New Apartment Gifts That Work in a Boston Rental

Boston moves on one day. Somewhere between two-thirds and 70 percent of the city's leases end on September 1. Trucks double-park all over Allston, couches pile up on the curb, and everyone you know seems to be carrying a mattress up three flights at once. The rest of the year has its moves too, a job in Kendall Square in February or a lease that finally lines up in May. Either way, the new apartment gifts that get used are the ones that suit a small rental in an old building.

Start with the neighborhood. A Boston map print of the streets around their new place gives a bare wall something to say on the first night, before the bookshelf is built or the curtains go up. Center it on the building, put a small heart on the right block, and add the move-in date underneath. It also takes no closet space, which matters in a Boston one-bedroom.

What is a good housewarming gift?

One they don't have to store. Most first apartments in Boston are short on cabinets and long on stairs, and a triple-decker in Dorchester or Somerville rarely has room for a stand mixer. The housewarming gift ideas that work tend to fall into three easy groups: something they'll eat or drink in the first week, something that fixes a small daily annoyance, and something for the walls.

A bag of coffee from a roaster near their new place covers the first. A boot tray covers the second better than most people expect, because the first snow brings salt and slush onto the floor by the door. The wall is the hardest, since new renters often leave it bare for months. That's where a picture of their own street does the job without asking them to pick art.

Which Boston neighborhood should the map show?

Theirs, and as close in as you can go. A map of the whole city looks like a transit diagram. A map of eight or ten blocks looks like home.

Some neighborhoods make better maps than others, and Back Bay is the easy example. It was tidal flats until a landfill project that ran from 1857 to 1882, and the planners laid it out in a clean grid. The cross streets run in alphabetical order from Arlington through Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield and Gloucester to Hereford, so a framed map of it is half street plan and half spelling lesson. The South End's bow-front rows and Beacon Hill's crooked lanes look completely different on paper, which is part of the fun. Cambridge and Somerville are separate cities with their own street maps, so if the new place is across the river, check you're centering on the right side of it.

What should you get someone for their first apartment?

Look at a first apartment checklist and most of it is dull on purpose: a shower curtain, a basic toolkit, a fire extinguisher, extension cords, a decent knife. Those are fine to buy, and they're even better to buy together, since a first-timer usually forgets two or three.

Then add one thing that marks the occasion. A first home map print shows their street inside a house shape, with a small key and the year they moved in. It works for a rental as well as a purchase, since the first place you live alone is a first home in every way that counts.

How do you hang art in a rental without losing the deposit?

Read the lease before anything else, because some landlords allow small picture nails and some don't. Older Boston buildings often have plaster walls, which can crack around a nail, so a picture rail, if the apartment has one, is the safest choice. Some pre-war apartments still have one: hooks hang from the molding near the ceiling and nothing touches the wall.

If there's no rail, adhesive strips rated for the frame's weight hold well on smooth painted drywall. Clean the spot first and press each strip for the time the box says. Or skip the wall entirely: a framed print leaning on a dresser or a deep windowsill looks deliberate, and you can move it when the furniture changes.

Frequently asked questions