3 Tips For Entertaining In A Small Space

The holiday season is almost here! Are you planning any holiday parties? Even if you live in a small apartment, you can still host a great party. There’s a fine line between being cozy and being cramped, but if you like to entertain you should never let a small space stop you! Here are 3 tips to help you throw a great party no matter how big or small your home is!

1. Stay out of the kitchen
Parties always seem to gravitate towards the kitchen as the night goes on, which makes perfect sense. Guests grab food and then get caught up in conversation with each other, or they follow you into the kitchen to continue a conversation while you’re making dinner preparations. It isn’t an issue if you have a large kitchen, or an open floor plan where your kitchen and living rooms are actually one large room. But if you have a small kitchen separate from your main rooms, it can get pretty cramped in there with all of your guests!

To keep people out of your kitchen, try making food for the party ahead of time. That will limit the amount of time you have to spend in the kitchen, and if there’s no action in the kitchen, there’s no reason for your guests to hang out there. You can serve appetizers and drinks on platters or tables in your biggest room rather than in the kitchen. Make sure plates, napkins, silverware, and cups etc. are all readily available in the main room as well. If everything your guests need is out in the main rooms, there’s no reason for your guests to be cramped in the kitchen!
2. Make efficient use of your furniture
If you’re entertaining in a small apartment, you need all the space you can get, so make sure your furniture isn’t just decorative, but functional as well! When you host a party, it’s important to have places to serve food and drinks, and plenty of seating. Take a look at the furniture you have in your home and if it isn’t already used for food or seating, see if you can temporarily repurpose it!
If you have a desk in your living room, you can clear it off, cover it with a tablecloth, and use it to serve appetizers. You can turn pretty much anything into a food station by clearing it off and throwing a tablecloth over it! And you can do the same for seating; just stick a cushion on top of something like an end table, a coffee table, or even an extra cooler, and you have instant seating!

3. Don’t throw a party that’s too big for your space!
If your dining table is small and square, you probably don’t have room to host a fancy 5-course dinner party for fifteen guests. But if you’re really set on throwing a swanky dinner party, just limit your guest list! Or if your heart is set on hosting fifteen of your closest friends, skip the fancy dinner and serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres instead. Make sure the size and style of your party works within the space you have.

A small space doesn’t mean you can’t host a great party, but it might mean you need to get clever about using your space effectively. Make it easy for your guests to stay in bigger rooms, and don’t be afraid to repurpose your furniture if it’s not being functional! And most important, remember that your party is supposed to be fun! Don’t try to force a bigger party than your space can handle or you’ll end up with cramped and unhappy guests.
What clever ideas have you used to make the most of a small party space?