What’s your stance on the age old house party? Maybe you like to invite friends over every weekend for drinks and food, and some classics filling the air in the background? Maybe you prefer to turn the music off and get the games out, to find out which one of your closest friends and family are the most cutthroat when it comes to Monopoly? Maybe your kids or your grandkids like to use your house as a party venue, because it has a lot of space to fill up with bodies, and some great acoustics?
No matter what kinds of parties you like to throw at home, there’s a good chance you’re always having to move the sofas in and out of the way, and you have to close off the kitchen at a certain point because of the mess, and the bedrooms always look like bombs have hit them the morning after! We’re all a bit sick of a reality like this!
But we can change it! Our homes are the havens where we relax best, and we have to be comfortable with the four walls around us! We don’t tend to pay too much mind to the people who visit our homes – it’s not where they live, you don’t need to take stock of their opinion. But if you’re someone who likes to hold a party every now and then, or every other week because you’re just a social butterfly, then you might need to make some changes around here!
It’s time to get yourself stuck into the party spirit!
Make Sure You’ve Got the Seats
A lot of us out there like to invite as many people as we can to a party, to make sure at least half of them turn up and we have a good number to keep the energy going with! But then your grandson comes along and asks if they can invite close to 50 or so people from school over for an end of term party – you don’t want to say no outright, but how you can host that many people?
Well, if you’re anything like me, you’re going to make sure there’s plenty of places for people to take the weight off and have a sit down! How many parties have you seen in the past where only a couch and a stool has been present, and those lucky three or four who got to the seats first wisely decided to never leave them again? Don’t let the amazing parties you intend to hold suffer from the same mistakes – make sure you’ve got a couple of couches around at the very least, and then get some bean bags. They’re only a few quid here and there, and they’re easy to stuff into the cupboard under the stairs when you’re done with them.
Make Sure You’ve Got the Excess Space Necessary
With the amount of people you like to invite to parties crowding you out of house and home, and making it impossible for any of us to carve a path whilst carrying drinks and snacks platters, you’re going to need some excess or extended space just to lighten the load. After all, you’re probably only going to be using one floor of your house to entertain everyone, and have already blocked off the stairs in case any errant children try to make it up there!
So you’re going to need to focus on the space you have outside the house as well, both at the back and the front. The front garden might not be the best place for hosting a bunch of wild teenagers or for gathering the friends you’ve known for years now, but you can always have some tables and parasols out there! Even the colder months have some good weather to enjoy.
If you have much more in the way of a back garden than you do anything in front of the gate outside, make sure you’re looking into hiring some deck builders as well. There’s nothing like designing and constructing yourself a cozy and comfortable patio as a New Year’s gift, and being able to enjoy it with the people closest to you. You can set up an awning, string some fairy lights all around it, making it the perfect spot to watch some fireworks from as you’re all sipping beers or chowing down on homemade vol-au-vents
Wire Up Some Proper Speakers
Your house needs a good surround sound system, and if you’re looking to become known for the amazing parties you host, it’s time to invest in one. You can set up speakers all around your living room and kitchen areas, and have them wired up around the walls where they won’t get in the way and you won’t otherwise notice them. After all, you can dramatically improve your TV and film nights experience if you’ve got speakers that’ll make you feel like you’re sitting in the middle of a cinema!
Get Yourself a Mini Bar!
Let’s face it, all of us would love to have a mini bar in our homes! It’s something that would keep us entertained for hours on end, and it’d make sure we finally make a go of that cocktail mixing hobby we’ve been thinking about for a few years now. So why not get yourself a mini bar at the back of the kitchen, if you’ve got the room, or in the hallway? If the grandkids are too young, you can easily install locks on it.
You can display all kinds of drinks and mixers here, and make sure you’ve got a collection of newer beverages as well as vintage pieces, like the Champagne you’ve been hiding in the back cupboard for about ten years now! And mini bars make great conversation starters as well, so you really can use one to break the ice with any plus ones you don’t know.
So, if you’re partial to a party, your home can be a hosting central. Design away!
