Housewarming Party Ideas to Celebrate Your New Home

Fewer milestones are as exciting as moving into a new home. Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer, relocating from another state or simply coming from across town, you’ll likely be looking for fun housewarming party ideas to meet your neighbors and become better acclimated to your surroundings.

Housewarming parties may seem like a lot of work, especially if you haven’t begun to fathom unpacking all of your belongings. Fortunately, you can celebrate moving into your new place with family, friends and neighbors without going overboard or over budget.

New to the Neighborhood? Why You Should Host a Housewarming Party

Hopefully, you’re a glass-half-full type of person, in which case, you view moving as a fresh start — the chance to meet new people, explore a new area and make a space your own. Of course, meeting new people can prove difficult, especially if settling in has you feeling tired and overwhelmed. 

Hosting a housewarming party is an excellent way to showcase your new house to your loved ones and get acquainted with people that live on your street. According to a Pew Research Center study, 57% of Americans know only some of their neighbors — 23% of homeowners under 30 don’t know any.

Yet, knowing the neighbors has its benefits. For example, what if you need information regarding garbage or recycling pick-up or help hanging the heavy flat-screen television on the wall? As time passes, it could also be beneficial to have neighbors looking in on your house or offering to watch your pets while you’re away. 

Sometimes, a friendly wave across the street to a familiar face is enough to make you feel a greater sense of belonging in your neighborhood. 

5 Fun Housewarming Party Ideas

A housewarming party is straightforward enough. However, you’ll want plenty of time to breathe between moving in and hosting a gathering. When you’re ready, consider one of the following five housewarming party ideas to share your new home with others.

1. Paint and Sip

What better way to get a jumpstart on your renovations than with a paint-and-sip party? Ask your closest friends and family to join you for a night of wine, pizza and painting at your new house.

A fresh coat of paint is often the best way to make a home feel more like yours — the right color is the perfect backdrop to highlight your personal style.

Make sure you have enough paint, paintbrushes, rollers, towels, paint trays, painter’s tape, trays and drop cloths to go around. It’ll also help save time if you patch up holes beforehand. Whoever attends your paint-and-sip party can tackle a specific room or accent wall. Some people could also be in charge of painting the trim.

A word of advice: Combining the paint cans into a five-gallon bucket will ensure you mix the paint to one consistent color, preventing a patchy paint job.

Of course, it’s only fair that you provide food and beverages for your hard-working partygoers. Ordering pizzas and opening wine or champagne will make the job even more fun.

2. Neighborhood Potluck

You probably have little time to unpack your kitchen, let alone prepare food for everyone — that’s why a neighborhood potluck is one of the best housewarming party ideas for busy, new homeowners.

Informal catering could cost you a pretty penny — between $25 to $45 per person — especially if you’re unsure how many people plan to stop by. With a neighborhood potluck, everyone brings something to eat or drink, and you don’t have to worry about dietary restrictions.

Neighborhood potlucks also take the pressure off you to deliver essential party needs. Instead, you can take a break from moving furniture and enjoy meeting your neighbors over home-cooked food. Better yet, you could end up with plenty of leftovers.

3. Open House

Of course, if you’re settled into your new home already, you may want to have a catered open house party. Choose a date and a set number of hours — between two and five — to have people over. 

Invitations are a good idea to know a possible head count for food and drinks, especially if you invite friends and family from outside the neighborhood. 

Some things to consider for an open house party include the following:

• Seating — many people will cluster or move around, but you do want adequate seating for those who prefer to sit
• The layout for food stations and beverages, including alcohol and mixed drinks
• Types of food, including finger foods, hot entrees, vegetarian options and dessert
• Removing valuables and clutter, especially if you’ve invited neighbors you don’t know very well

You could rent extra tables and chairs affordably if you need more space for serving food or seating guests. 

4. Simple Appetizers or Desserts

If a big neighborhood potluck or open house is too much to add to your plate, a simple gathering over appetizers or desserts is just as perfect. Your neighbors fully understand the exhaustion of moving into a new home and won’t expect you to host anything fancy.

Charcuterie boards are as easy to put together as they are delicious. You could also grab ready-made fruit or vegetable platters from the grocery store. Chips, hummus and olives are other options.

When it comes to dessert, don’t worry about baking anything. Purchase some cookies or a few dozen donuts — you can even cater coffee. Just remember to use disposable cutlery and plates — an appetizer or dessert housewarming party should always be no muss, no fuss.

5. Garden Party

Suppose you’re not entirely done unpacking your house and aren’t ready for people to walk through. If the weather is nice, why not move your housewarming party to the backyard? 

Rent a few tables to serve food buffet style and provide chairs for seating. Setting up a few tents or umbrellas will protect guests from the blazing sun. 

What’s nice about a garden party is that you can incorporate any of the other four housewarming party ideas outdoors. If your barbecue is set up, hamburgers and hot dogs cook quickly and make the perfect backyard meal.

Host the Best Housewarming Party 

You can throw a housewarming party to meet your neighbors without spending too much money or taking on more than you can handle. Remember, the point of housewarming parties is to get to know the good people around you and give yourself a better sense of home.