Funny how people buy stuff that they like, as presents for others, assuming the reciepients is the same as theirs. Usually it's not................
Unless you're really really sure of the person's taste and what they'd want (really,
really,
really sure!) I think vouchers or "What would you like?" are the way to go. Or the minor ignominy of handing over a gift and saying "... and the receipt's in the bottom, if you don't like it" [if a place does gift receipts, that's not so bad, so it's worth asking], as opposed to "... and we've kept the receipt", in which case if the recipient hates it they have to
ask you for it.
-Can't go wrong with a houseplant? - oh yes you can. Allergies, cats eating them (personal experience, the latter). Some people hate terracotta. Kitchen knives can be such a strong matter of preference - there are only a few knives out of our zillions that I ever use, and they're mostly the cheapies - that the recipient may just grit their teeth. You
can have too many glasses. Believe it or not, some people don't even like champagne...
... though we were given a really lovely bottle of champagne by a good friend of ours as a housewarming gift - even the box it came in is a lovely leather case. We're saving it for when we've revamped the place - or possibly for when the revamp is depressing us so much we need a real lift!