How to prepare your living room for a dinner with friends in five easy steps
Having dinner with friends while watching a film or playing a board game will be much more fun if you prepare the living room with everything you need for the occasion. Take note!
Preparing a living room to host friends isn't as complicated as it seems. We always feel like it's too small, that there isn't enough space to sit or that the guests won't be completely comfortable. We all just love to be good hosts! If you want to hit the mark and are looking for dinner party ideas, read on: you'll discover some tips that we're sure will help everyone feel at home.
1. Sofas to host guests at home
If you're the king or queen of the party and your home is the centre of it all, you may want to consider getting some FLOTTEBO sofas like these, which are incredibly versatile.
The sofa is comfortable whether you're sitting, reclining or lying down. Also, because they are movable, the backrest cushions allow you to adjust the depth of the seat and the position of the back support. They are fairly lightweight sofas, so they can easily be moved from one place to another when your friends come round to your home. And what's more, they can be turned into a bed!
Folding chairs for unexpected guests
If there's one time when folding chairs have their moment of glory, this is it. During our day-to-day lives, we see them folded, stored away or hung behind a door, without giving them the importance they deserve. But when it comes to having dinner parties at home with friends, there they are!
Place them around your dining table or an improvised table, or even around the sofa and TV to watch that much-anticipated game or a good film, for example.
3. Themed meals for every occasion
The key to hosting friends at home is to have some delicious dishes to offer. Out of all the dinner party ideas, we've decided to choose some themed menus: Mexican, Japanese, Chinese or typical Spanish!
In this way, by having a general guide to the dishes that you're going to include, it will be much easier to organise everything. Much better than bringing out the typical packets of chips and a few olives, or getting all worked up cooking dishes that have no connection between one another, don't you think?
You can choose the best theme depending on different factors: Is your favourite basketball team playing and your friends coming to watch it at your place? Stock up on plenty of hot dogs and burgers! Is one of your friends going to live abroad? Prepare a menu with typical foods from your home country, with all those dishes that they're going to miss in the future. In other words, choose the theme that is best suited for the occasion or for the reason that you're all meeting up.
4. Kitchen trolleys that turn into bars
If there's one idea for dinner parties with friends that we believe is great, thanks to the comfort it offers your guests (and you), it's using kitchen trolleys to bring drinks into the living room.
From a bar with everything you need to make mojitos, to a cooler for soft drinks and beers. You can put the drinks on the top (they're usually larger) on a tray with ice to keep them cool, and place the glasses, napkins or finger food that you want to bring to the table or sofa on the lower trays.
This way everyone can serve themselves whenever they please while watching the game, the film etc., without having to bother you at all. Everyone loves an open bar!
It's time to leave… or isn't it? Sofa beds that solve your overnight stays
When your dinner party is over, it's time for everyone to go home. But what if you have a sofa bed that opens as easily as this one?
We're sure that some of your friends live a little further away than the rest, so it's the perfect time to offer them a little space in your home after a great evening. They will be really grateful. The HOLMSUND sofa bed opens in the blink of an eye and is incredibly comfortable.
Do you think that your living room is too small for this type of party? Don't worry, if you organise it well, you'll have space for everything. Here you'll find a video with various ideas for you to organise a successful evening in the blink of an eye.
And if you need any more ideas for your evenings at home with friends, have a look at these articles.
We love it when customers use our products in a creative way. Why not try to do something new with them yourself? But do remember, any modifications or changes that you make to IKEA products will prevent them from being resold or used for their original use, thus invalidating IKEA product warranties and your right to return.
