3 Tips for Home Organization that Makes Hosting Easy
Most of us can feel it when we’re in one, yet can find it difficult to identify the specific elements that make a home great for entertaining. What gives a space its warm, inviting ambiance? Is it the lighting? The size of the space? The availability and arrangement of seating?
To get to the bottom of what makes a space ideal for hosting, I am sharing my insights with you! Whether tackling a dining room, kitchen, living room or outdoor space, here is what I discovered about creating a space that begs to be filled with guests.
Tip #1: When Furnishing Your Space, Select Multi-Functional Storage Items
Flexibility is the single biggest change in design in the last 20 years. Homes need to be designed to accommodate a large party, a small intimate gathering and sometimes just two people. Formal dining rooms have become less popular in recent decades, as homeowners instead opt to create an expanded take on a breakfast nook within their kitchens. It is so important to have ample space to store items used for entertaining, such as platters and serving ware—either in a separate room like a butler’s pantry or within a sideboard. Nothing can put a hitch in plans to entertain like an overwhelming sense of clutter, and that’s where having the right kind of storage throughout your house can help.
Tip #2: When Arranging Your Room, Make Multiple Seating Plans
Sometimes I am foregoing a formal dining space and making the breakfast room into a sunroom with an eating area. It often has the prettiest view and is best suited for people who entertain casually. By putting out the fancy china and fine linens, this space converts to a dramatic, gorgeous dining space that often can seat many more than a dining room!
In my own kitchen and breakfast room, I have a fireplace, soft seating and great views from a big window that provides lots of natural light. It all relates to the idea of an open plan—having your space include more than just the kitchen and cabinets.
It is my mission to get my clients to use all the rooms of their home—from living rooms and dining rooms to studies—by making them inviting and multi-functional. A kitchen is no longer just for cooking; it’s also for socializing, entertaining and spending time with family!
Tip #3: When Decorating Your Home, Add Thoughtful Seasonal Accessories
Layering is also important when it comes to the design details of a space. It’s all about layering to make it inviting. Mixing soft fabrics with leathers, adding mirrors and metals, and finding the right mix of all that. Layering draws people in and makes them feel comfortable and invited.
Music is another way to bring energy to a party and to tie several different spaces together, I recommend investing in a sound system that connects rooms inside and outside.
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Cheers!
Michelle