When it comes to entertaining, hosting friends and family, or an impromptu gathering, we don’t need much space. Magical moments can happen in a space or home of any size, and we’ve got our best tips for ensuring you can entertain with ease in your small space.
In advance of your dinner party, luncheon, or girls’ night, there are few key things to do to really help your small space shine. And while these tips are also useful for those with larger spaces, it’s us small space dwellers who really need to take advantage of the pre-event space prep.
Here’s how to maximize space in advance
- Clear Clutter: Get rid of all things unnecessary for entertaining. Clear off all surfaces people will sit (or try to sit!), and clear off any décor that could easily get broken in a crowd. You could also clear off bookshelves or other more utilitarian storage for the night. It might mean having a bedroom closet absolutely full of things, but you’ll be grateful you cleared off a bookshelf or two for extra drink stations or food areas.
- Make the space function for your event: Yes, it’s your home and where you live. But during a dinner party, or baby shower, you don’t need your desk set up for your perfect WFH situation. Rearrange furniture to best suit the event. That may mean dragging your sofa around, creating a makeshift table, rearranging seating, or clearing the room entirely to make a dancefloor. Need more chairs? Perhaps this is a great time to introduce yourself to your neighbours!
- Designate your areas: Think about the space while you clearing clutter and rearranging furniture…how can you BEST use the space for flow by creating areas or zones? Is the bathroom right off the entry? Perhaps a simple rolling rack in the bathroom is where everyone can hang their jackets. Create spaces or zones for drink stations, food stations, and if you need one, a space for gifts, coats, and other party related goods.
Once you’ve cleared, decluttered, and designated your spaces, you can start to think about how you are going to create a memorable space and set the stage/scene for your event.
Here are our tips for creating a memorable small space:
- Keep it simple: When it comes to your table décor and general décor around your home for the event, we always suggest keeping it simple for small spaces. Limit your table décor and keep flowers simple and small. It’s amazing what some battery-operated tea lights can do to add ambiance without creating a fire hazard in clutter form!
- Multipurpose furniture: In small spaces we love using multipurpose furniture. How can you repurpose furniture to be best used for your small space event or gathering? A desk is now a food station, a bookshelf is now a drink station, and every chair or item that can be used as seating in your small space is now serving their purpose in a great conversation in your redesigned small event space.
- Quality over quantity: Quality food over mass amounts of so-so food. Quality friends over mass amounts of people. Quality décor over mass amounts of disposable décor. When it comes to entertaining in style, in any sized space, we always opt for quality.
Entertaining can be one of the greatest pleasures. There is nothing better than bringing together a great group, enjoying food together, sharing in laughter, reminiscing and making new memories. Some of the most magical moments can come from simply setting the stage, making the space conducive to merriment, and we hope with our tips you can make magic in your small space.
View our other blog posts for additional inspiration!
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