Five Whole Home Design Tips To Get Your Home Ready for Holiday Entertaining

Tis the season! The holidays always seem far away, but you know how it goes. One second, you’re cleaning up the Halloween décor and the next you’re racing to get the turkey out of the oven before your guests arrive.

Often people are either excited for the holidays or dreading them — and I’d wager that it has something to do with whether they plan to entertain or not.

At IDH, we get questions about design and hosting tips for holiday entertaining every year around this time.

Save yourself some stress in this category with this list of five easy whole-home design tips to get your space in impeccable shape for guests.

1. Move furniture (or rent it!)

Keep in mind when you’re designing your home for holiday entertaining that you want to ensure there’s a great flow between rooms — and this might mean moving furniture around. 

Moving furniture during the holidays is wonderful when palettes and silhouettes are in agreement; ideally, you don’t have pieces that stick out like a sore thumb — and those upholstered dining room chairs look just as good in your family room or living area.

But, if you want a cohesive, Instagram-beautiful vibe, don’t forget you have the option to rent pieces from an event rental company. Maybe you’re going for a sleek, creamy palette for your dining table and those standard-issue black folding chairs are killing its vibe. Step out a little further and loan out more elevated options.

2. Consider uplighting.

Uplighting is the easiest thing in the world to dramatically set a beautiful, ambient, and festive tone in your home. Any big box store will have floor can lighting that you can place behind plants, built-in cabinetry, armoires, and more to illuminate a space without having to turn all the ceiling lights or lamps on.

3. Go green!

We’re all familiar with the holiday green tree, but why not add a really lovely, tall peace lily, fiddle-leaf fig tree, or a palm tree to a room. Indoor plants add instant panache and so much gracious, organic style to a home.

4. Go beyond green!

Now, I will be the very first to admit that not everyone’s home necessarily looks good in the traditional red-and-green Christmas palette or Hanukkah colors — mine included!

If you don’t prefer the dissonance of colors that may not fit your space, avoid red and just do holiday greens with some sophisticated, bronzed gold mixed in. Or, if Hanukkah blue doesn’t work for you, lean into a palette of silver and metallics.

5.  Re-envision your furniture.

Especially during the holidays, be willing to get creative and re-envision the way a piece of furniture functions in your home. For example, I have a two-door breakfast chest that provides storage on any given day. But for a Hanukkah party, I plan to make it a coffee and dessert station!

Maybe you have a decorative desk in your living room. Remove the chair; put a fresh holiday plant on top and create a satellite drink station or a candy bar for the kids there.

Perfect holiday entertaining design can look a million different ways, but above all, remember this one thing: If you create a space that is authentically beautiful to you — one that has harmonious rhythms and handsome appointments — guests will feel that love and grace when they are in your space with you.

And if you do love to entertain any time of year or all year long, whether it’s a small group or a large party, your space shouldn’t be an afterthought. We know exactly what to do to make YOUR entertaining feel exactly right for you. Contact us to learn more.