How to Set the Perfect Living Room for Hosting a Christmas Party
This year will be the first entire festive party season in three years. Many people will be hosting and attending Christmas dos for the first time since 2019, so it’s no surprise that excitement levels are growing and hosts up and down the country are starting to plan their seasonal soirees.
If you’re welcoming friends and family around for a festive party this Christmas now is the perfect time to spruce up your living room and set the ideal scene for your get-together. Here’s a little interior design inspiration to get you started.
Add comfort with textures and soft furnishings
Even if the sun is blazing away outside, it’s always nice to create a cozy, welcoming feel in your living room at Christmas time. A great way to do this is to add some soft, tactile furnishings and accessories to your living room layout.
An easy way to make your lounge feel cozy is to invest in some stylish cushions and throws for the sofa. As well as making the space more comfortable, these can be used to add a splash of color to your party pad and to bring a little festive cheer to your interior.
Go one step further by placing attractive rugs under your coffee table to define your seating area and soften the look of your lounge. Accent poufs can also be used to layer color, add extra seating space, and make your layout more interesting.
Invest in a generous coffee table
If you’re planning to hold your Christmas party in your living room, there’s a good chance your coffee table will play a major role in the proceedings. As well as being a handy place to put snacks and drinks, coffee tables make great focal points, and you’re likely to find friends and family in deep conversation around your coffee table at some point during the evening.
Coffee tables with large, generous tops are perfect for parties as they give you plenty of space for snacks and drinks and should be large enough to accommodate a festive centerpiece. Invest in a big coffee table, and you’ll even be able to play board games around it when the night starts to draw in.
If your coffee table doesn’t provide quite enough room for all the snacks you want to serve, make use of other surfaces in the space like sideboards and TV stands. Placing bowls of nibbles in different spots will encourage guests to move around and should help to facilitate mingling and conversation.
Accommodate guests with a large sectional sofa
If you’re inviting friends and family around for a festive get-together, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got as much seating as possible. If your current sofa isn’t up to the job, why not replace it with a large, welcoming seating area before your party guests arrive?
If you want maximum versatility from your seating area, opt for a sectional sofa. These flexible furnishings can be expanded and adapted to perfectly fit your space, allowing you to optimize the layout of your living room. Simply add a few extra pieces to your sofa, or move existing pieces around, to create extra seating for festive guests or to turn your L-shaped sofa into a U-shaped design.
Another great thing about sectional sofas is that they’re big and comfortable enough to be used as occasional guest beds if friends or family need to stay the night. Simply remove the back cushions, add some comfy bedding and your improvised guest room will be good to go.
Get the mood lighting just right
Lighting plays a huge part in setting the scene for a party. Go too bright, and your guests will find it difficult to relax and let their hair down. Go too dark and your friends and family won’t be able to see what they’re eating or who they’re talking to.
In general, it’s easier to design an atmospheric lighting scheme with table lamps and floor lamps than it is with ceiling lights. Place a few lamps around the room to create different pools of light. Add as many lamps as you need to get the light level just right. As the night draws on, you may want to consider turning a few lights off to make the room feel more intimate.
Although bright ceiling lights should be kept turned off for the duration of your party, ceiling lights that are hung low over coffee tables or dining tables can add to the overall look of the room. Make sure the bulbs in these lights are warm white and relatively dim, otherwise you may find they dazzle your guests when they’re turned on.
Putting a little thought into your living room layout now will help you to create a fantastic festive setting when the party season rolls around. To learn more, get more interior design ideas or find the perfect pieces for your home, take a look around today.
