Comments on: Entertaining in Smaller Spaces http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/ Good stewardship in action. How do you do it? Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:10:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Meg from All About Appearances and FruWiki http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2240 Meg from All About Appearances and FruWiki Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:09:16 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2240 Our house isn't tiny, about 1800 square feet and a 1/3 of an acre of land. However, almost a third of the space is taken up by our den which is being renovated into both a kitchen and dining area (renovations that won't be done now for some time), and our foyer which is also split into a storage area by some book cases acting as a wall. That leaves us a small living room and adjacent kitchen area for entertaining, without so much as a dining area. In the living room we have a two-seater couch and my chair, so it's pretty tight when we have more than one guest. Our solution is to make good use of collapsible chairs, indoors and out, and just use the coffee table and end tables to eat off of. It's not perfect, but it works. Our house isn’t tiny, about 1800 square feet and a 1/3 of an acre of land. However, almost a third of the space is taken up by our den which is being renovated into both a kitchen and dining area (renovations that won’t be done now for some time), and our foyer which is also split into a storage area by some book cases acting as a wall.

That leaves us a small living room and adjacent kitchen area for entertaining, without so much as a dining area. In the living room we have a two-seater couch and my chair, so it’s pretty tight when we have more than one guest.

Our solution is to make good use of collapsible chairs, indoors and out, and just use the coffee table and end tables to eat off of. It’s not perfect, but it works.

]]> By: Becky http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2238 Becky Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:48:13 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2238 We live in the Southwest, and for big family Holiday gatherings, we set up borrowed banquet tables and chairs in our garage (cars were parked outside), kept the doors down during the meal to keep out the wind and cold, and tacked white sheets up over our floor to ceiling garage shelving to hide everything for the inevitable pictures. I hung giant snowflakes and cheap bulbs from the ceiling, and we had candles in glass canning jars on each table with colored glass marbles inside. everything looked very festive, and spills were easy to hose out of the garage that evening. This worked great as we had 28 people over for Christmas. The food was kept hot in our kitchen, and was set out around the counter buffet style, and there was plenty of room for folks to slip out of the garage for refills. We then took the party back into our living/dining area for gift opening time, and had people sit wherever they could. THe kids and teens usually sit on the floor, while the adults got the chairs. Works great for us! We live in the Southwest, and for big family Holiday gatherings, we set up borrowed banquet tables and chairs in our garage (cars were parked outside), kept the doors down during the meal to keep out the wind and cold, and tacked white sheets up over our floor to ceiling garage shelving to hide everything for the inevitable pictures. I hung giant snowflakes and cheap bulbs from the ceiling, and we had candles in glass canning jars on each table with colored glass marbles inside. everything looked very festive, and spills were easy to hose out of the garage that evening. This worked great as we had 28 people over for Christmas. The food was kept hot in our kitchen, and was set out around the counter buffet style, and there was plenty of room for folks to slip out of the garage for refills.

We then took the party back into our living/dining area for gift opening time, and had people sit wherever they could. THe kids and teens usually sit on the floor, while the adults got the chairs. Works great for us!

]]> By: Monroe on a budget http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2237 Monroe on a budget Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:42:39 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2237 We also have a small house. We try to keep our turns at hosting larger gatherings in the summer months, when we can park our two cars on the street and set up the tables and chairs in the garage and driveway. We also have a small house.
We try to keep our turns at hosting larger gatherings in the summer months, when we can park our two cars on the street and set up the tables and chairs in the garage and driveway.

]]> By: TopazTook http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2236 TopazTook Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:48:55 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2236 When I hosted a party last fall, I put a blanket on top of the chest freezer in my family room, and used it as a "serving table" to put the cheese, crackers, plates, cups and apple juice on. When I hosted a party last fall, I put a blanket on top of the chest freezer in my family room, and used it as a “serving table” to put the cheese, crackers, plates, cups and apple juice on.

]]> By: Maria http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2234 Maria Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:46:49 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2234 Ooops, I accidentally linked to Frugal Hacks in my previous comment! Sorry for the confusion. Ooops, I accidentally linked to Frugal Hacks in my previous comment! Sorry for the confusion.

]]> By: Maria http://frugalhacks.com/2008/04/29/entertaining-in-smaller-spaces/comment-page-1/#comment-2233 Maria Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:45:58 +0000 http://frugalhacks.com/?p=562#comment-2233 We recently moved into a smaller house with more yard. We're a family of 5 living in about 900 square feet. The size is just right for us, but a little tiny when we have people over. We use our large deck to compensate for the smaller interior space, and plan to do more entertaining in the summer than in the winter. We recently moved into a smaller house with more yard. We’re a family of 5 living in about 900 square feet. The size is just right for us, but a little tiny when we have people over. We use our large deck to compensate for the smaller interior space, and plan to do more entertaining in the summer than in the winter.

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