Hosting Thanksgiving in your small home
Before you realize it, we will be preparing our menus for one of America's best holidays, and you'll be wondering where everyone is going to sit. There is still time to get everything ready, but today is the time to plan.
Since this traditional event revolves around a meal, it is natural that focus is on the table, chairs, dishes and food.
First, the most crucial part of entertaining is making guests feel relaxed and welcome. Hopefully, the people you break bread with are there not to judge you, but to share fellowship and warmth. Having said that, understand that there are very simple ways to create a lovely ambience that will enrich the experience for everyone and perhaps distract from what you think is your "too small" dining room.
You can hunt for evergreens that might be cut from the woods, your own trees or ask a neighbor if you can have a few springs of something green. Place these items on a mantel, entry table or sideboard. Add in a few pine cones or dried pods, tiny orange pumpkins that you buy for fewer than 60 cents each. Look down when you take your walk and notice interesting things to add to your assemblage.
No room for much decoration? Then make or buy a seasonal wreath for the front door. Once you invest a little for decorations, make sure that you carefully package things up and save them from year to year.
Most of the time, a petite dining table like this one from Room + Board is perfectly adequate in your high-rise apartment, studio or bungalow. However, on a holiday you may need to seat six instead of three people. You can order tabletop extenders made from sturdy three-quarter inch solid core board. A 60-inch round costs between $220 and $300.
For other shapes, you might be able to make your own top out of plywood or another type of board. Just be certain to protect the wood or glass top of your permanent table.
Extra chairs are easy. Investigate good quality folding chairs that are friendly with your permanent chairs, or borrow a few. Another option is to rent a couple of chairs that will blend in with your decor. It's affordable if you go and pick them up and return them yourself. Imagine a black folding-style chair that could be used with these midcentury inspired chairs.
Even a stacking outdoor style chair can work in such occasions. Outdoor seating can easily be protected during the off-season by a vinyl cover and stashed on a balcony, in a garage or in the basement.
Every small room can be greatly beautified with a simple bouquet of fresh flowers. Know this one thing: It is better to have a collection of one type of blossom than a garish assortment that is sold in the grocery store. The trouble with the typical grocery store posies is that you only get one of each type of flower. Often they include dyed flowers that look simply awful!
Find out where you can buy wholesale flowers in your area. Make the effort to go and get a dozen spider mums or chrysanthemums that are all one color. If you don't have room on the table for flowers, instead put them on other surfaces around the house and just use candles on your dining table.
Finally, making your home tidy and presentable is a form of respect for your guests. Expend the effort to put all clutter away or at least pick up the piles and hide them in a closet or in the garage. Any small room can be immensely improved by having all sloppiness removed from view.
Force yourself to look at the entrance to your home, both inside and outside, and view it as if it was the first time you have ever been to this place. You will note a variety of things that might be cleaned or removed.
• Christine Brun is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Small Space Living." Send questions and comments to her by email at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net.
© 2014, Creators.com