Top 10 Tips to Get Your Home Ready for Entertaining

By Abe Abbas, About.com Guide
To get your home ready for entertaining, some simple tweaks to your furniture arrangement and home furnishings can do wonders. It takes just a little to make your space more guest-friendly and attractive. Some tips you might want to consider for a holiday or dinner party:

1.     Make Room:

Open up your floor space by arranging furniture to allow guests to move around freely. Remove furniture pieces you will not be needing to a temporary holding place. This might even be a good time to consider whether you need it at all.

2.     Formal or Informal?

Decide beforehand whether you want a formal or informal look. For a more formal arrangement you need more symmetry in how you arrange your furniture and accessories. Go with more muted or deeper colors. For a more casual look, go for more of an informal balance or asymmetry. You can be more playful with your colors and textures.

3.     Introduce Order

Take a look around to make sure that your room looks comfortable and does not present a haphazard look, no matter how casual you want it to be. Mixing too many sizes, scales, colors or textures can make a space seem confusing and even uninviting.

4.     Introduce Nature:

Bring nature indoors with arrangements of leaves, branches, twigs, or other natural elements that emphasize the season or your theme.

5.     Introduce a Theme:

Having a theme helps you unify your decor, and could add to a more festive atmosphere. Continue your party’s theme from room to room to give an uninterrupted flow to the ambiance.

6.     Use Your Walls

Hang artwork or mirrors to dress up your walls. Wall hangings or artwork that go with the season or occasion can continue the theme of your party, and make your space more festive.

7.     Lighting:

Lighting is crucial in setting up the ambiance of a room. Make sure you use it to create the effect you want. Multi-layered lighting lets you adjust the amount of light you need at different points in your evening.

8.     Focus:

Have a focal point in the room to anchor the space, and decorate around your favorite item or feature giving it the place of honor.

9.     No Crowding:

Remember to have enough room at the table without crowding your guests. Either use a table with leaves or set up another table. You can extend the one you have by adding another table instead of crowding people around it. If none of these options are available, consider doing away with a sit down dinner or have fewer guests.

10. Make it Personal:

Don’t hesitate to give your space your own personal touch. Everything does not have to match, and unusual furnishings will make your place more interesting, and personal. Just remember to arrange it in a way that makes sense instead of chaos. In the end, do what feels right to you, because it is your home.