Stylish ways to seat large holiday crowds

In a world where everyone from Martha Stewart to the "Queer Eye" guys to Target insists style now must be had at every turn, that old metal card table just isn't going to cut it for your extra holiday guests.

Here are some ideas to expand your dining space that can make the kind of statement guests will like to remember.

Expand your tabletop

Kathy Wilson, editor of www.decoratingyoursmallspace.com and thebudgetdecorator.com, suggests buying a large, round wooden tabletop, then placing it over your regular dining table. "A round table seats a lot more people than a square or rectangle. So I pick up those wooden rounds from the home improvement stores," she says. "They're not expensive."

To add a second table, Wilson says, "you can enlarge a coffee table easily by using a large piece of plywood. ... One time, I actually had a sheet of plywood that I put over four barstools with a floor-length table cloth. I put pretty cording all the way around the table, and I layered on linens and dressed it up. Nobody could tell what was underneath."

Bring in help from outside

"Don't just be focused on what you have in your house," says Karen McAloon, host of HGTV's "Find Your Style" and "Design Remix." With a bit of creativity, she says, you can easily tackle the challenge of seating a large holiday crowd -- no matter how small your home might be.

"A patio table from your porch or balcony, it may be wet and kind of a mess. But you dry it off and put a red table cloth on it with some white plates, it looks totally festive." The key is a floor-length cloth with nice linens layered on top and a pretty centerpiece to distract guests from the table itself.

Seating

If you've got enough table space but too few chairs, Wilson suggests reorganizing your dining and living room areas to use a love seat or sofa as table seating.

Another creative option: McAloon once bought a set of eight inexpensive, wooden folding chairs, then spray- painted four red and four silver to create extra holiday seating with flair. Paint them to suit any holiday -- shades of deep amber and gold for Thanksgiving or black and silver for New Year's Eve. For the cost of a few cans of paint, you can change the color scheme throughout the year.

Opt for a buffet, rather than seating only a portion of guests at your main dining table.

"My first rule is, 'if you don't have enough seats for everyone, don't give a seat to anyone,' " says McAloon. She suggest moving all of your chairs away from every table, "even if you need to line whatever space you're using with the chairs to have a place to put them. This gives seating to your guests, but it's very clear that everyone is not expected to sit at a table."

If the room's perimeter isn't easily accessible or it won't look attractive to line it with chairs, Tammy Jo Schoppet, founder and editor of the online magazine Rental Decorating Digest, suggests arranging seating niches to further conversation. But when clustering chairs into seating niches, Schoppet says, "remember the traffic flow, how people will get through from place to place" and access the food and drinks.

Don't forget the floor

"In lieu of setting up an alternate table, move the party to the floor," says Michael Grozik, associate editor at Dwell magazine. "Most kids under a certain age prefer a pillow on the floor to a stiff-backed, confining chair. To define the eating area, pretend it's an indoor picnic: put down a blanket, add a basket, and make the kids feel like they're getting to do something special."

To further define the eating area -- and minimize mess -- consider giving each child a lightweight TV tray, perhaps a vintage or cafeteria-style tray from the 1970s, Grozik says.

If you'd rather not place kids directly on the floor, Grozik also suggests arranging a few poufs, ottomans, or similar small eating surfaces that allow groups of kids to eat pod-style. "This had the added advantage of placement flexibility," he says. If they get rowdy, "simply have the kids swap pods."

And if you want to make sure the kids feel connected to the larger party, consider using the same or similar plates, cups and utensils for their place settings as you do for the grown-ups. This can "help to make kids feel like they're still part of something special, just on a slightly smaller scale," Grozik says.