The 40 best practical gifts they’ll actually use in 2024

Upgrade their salt and pepper game with this rechargeable grinder set, which comes with four pods (for four different spices) and has adjustable grind sizes. It's a favorite of our home and gifts editor Amina Lake Abdelrahman. Plus, it comes in several colors, including jet black and this festive red that's perfect for the holiday season.

Earlier this year, I traded my old banged-up sheet pans for this set from Great Jones and I will never (ever, ever!) go back. These sheet pans are perfection — easy to clean, seemingly impossible to stain and available in the best colors (mine are green, and they are gorgeous).

When I interviewed organizing experts about the stick-on products they swear by, one of them told me about stick-on banana hooks … and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since! A banana hook is both entirely practical and totally preposterous, which makes it a conversation-worthy gift item.

Kitchen towels are endlessly useful, and they need to be replaced more often than you'd think, which makes gifting a set in a cute pattern a perfect thing for just about anyone who loves to cook.

Kitchen shears are such a useful thing to own, but they’re almost too practical to give as a gift unless you elevate the form. These red-handled kitchen shears, which feature a micro-serrated blade edge that allows you to cut through anything with ease and a bottle opener built into the handle, fit the bill perfectly.

This handy, bendable neck light has three color modes (yellow, warm white and cool white), three brightness levels and up to 80 hours of power from the included rechargeable battery, giving book lovers much-needed light to read wherever they may be.

I love books (Dracula is one of my all-time faves!) and I hate spotty glasses, cell phones and e-readers, so I personally consider these glasses and screen cleaning cloths to be the perfect gift. Other titles you can choose from include "Romeo and Juliet," "Pride and Prejudice" and "Da Vinci's Journal." And, for people who aren't readers, there are tons of other great motifs to choose from.

For the reader who likes to settle in with a hot drink and a good book, this stand keeps a book open, holds a mug and has room for a phone or glasses.

This tiny but powerful rechargeable shaver comes with its own case — no more fishing around for a zipper bag to shove your razor into (just me??). Plus, it has a chamber to catch hair, so you can use it anywhere without making a mess.

Hand sanitizer is a must when it comes to travel, but it doesn’t have to be boring, smell bad or dry out your skin. Noshinku's sanitizer mist is small enough to pass through airport security regulations, and the blend uses essential oils and alcohol derived from organic cane sugar to soften and sanitize hands simultaneously. We think this four-pack is the perfect stocking stuffer idea.

It doesn't get more practical than an umbrella. A high-end travel umbrella that actually won’t break is a practically perfect gift for anyone on your holiday shopping list. We also love that Davek’s umbrellas come with a lifetime warranty.

Cosmetic cases are so useful, and having a collection in various shapes and sizes is a good idea for the frequent traveler or beauty enthusiast. Mark & Graham’s cosmetic cases are a great addition to any collection of travel bags and can be monogrammed to make them feel extra special.

Courant's dual-device charger is so attractive you might mistake it for a small abstract sculpture. Compatible with iPhone 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, the stand has an upright stand for phones and a flat base for AirPods. Abdelrahman always uses it to charge her phone while following recipes in the kitchen.

This earbud cleaning set comes with its own carrying case, making it ideal for frequent travelers, gym rats or anyone else who's always on the go to stash in a bag for quick cleaning.

Ditch those disposable lighters for good with Luma's gas-free rechargeable lighter. This is the perfect gift for the candle-obsessed person in your life. Its extra-long length makes lighting pillar candles a cinch, and its chic design means you can keep it on display.

Sunscreen is an everyday must for people who spend time outside, but we don't always splurge on the fancy stuff for ourselves. Elevate their sunblock game with Supergoop's Bestsellers Set, which features the brand's original SPF lotion, as well as its invisible and tinted SPFs.

It doesn't get much more practical than soap! Elevate everyday personal care products like body wash and deodorant by choosing festive scents, like Old Spice's newest holiday fragrance, the hilariously named LumberSnack. In addition to fresh pine, Old Spice has another seasonal scent this year called SnickerDudel, which has notes of sugar cookie.

When I moved to a desert climate, I knew I would require constant misting to keep me from turning to parchment. My two requirements for a humidifier are: 1. Easy to refill and 2. Easy to clean. Hey Dewy's humidifier meets both of those standards and is especially attractive to boot.

We think that gifts of food and drink are practical in their own unique way because, once used, they don’t have to be stored and won't become clutter. Alcohol-free drinks take things up a notch, by offering sober or sober-curious people a festive alternative to the hard stuff, and Free AF's is one of the best non-alc wines I've tried.

Really good sheets, like this set from Boll & Branch, make such a great gift. For more bedding recommendations that make great gift ideas, check out our guides to the best cotton sheets, the best linen sheets and the best cooling sheets.

Therabody's Wave Roller combines the power of a massage gun with the versatility of a foam roller. I recently traded my old roller for the Wave Roller and I cannot recommend it strongly enough for post-workout recovery — it's just so much more effective than its manual counterparts. It's truly a game changer!

When we asked "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice about her workout essentials, she told us that she love-love-loves her Bala Bangles. The super-popular wrist and ankle weights come in loads of colors that make them a fantastic gift option for any occasion.

Courtney Cox, who describes herself as "a self-proclaimed neat freak," has a line of cleaning products, including a kitchen set that bundles dish soap, surface cleaner and hand soap. This year, the brand has brought back its super-popular balsam fragrance for the holidays.

It's a good idea to stock toilet paper, but all those rolls take up a lot of space — and if you're short on storage, the question of where to put the TP is a vexing one. This wall-mounted toilet paper holder solves that problem, and it's so stylish that everyone will want to know where you got it.

Most cleaning wipes are flimsy and simply don't work very well, so I avoid them. But Crocodile Cloth converted me into a great lover of wipes! These things are truly incredible: sturdy, large enough to cover a lot of surface area in a single pass and powerful enough to clean really grimy spaces (like patio furniture and grills). I am genuinely obsessed with these and I want you to buy them for everyone you know!

Biom's gentle all-purpose wipes are another cleaning wipe that I recommend (and personally use!). The brand just introduced a smaller-sized dispenser that is designed to fit in a car cup holder for cleaning up little messes when you're on the road.

Bring some power to household chores with this genius drill brush set. It comes with three scrub brush attachments for use with a power drill: a 2-inch flat round brush, a 4-inch flat round brush and an oval brush. These handy brushes can be used to clean everything from the bathtub to a canoe.

This inexpensive fabric care tool is the gift that keeps on giving. The Gleener Fuzz Remover is a fantastic sweater depiller. The tool comes with three changeable blades in different weights to remove pills from fine, medium or heavy fibers, and the handle is fitted with a lint remover to make cleanup quick.

Yes, water bottles need to be cleaned! But they can be tricky to wash, which is why bottle-cleaning kits are so great. Make a useful set feel more giftable by picking out something with style, like this adorable set with cactus-shaped handles and a terracotta "planter" brush holder.

Leather goods, from bags and shoes to clothing like leather jackets, need to be cleaned regularly to keep them looking their best and ensure they last a long time. A leather care kit makes a fantastic gift because it contains everything they'd need to clean and condition all of their leather goods.

The humble tree air freshener has gotten a stylish makeover with this wooden block that slides into a metal visor clip. The scented odor eliminator comes in three scents and lasts for 30 days. Our home editor is seriously impressed by how great some of the scents are compared to traditional air fresheners.