The holidays are all about spending time with the people you cherish, sharing a warm meal and reminiscing over the memories made throughout the year. Rearranging your home and setting up tables for a party creates the ideal scene for festivities and celebrations. Whether you’re a seasoned holiday host or preparing for your dinner party debut, there is always room for new décor inspiration to refresh your home with a festive look. Here are a few tips on preparing for a party at home and transforming your space into a winter wonderland this holiday season.
Furniture Arrangement Essentials
How to arrange your furniture for a party depends on the space. In larger rooms, try creating cozy seating arrangements to encourage pockets of conversation throughout the space. You will likely have to rearrange your living room furniture into smaller groupings, each one allowing your guests to catch up. For any-size room, consider turning the sofas away from the television and toward the fireplace or coffee table instead. Perhaps, you may even want to place matching loveseats back-to-back with a narrow table or console between them, forming a structural anchor in the room.
You can use a rug to define your smaller furniture arrangements, too, creating visual structure and flow throughout the space. Doing so keeps conversation over a coffee table largely uninterrupted by movement. Rugs also make the room feel warmer—a welcome addition to a winter evening event.
Remove What You Don’t Need
Hosting a party means your home will be fuller than usual, so you may need more space. Try to eliminate unnecessary clutter from countertops, fireplace mantels, TV consoles, and other surfaces. Arrange your furniture around the party activities you have planned for the evening. If you hope to spend time playing games in the living room, move extra end tables out of the way for more room to groove.
Spacing Rules
Though arranging furniture is a creative pursuit in many ways, there are a few time-honored rules to consider. In general, there should be three feet of space between furniture pieces so guests can walk easily between each grouping. This spacing also ensures that partygoers are within talking distance but not uncomfortably close to one another. Wondering how to arrange tables for a party? When using a central coffee table, the table should be 15 to 18 inches from the nearest sofa or chair. Maintaining this distance means guests can place a drink on the table while seated.
Extra Seating
Depending on how many guests you are expecting, you might need extra seating for your party. Try swapping out your cumbersome coffee table for an ottoman guests can use as a comfy seat. Other creative seating options include foldable X benches, armchairs, poufs, and portable wooden stools. Populating unused corners with lightweight seating encourages your guests to move around and mingle during the holiday party.
Essential Spaces
Once you’ve arranged your largest spaces for the festivities, two other rooms need your attention: the entryway and the powder room. Regardless of where your guests mingle, they’ll all arrive and leave through the entrance and likely visit the powder room once or twice.
In the entryway, welcome your guests to your party in style with an array of ornaments or twinkling fairy lights hung over the door frame. In the powder room, ensure you have hand towels, a lit seasonal candle, stocked tissues, and plenty of toilet paper easily accessible and nicely displayed. You can also dress up your bathroom walls with festive wall art or add a holiday-themed soap next to the basin.
Finally, move all your personal belongings out of the room—leaving a tube of toothpaste on the counter doesn’t exactly say “party-ready.”
Food and Drinks
In addition to flowing conversation and a festive atmosphere, a holiday party demands food and drinks. Transform a bar cart and dining room cabinet into food tables, drink stations, or novelty buffets, each decorated with floral centerpieces and tea light candles that entice guests to sip and nibble.
Cocktail tables are also ideal for parties, as they take up minimal floor space. Similarly, coffee tables provide stable surfaces to serve drinks and play games, while a large ottoman is perfect for shouldering a tray with snacks and appetizers. Your guests can easily graze while seated. And be sure to carve a clear path through your home for guests to find these stations using thoughtful furniture placement.
Holiday Decorations
What’s a holiday party without festive decorations? Make your holiday décor the center of attention and arrange your furniture around larger pieces to set them as focal points in the room. Create a fun holiday centerpiece for your dining table, add festive accents above your TV unit, and dress up the windows and walls to add comfort and joy to every room.
Find Furniture and Décor at Home Zone Furniture
No matter how you decide to prepare your home for a Christmas party this holiday season, Home Zone has the furniture and décor you need to get your space ready. Our friendly team of consultants would love to help you choose new additions to your dining set or extra accent chairs for your party that will wow every guest. Contact us or visit any of our Home Zone stores to find the furniture you need to make your space dazzle for the festive season.