objects invented to become presents. They existed because somebody needed to wash a bottle, wipe a counter, polish a table, or sweep toast crumbs off the breakfast surface. Their gift-worthiness comes from turning those boring little jobs into slightly nicer experiences.
1. Papier d’Arménie: An Old-School Approach to Freshening a Room
One of the most unusual selections was Papier d’Arménie, presented in the original guide as a set of three booklets and priced at $40 through Flotsam & Fork. The fragrant papers were described as a natural air deodorizer associated with Styrax resin.
This is precisely the kind of domestic gift that creates conversation. It is compact, attractive, and much more interesting to unwrap than a plastic aerosol can labeled “Mountain Waterfall Extreme.”
The appeal lies partly in ritual. Scenting a room becomes something deliberate rather than a quick spray-and-run operation. For someone who enjoys traditional household objects, incense, fragrance, or old-fashioned domestic practices, Papier d’Arménie feels more personal than another generic home fragrance.
Who would appreciate it?
Consider it for the design-conscious host, apartment dweller, fragrance enthusiast, or friend who has somehow transformed “making the house smell nice” into a legitimate hobby.
2. Eco Max Bottle Brushes: Because Bottles Have Corners Too
The Eco Max bottle brush appeared in small, medium, and large versions in the 2017 guide. Historical pricing at Father Rabbit ranged from NZ$7.50 for the small brush to NZ$10 for the large version.
A bottle brush may be among the least glamorous objects ever invited into a gift guide, and that is exactly why it works. Most people will spend generously on the bottlea beautiful reusable water bottle, carafe, vase, or thermosthen attack its narrow interior with whatever suspicious sponge happens to be nearby.
A dedicated brush makes the job easier, and a good-looking one can remain beside the sink without making the kitchen resemble the cleaning aisle of a convenience store.
Practical kitchen tools continue to dominate editor-tested gift guides because objects used frequently can deliver more lasting value than complicated gadgets destined for a cabinet. Serious Eats, for example, routinely emphasizes dependable tools that simplify routine kitchen work rather than novelty for novelty’s sake.
3. Heirloom Cleaning Cloths: The Fancy Rag That Makes Sense
Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co.’s traditional Heirloom Cloths appeared in small and large sizes, historically listed at $8 and $16 in the 2017 guide.
Calling something an “heirloom cleaning cloth” sounds almost comically ambitious. Nobody expects future generations to gather solemnly for the reading of a will and hear, “To Emily, I leave the good counter rag.”
But the name captures what makes upgraded basics appealing. A cleaning cloth is used constantly. Texture, absorbency, durability, drying behavior, and appearance all influence whether it becomes a favorite or disappears into the mysterious lower cabinet where bad sponges go to retire.
The broader idea remains current. Better Homes & Gardens has highlighted reusable cloths among simple household essentials recommended by cleaning professionals, reinforcing the value of uncomplicated tools that perform common jobs well.
A small gift with a low clutter risk
This is also an excellent choice for minimalists. A useful textile eventually wears out, takes almost no storage space, and can replace something already in the recipient’s cleaning rotation. In gifting terms, that is practically an ecological miracle.
4. Normann Copenhagen Washing-Up Bowl and Brush
The most visually substantial object in the original collection was the Normann Copenhagen washing-up bowl and brush. Remodelista described the set as a gray rubber bowl paired with a beech brush and listed it at $87.50 in 2017.
Nearly ninety dollars for a dishwashing bowl may cause budget-conscious shoppers to clutch a five-dollar plastic basin protectively. But this gift illustrates the central theme better than almost anything else: take an object normally hidden beneath the sink, redesign it thoughtfully, and suddenly it can contribute to the room instead of merely occupying it.
For small kitchens, this philosophy is particularly relevant. When storage space is limited, frequently used tools often remain visible. Serious Eats has similarly emphasized compact, hardworking kitchen equipment for smaller spaces, where every object needs to justify the territory it occupies.
The Normann Copenhagen set was therefore not simply about washing dishes. It represented the Scandinavian-flavored idea that utility and visual restraint do not have to fight each other before breakfast.
5. Christophe Pourny Furniture Care: A Spa Day for the Dining Table
Another distinctive selection came from Brooklyn-based furniture restorer Christophe Pourny. The original guide featured his wood-care product with flannel polishing cloths and noted that the formula was handmade using organic and virgin oils derived from North American seeds, intended to revive faded wood color.
This is a particularly good example of gifting a better version of routine maintenance. People happily spend money on quality furniture, then may devote approximately six seconds to deciding how to care for it.
A dedicated furniture-care set encourages a different relationship with household possessions: maintain what you own, learn how materials age, and preserve pieces rather than treating furniture as disposable décor.
Best suited to wood lovers
Think of the person with an antique dresser, vintage dining table, inherited sideboard, or suspiciously emotional relationship with walnut. A furniture-care gift says, “I noticed that thing you love,” which is more thoughtful than randomly selecting something from the holiday aisle.
As with any wood-care product, recipients should follow the manufacturer’s directions and confirm suitability for the particular finish before covering Grandma’s irreplaceable table in enthusiasm.
6. Copper Scrubbers: A Better-Looking Weapon Against Stubborn Grime
The 2017 collection also highlighted copper scrubbers, including a Redecker option and a heavier copper sponge found through the French retailer Merci. The latter was listed at €7.90 in the original article.
There is something deeply satisfying about a tool whose appearance honestly communicates its mission. A copper scrubber does not pretend to be decorative sculpture. It looks ready for work.
At the same time, the warm metallic surface makes it much more attractive than the familiar fluorescent scrub pad slowly developing a questionable biography beside the sink.
Cleaning-oriented gifts remain a surprisingly resilient category. Good Housekeeping has devoted entire gift selections to people who genuinely enjoy cleaning, while Apartment Therapy has repeatedly included premium cleaning products among practical household presents.
The important practical point is to match any abrasive cleaning tool to an appropriate surface and follow cookware or appliance care instructions. “Enthusiastic scrubbing” should never become an accidental refinishing project.
7. Pincinox Stainless Steel Clothespins
Perhaps the purest industrial-design object in the collection was the Pincinox stainless steel clothespin. Remodelista noted that the design dated to 1969 and came from southern France, presenting a pack of 20 as a durable alternative to conventional wooden clothespins. The historical price listed through Flotsam & Fork was $20.
These are wonderfully nerdy gifts.
To a normal person, a clothespin holds laundry. To a member of the domestic set, however, a clothespin can apparently have provenance, material integrity, engineering, and opinions.
Stainless clothespins fit especially well in homes where laundry is line-dried, but their usefulness extends to closing pantry bags, securing papers, organizing small items, hanging photographs, and performing the thousand tiny improvised jobs for which clothespins are recruited.
This is where thoughtful practical gifting shines: a recipient may never decide independently that the household requires premium French stainless steel clothespins. Once they own them, however, inexpensive wooden pins may suddenly look like primitive technology.
8. Andrée Jardin Short-Handled Brush and Crumb Collector
The final idea was the Mr & Mrs Clynk short-handled brush and crumb collector from French broom maker Andrée Jardin, listed by the original guide at roughly €30, or about $35 at the time. It was notable enough to have appeared in Remodelista’s gift coverage before 2017 as well.
A tabletop crumb brush is an object many Americans can live perfectly happily withoutuntil they use one.
Instead of chasing crumbs around a table with your hand and transferring half of them to your pants, a compact brush and collector turns post-breakfast cleanup into a ten-second operation. It is especially pleasant for wooden dining tables where placemats, toast, pastries, and children regularly generate their own miniature geological layers.
And because the brush is attractive, it can remain accessible rather than being exiled to a cabinet. That combination of visibility and usefulness is one reason design-focused publications continue to recommend handsome household objects as housewarming and holiday gifts.
What the 2017 Domestic Gift Guide Got Right
Looking back, the strongest idea in this gift guide is not any individual product. It is the method used to select them.
A memorable household gift often has three qualities: the recipient will actually use it, the upgraded version is noticeably better or more pleasurable than the cheapest alternative, and it is just indulgent enough that the recipient probably would not buy it spontaneously.
That formula can apply to a dish brush, pepper mill, linen towel, garden tool, storage container, cutting board, blanket, or chef’s knife. Contemporary home and housewarming guides continue mixing aesthetic appeal with real-world usefulness rather than treating those qualities as opposites.
There is also an anti-clutter argument for practical gifts. Decorative presents require the recipient to find somewhere to display them. Useful household gifts earn their space through work. The best examples eventually become invisible parts of daily lifewhich may be a greater compliment than sitting untouched on a shelf for fifteen years.
Experience Notes: Living With Better Everyday Household Tools
The real test of a domestic gift does not happen while someone is unwrapping it. It happens three months later on a completely ordinary Tuesday.
Imagine replacing a flimsy plastic dish brush with one that has a comfortable wooden handle. The first wash is mildly satisfying. After a month, however, something more interesting happens: reaching for the better brush becomes automatic. You no longer think about the object. You simply notice that washing a pan is slightly less irritating.
That tiny reduction in friction is what good domestic design does best.
I have found that the household products people value most are rarely those with the longest feature lists. They are the ones that quietly remove annoyance from repetitive chores. A bottle brush that actually reaches the bottom of a narrow container is better than a “12-in-1 smart cleaning system” requiring an instruction manual. A cloth that feels good in the hand and dries quickly gets used. A compact crumb brush stored near the dining table prevents someone from grabbing three paper towels after every breakfast.
Beautiful tools also change storage behavior. Ugly cleaning equipment tends to be hidden. Once hidden, it becomes inconvenient. When a brush, cloth, bowl, or dustpan looks acceptable in the open, it can stay close to where the work happens.
That sounds trivial until you consider how often domestic tasks repeat. A tool used twice a day is handled more than 700 times in a year. Improving that experience even slightly can provide more practical value than an elaborate present used twice during the same period.
Another lesson from this style of gifting is that price and luxury are relative. A $25 furniture treatment may not qualify as luxury compared with jewelry, but it can feel extravagant compared with the generic product someone normally grabs at a hardware store. Likewise, spending more on clothespins sounds absurd until the recipient uses them for years and stops replacing broken wooden ones.
The danger, of course, is becoming the person who gives everyone cleaning equipment regardless of their interests. A beautifully designed broom is charming for someone who loves homekeeping. Giving it to a person who hates cleaning might communicate something closer to, “Merry Christmas; I’ve noticed your floors.”
Recipient fit matters more than the object’s pedigree.
A useful strategy is to observe what someone already enjoys doing around the home. The enthusiastic cook may appreciate a specialized brush or durable cloth. The vintage-furniture collector may value furniture care. The minimalist may prefer a long-lasting replacement for a disposable household object. The design lover may enjoy a washing-up bowl that looks intentional enough to remain on display.
This approach also makes gift shopping less dependent on trends. Instead of asking, “What product is everybody buying this year?” ask, “What does this person already use every week, and is there a significantly nicer version of it?”
That single question can generate excellent gift ideas long after every annual holiday shopping list has disappeared from the homepage.
It is also why the Gift Guide 2017: 8 Gifts for the Domestic Set remains interesting years later. The exact prices and retailers belong to 2017, but the principle does not. Useful beauty ages remarkably well.
A carefully made bottle brush is still a bottle brush. A clothespin remains a clothespin. Neither will revolutionize civilization. But good versions make routine work a little more pleasant, last longer when well made and appropriately used, and occasionally bring the odd satisfaction of owning a household object that is exactly right for its job.
Sometimes that is enough. Not every Christmas gift needs Wi-Fi.
Conclusion: Domestic Gifts Can Be Practical Without Being Boring
The eight selections in this 2017 domestic gift guide represented a distinctive kind of luxury: ordinary objects made unusually well. Papier d’Arménie elevated room fragrance; Eco Max brushes attacked awkward bottles; heirloom cloths improved basic wiping; Normann Copenhagen redesigned the dishwashing basin; Christophe Pourny brought ceremony to furniture care; copper scrubbers tackled stubborn cleanup; Pincinox transformed the humble clothespin; and Andrée Jardin gave table crumbs an unexpectedly elegant exit.
More importantly, the collection offered a useful philosophy for buying gifts. Start with the recipient’s real life. Find an object they already need. Then choose the version that offers better design, materials, durability, or pleasure than the one they would normally buy.
That is how a cleaning brush can become a surprisingly thoughtful presentand how the most unglamorous corner of the house can produce some of the best gift ideas.
