Christine Gachot's guide to gifting

Although Christine Gachot’s ‘day job’ sees her helming a deep bench team of 30 people as head of the interior design firm Studio GACHOT, the New Yorker has yet another superpower according to her closest friends – the art of gifting. 

For her clients, Gachot is the woman they call when an interior needs reimagining, to her friends she is the woman they turn to when they need an idea for a gift, and fast.

Her debut book, The Thought That Counts: A Guide to Gifting For Every Occasion, is a chic, joyful, and practical guide to giving written by one of the design world’s most stylish—and thoughtful—tastemakers. 

She says her lifelong talent for gifting was inspired by her grandfather, Ed. “When I was a young girl, everybody would gather for Thanksgiving where my family grew up,” she tells Phaidon.com. “And my grandfather Ed - I never called them anything but by their first names - would take us to a department store or toy shop in the town, to pick out a doll or stuffed animal. He would do this with all the cousins, and it just was so joyful. I think that is probably one of the best gifts that I'd ever received just because of the moment. It wasn't the doll or the stuffed animal. It was the thought.” 

For Christine, gifting is never a chore or a stressful, last-minute obligation. It’s a creative act, an opportunity to express gratitude, strengthen relationships, and bring genuine delight to someone else’s day. So as holiday gifting season approaches, we thought we would ask her for some easy gifting ideas all of us can benefit from.

GO FOR THE EASY WIN 
"It doesn’t have to be a gift, it can be a note, a letter. Correspondence and writing are important to me. I remember when my grandparents passed away, my mom handed me this box, and I was like What’s in it? And in it was every letter that I had written to them since I was a young girl. So now, it's gone from a store-bought Hallmark card, when I was younger, that I would pick out and write a little something in, to extensive letters that I write people now. I really believe in passing forward thoughtful behaviour. If you start to believe in those actions they translate into meaningful gestures in people's lives. A compliment goes a long way. That's thoughtful. That's a gift, right? Gifts just aren't things that you purchase and wrap and pass along. A gift is mentorship. It's an act of kindness."
 
 

Photography David Urbanke

HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH GIFTING
"Take the pressure off of yourself. I talk a lot about that in the book. Be prepared. I collect things during my travels throughout the year that I find special, that I'm sure will land somewhere with somebody who has the same taste in - for instance - art shows and gallery exhibitions. Maybe your friends can't always travel to these things so pick up catalogues for them along the way. I always have a fully stocked cabinet. Months before holiday gifting season I have all of my family done already."
 

Photography David Urbanke

 
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’VE LEFT IT ‘TOO LATE’
"I always find that people  choke up when there's a deadline or a birthday. Do not be afraid of time. Forget it. Do it after. Do it before. It's OK if it's last minute, pull it off. It's no big deal. Nobody is going to be offended that you thought of them. I also do not believe that it has to be timely. Even a thank you note. But put things in your calendar. I put birthdays in my calendar. I had a dear friend who was very ill. I just kept a stack of get well cards in my drawer and I would remind myself to pull them out once a month and just drop a card in the mail to say hey, I'm thinking of you. I don't think anything is too big or too small. It's all good. People tend to get things right then and there, but you can save your moment for when it's truly right. It could be three months later, you see something or someone needs a bit of a lift. And that's OK. There's no time limit on generosity or kindness."

Photography David Urbanke

 
NO ONE IS ‘HARD TO BUY FOR’
"Don’t say, ‘I don't know.’ Go out on a limb, take the risk. Who cares? There's no wrong answer, really. Again, write the note, add a gift card. All of its good. It's all about showing somebody that you acknowledge them in your life. You're thinking of them, they've done something for you, maybe that you want to show them how special it was."

Photography David Urbanke

BUT DO YOUR RESEARCH!
"What I always enjoy is the research. So get in there, be a good listener, find out what people like, what they collect. They might not even know they want but they will have said something. They might have left a little clue along the way about how they might want to try something new. So lean into that."
 

Photography David Urbanke

FIND THE ‘FAILSAFE’ GRADUATION GIFT
"I remember graduation and graduation for my friends, children, nieces, nephews. It's just such a moment in your life when everyone rallies around you and says, congratulations. These milestones are a really big deal for young people. And you forget as you get older, how big of a deal they are. We just had somebody that celebrated a 13th birthday. 13 is big, especially for a 13-year-old! So I really do try to rally around younger people and the opportunity to say, we're so proud of you."
 
"I believe in cash for graduates, and then something funny to go with it is always nice. For graduation I usually gift lan oversized Costco box of ramen. And then cash to pay for beer. Or whatever your beer is - money for Glossier - whatever the thing is for the person. Maybe it’s sunglasses. Most people like sunglasses. So I usually throw in a little the future’s so bright you got to wear shades and a little cash."
 

Photography David Urbanke

REGIFTING IS GOOD!
"It's really nice to either have something that you know you loved so much or you got so much joy out of. And then you give it to somebody else. I believe in letting go of things,  let go and let somebody else enjoy it. We buy multiples of things that we love. But I’ll often pull a book off of our shelf, or clothing that I'm no longer going to wear for whatever reason. I line everything up. I have all my girls come. They try everything on and they're so grateful and they love it. It's such a great, generous thing." 
 
"My goddaughter who is like a daughter to John and I. We love her very much. It was just her 30th birthday. And she was a flower girl at our wedding. I gave her my wedding ring. I don't wear it. I've moved on to anniversary rings. I've been married for a very long time, and my husband is a very generous gift giver. So, I said to him, why don't I give her my wedding band that she walked down the aisle with as the little flower girl, It's sitting in a jewellery box. I haven't worn it in how long? So I like that idea of paying it forward a bit."

IT REALLY IS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS
"And I also think it truly like the name of the book is so simple, the thought that counts. We used it as a working title and it just stuck. It truly is just the thought that counts. The biggest gifts that you can give people are generosity and support, especially when people need it the most. That comes with time, your time is a gift. Going to sit with somebody who is sick or watching somebody's child for them, so they have a night off. Those things mean so much more even than something maybe more tangible." 

Make your holiday season gifting as great as Gachot's by getting a copy of The Thought That Counts: A Guide to Gifting For Every Occasion.