6 Ways To Optimize Your Home For Entertaining Parties
Planning a party at home isn’t always easy, especially if you have a small space. Fortunately, it matters more what you do with the space than how large it is. Use these six tips to optimize your home for the next time you have guests over!
1. Equip Your Home With A Fun Group Activities
Usually, conversation takes over at a good party, but you may need a little help getting your guests to warm up. Group activities are an excellent way to start a party, get people engaged and help relax things between people who may not know each other. Group activities are great for relaxing nights with a few close friends or the start of a large party.
While video games may be the last thing you consider to do at a party, they actually make group activities quite simple. Karaoke and games similar to rock band make for a great time, and all the equipment is relatively inexpensive. If you buy an entire karaoke system, you’re likely going to pay around the same as a video game system, and it can only do one activity.
2. Store Your Wine Properly
Wooden wine boxes are an excellent way to store your wine. Wooden wine boxes are customizable to your home’s decor, and you can personalize them with your initials or family name. Bringing out the wine in a wooden wine box adds to the splendor and beauty of the experience. Wooden wine boxes also take up less space than naked wine bottles since you can safely stack the boxes once the party gets going.
3. Separate Food And Drink Stations
Nothing is worse than just wanting a drink and getting held up by the food crowd. Separating the stations will reduce people bumping into each other and streamline the party foot traffic. Instead of dedicating a huge section of your home for all the food, drinks, deserts and cutlery, spread the stations out throughout your home. Separating the stations will help avoid people cluttering in one spot.
4. Keep Cleaning Products On Hand
Good parties almost always come with a spill of some sort. Being prepared during the party will help save you from a headache the next day. Your couch or floor is less likely to stain if you’re able to do a preliminary cleaning right away. The unfortunate reality of being the host is that you’re always on clean-up duty so you might as well stay ready.
5. Make Arrangements For Food Well In Advance
Whether you’re ordering food or cooking it yourself, make sure you give yourself enough time to get ready. No one wants to be still cooking while the guests are starting to arrive. Planning ahead of time also makes clean up an easier task. Serving finger foods, skewers and other foods that don’t require plates will make life easier for you the next day.
6. Rearrange Your Decor
Taking advantage of vertical space helps you open up the ground level for partying. Your home can feel a little stiff and cause people to be cautious if you have nice tables, vases and other accessories everywhere. Coffee tables and fancy centerpieces take up valuable surface space. When you use vertical space, it’s easier to create an environment suited to conversation and connection.
Another thing to keep in mind about your decor is to get rid of your decorative accents. People never know what to do with decorative pillows when they sit down, and they don’t make your couch more comfortable. Remove anything that’s easy to trip over or is just there purely for looks. Use art on your walls and your fireplace to help establish an open decor.