Advices How to Accomodate More Guests in Your Dining Room

Your dining room may be the perfect size for your immediate family, but what happens at the holidays when you need to accommodate larger groups of people? Depending on your family size you can figure out temporary and permanent solutions. If you are small family then renting chairs and tables may be an option. While if you have a large family that continues to grow, you will need a long term solution. Here are tips for helping your dining room accommodate more people.

* Assess your current dining needs: How large your family is, how often you entertain, and if you have more than one dining area will help you assess how much seating you actually need. For those that don’t entertain often, renting chairs/tables or buying inexpensive folding ones may be a solution. If you have a formal and informal dining room, your problem may be solved by using both dining areas when large parties come to your home. Assess if you have other areas to use as well: outdoors, adjacent spaces, etc..

* Group seating: One solution to fitting more people at the table is to use group seating. Benches whether they are fixed or movable are good way of maximizing space as opposed to individual seats. Benches are especially good for children who are smaller and can sit closer together without feeling uncomfortable.

* Share seating from adjacent rooms: If you have an open floor plan, sharing seating with and adjacent room like a kitchen island or living room can be a viable option. This concept works well when entertaining a large group of people that are all involved in different activities, such as mingling, eating, and small conversation areas. If you do entertain a lot, consider buying sectional seating that can accommodate more people as opposed to only single chairs.

* Consider moving outdoors: Often times the solution may be to move your dining party outside. Depending on the season and your outdoor area, porches, patios and outdoor lawns are a perfect backdrop for dining and entertaining. Outdoor areas will give you more room to stretch out and will give the interior of your home a rest from being over populated. Outdoor entertaining is also ideal for children to have area to run around until it is time to eat!

* Get creative: For some homes the reality of having permanent furniture on hand for large party entertaining isn’t feasible. Whether it is because of limited space to house more furniture, or the finances to afford it.  Get creative and pull chairs from desks in other rooms, and use small movable ottomans for kids. Sometimes the art of entertaining is being able to make do with what you have. After all your guests just want a seat, it doesn’t have to always have to be a five star dinner! Make the most of what you have and enjoy having your large party of guests.

Large group seating can be accomplished through many ways. Determine what your dining and entertaining lifestyle consists of and then make your dining seating marry to it. If you are remodeling your kitchen or dining area, consider building a built in bench seating area in a bay window nook. You will gain extra seating and you will love the way your dining space looks afterward!

source: http://freshome.com