One of the biggest challenges of small space living is entertaining. For a family of five, our 1700 sq ft house is more than enough on a daily basis, but add in twenty dinner guests, and we're bursting at the seams. After a few years of failed attempts, this year I've discovered a happy style recipe for low-stress, large gathering entertaining.
As I put together our Thanksgiving table (about a half hour before sitting down to dinner), I started thinking about why this year was so much more low stress than previous ones. The answer was simple and familiar, and something that I recommend to design clients all the time but have failed to bring to my own entertaining in the past: Be flexible, and focus on the mix, not the match!
Few of us who live in smallish spaces have room to store 20+ place settings and lots of matching vases. For some reason, that used to stress me out whenever the holidays approached. All of a sudden, I started bemoaning the fact that my post-war colonial had no butler's pantry, and my dining room could barely accommodate our eight-seater dining table...things that rarely cross my mind otherwise.
This year, we knew we wanted the meal to be the focus, so we swapped the furniture in our living room and dining room in order to make space for a longer table. This did mean putting my decorating pride aside (my living room is the space I'm most proud of) — flexibility!
As for the actual table setting, we pushed two tables together, covered each with a white table cloth (shhhh, one was actually a shower curtain), and then placed a more decorative ivory Paraguayan lace one over the center point. Although the tables were slightly different heights and widths, the center table cloth helped them to read more or less as one.
For the centerpiece, I gathered anything I had several of: candle stick holders, glass vases, and birch candles. Then I arranged them in small clusters down the center of the table, filling the vases with loose simple arrangements of lavender and wheat. Because I love greenery and have so much already in the room, I grabbed a small potted fern from one of the shelves, and placed it in the middle of the arrangement.
We then mixed our white everyday dishes in with our nicer china, which are simple ivory and gold. For glasses, we used what we had, mixing crystal, regular water glasses, and jars. Because everything was a mix, from the table cloth to the centerpiece to the chairs, it all worked— mix over match!
What has helped you accommodate big crowds without throwing aesthetics or sanity out the window?
(Image: Leah Moss)
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We often host 20 to 30 people in our home, oh, maybe three times a year. (I'm an introvert, so three times a year sounds like a lot to me, anyway!)
We employ similar rules of thumb:
1. White tablecloths to unify
2. Low lighting for ambiance and to smooth over any rough edges or inconsistencies (with two small kids, these days we're all about battery-opp tea lights)
3. Easy, natural elements in decorating along the center of the table -- we might scatter mandarin oranges and tea lights; pine cones; daisies in jars; whatever.
We get all of our table settings from IKEA (inexpensive) and keep everything white, white, white. Our silverware is also from IKEA, again: inexpensive and lots. For wine glasses, we bought several large-sets of standard red/white glasses from a big box store--get them on sale, keep them on hand!
We try to have the dishwasher empty and ready for loading, so when the first course is over, pop! Into the dishwasher they go. An easy kitchen set up for clearing the table helps things go very quickly: One lined paper bag for biodegradables, one for recycling, and the other for trash. Just scrape off the plate and put in the machine--no fussy rinsing.
Also, when the group is obviously too big for sit down meals, we buffet style it. Natch. :)
I have the simplest solution -- only 2 for dinner! ;^)
Great article, and fabulous tips! I agree, mix over match is the way to go when entertaining in small spaces... but I keep this in mind when purchasing things for my 800 sq ft apartment. I try and buy things that are multifunctional-- living room chairs that can be used in the dining room, dishes that can go casual or fancy... it's just easier to bring things into a small space that will work for you on different occasions.
Seems like a post about frugal and stress free gatherings. Not really sure how more space was created.
I have a table that comfortably seats 12 with all extensions and luckily have a great room that can accomodate it. However, I occasionally host 25+, and for those get togethers, we do finger food versions of standard sit-down classics, so that a formal table isnt needed. Kids sit at the table, adults mingle. Instead of ham, Ill do pulled pork sliders. Instead of lasagna, lasagna noodle rolls made in cupcake tins. You get the picture.
Think outside the table!
I use disposables. :)
oh man i wish we had read this a couple days ago! great advice.
this year my boyfriend and i hosted 16 people in our 850 sq foot open floor plan apartment... what we learned:
1. stress early. we got all the stress of rearranging out two days in advance (giving us time to cool off from arguments - we're both designers - and rearrange as needed after moving through the apartment)
2. put the bar where you want guests to congregate. for us this was on the opposite side of the room in the "living room" portion, furthest away from the kitchen.
3. put hors d'oeuvres in a completely different area than either the bar or kitchen. this keeps guests circulating.
4. mix and match reusables and disposables. cloth napkins were not going to work this year... neither were reusable wine/drinking glasses, but i could stand washing reusable utensils and plates. bring out the paper plates and plastic forks for dessert.
5. not everyone could fit at our makeshift 5' x 8' table so i had to concede to people sitting in the living room. make sure there are surfaces for glasses. otherwise there's sure to be a spill.
happy holidays + happy hosting!
I host 14 person brunches in my 600 sf studio flat once a month. It's a bit insane, but fun. There is no dining table (dining room, are you kidding?) but I seat two at my bar, seven comfortably around the large coffee table, plus two 2 top bistro sets, plus TV trays if needed. It's a total Charlie Brown Thanksgiving scene, every month! But, as mentioned in some above posts, strategically placing self serve items makes a huge difference so you don't get major congestion (I've learned the hard way, when a dozen people are in my "kitchen" while I try to prep)- I put coffee and cocktails on one side of my living area, and a three bottle wine dispenser on the other side of the room. Snacks throughout. Keeps people flowing ;)
We hosted 35 one year, so the teens went out to the living room, congregating on the floor around the coffee table, while adults & smaller people sat at one long table we made out of plywood sheets on top of two tables. We shimmed the plywood to be at the same level, and draped them with two long tablecloths. The runner was literally a bolt of fabric I had bought at Goodwill that week. It was 5 yards of vintage, early 60's upholstery cotton, printed in a vibrant, poppy 60's floral wth lots of colors on a blue background.
Looked awesome with the mix of Fiestaware, both vintage & modern, and my collectionof vintage stemware. We borrowed another set of flatwear. All the serving platters, gravy boats, etc. were vintage Fiesta. The centerpieces were simple candles in turquoise jars with branches cut that day from local gardens. in Seattle, there are often many plants, including roses, still in bloom in late November, so it's easy to construct arrangements. We set a colorful table!
The long table was in the kitchen/dining room, and for this my DH removed the kitchen island, and used it as a buffet serving unti against the wall. We liked that so much that we reorganized the entire kitchen around that adaptation after the event.
This year, we went out. Loved it.
I just need to say that the photo that accompanies this post is lovely. Well done.
The tablecloths don't have to be white to unify. I used a couple of single bed flat sheets in a taupe colour to cover a 16 place dining table (really three tables shoved end to end), and with white flowers and plates it looked more elegant than white.
whenever you have lots of miss-matched chairs at a table, it is your cue to make sure your table decor is not too matchy-matchy or else the chairs just look wrong and out of place.
Used to host 16 person Passover seders in my tiny studio apartment. Just the hodgepodge of people sharing space makes the mix and match all the more fun. White China plates from Chinatown were the unifying factor that tied together miss-matched everything.
@cleogrrl, Your table sounds great ! You painted a wonderful picture of it, in your description !
After years of needing to separate more than 8 family members and guests into two different rooms for a sit-down dinner, I finally got smart and bought a cheap but solid 6' folding table. It meets up nicely with my rectangular dining room table, and the whole thing looks great with white tablecloths. I can seat 14+ and we can all be together at the table. Most satisfying furniture purchase I've made in years!
I rent dishes, even if only for 10 people. They are only .55 cents a piece at the local party-rental store, and you don't even have to wash them.
Where is that bull artwork from?!
No, seriously, I have been up for two days looking for a print of that bull. Help?
Beautiful!