A first Christmas in a new home, kept on the wall

A house-shaped map print of Hove as a first-home keepsake, framed in natural wood

The first Christmas in a new place is the one people remember: the tree squeezed into the wrong corner, boxes still in the spare room, the first cards arriving with the new address on them. A map print of the street makes a good present for it because it records something true, the place they now live, rather than a slogan that could be anyone's.

Our Where It Happened map print is built from real map data for the exact spot you choose, so the roads, the green and the bend of the river are the ones outside their window. You see the finished artwork before you order, and the preview is drawn by the same code that makes the print file.

What you need before you start

  • The address or postcode. A street name and town works too, or a nearby landmark if the house is new and not yet on the map. You can move and zoom the view until it looks like the area they know.
  • The words for the label. A title such as "Our first home" or "Our first Christmas at No. 14", a second line for their names, and the date they got the keys. The coordinates can sit on the label as well.
  • Optional: a photo of the front of the house. Add one and we draw the house free, set above the map. If you would rather not use a photo, mark the spot with a small house, a heart, a pin or a ring instead.

Choices that suit a home

The map can be cut into a house shape as well as an arch, a circle, a heart or straight edges. Map styles run from a real street map to heritage, coastal blue, minimal ivory, monochrome and soft pastel. Pick the shape first: a house outline with a wide view of the neighbourhood reads very differently from a tight circle around one street.

Think about where it will hang. A hallway print gets looked at from a step or two away, so a closer view with fewer, bolder roads usually works better there than a wide view packed with detail.

A note on privacy

A map with a house drawn on it shows where someone lives. If the print will hang where visitors or a camera might see it, consider leaving the house number out of the title, or setting the view a little wider so the exact door is less obvious. If you add a photo for the house drawing, your browser sends a small copy so the drawing can be made, and we do not keep the photo itself; the full detail is on Photos and your privacy.

If a map is not quite right

  • The family words print in its Established style: the family name, the year they became one, everyone's names and where they live. Its painted backgrounds include frost and snowfall if you want it to feel wintry without saying "Christmas" forever. It is also available on a mug.
  • The Our Story timeline print for a couple whose new house is one chapter of a longer story: three to sixteen moments, each with a year and a few words, and the house key as the latest one.
  • The travel map print if the move was a long one: up to twelve places joined into one journey, from the first flat to this house.

Timing for Christmas

Everything is printed to order in the UK after you approve it. The current delivery estimate is shown on each product page, so check it against the day you will see them. For two hours after ordering you can still change the design from the link in your order email; after that it goes to print.

Start the map with their address, or see every personalised print.