If the home style magazines and TV commercials were to be believed then we would be hosting gatherings of families and friends every weekend. For many the unfortunate truth is that time constraints and pressures from work and family life mean that getting everyone together in one place at the same time very often proves difficult. Added to the difficulty is the stress of hosting and ensuring that your home is in fit shape to hold a party like this. If hosting a few more gatherings is something you’d like to do then here are some top tips to help you go about it.
Planning
Planning is essential for all aspects of a gathering but none more so than when it comes to inviting people. You’ll know yourself that unless you have a few weeks notice to get prepared for something, then the chances are that you simply can’t find the time. If you multiply this problem by all the people that you want to invite then you’ll realize the difficulty of a last minute get together. Give people enough notice and you should be just fine.
Preparing the House
Many people feel that they don’t have sufficient space at home for a gathering, interestingly a recent survey from IKEA found that 23% of those surveyed placed a higher value on reliable wi-fi than space for socializing. Trusting that you have sufficient wi-fi then, it is imperative that you make the most of your space, work out how many are coming and more things around accordingly. If you have a garage then perhaps you could use it to store items from the home to make space. Alternatively, if you don’t feel like you have enough room in the house then try and do something outdoors, the key is to use every bit of space available. Cover chair with decorative designs to impress your guests. Whether it’s an outdoor or indoor event, a well-furnished set-up is a key to create a good atmosphere for your event.
The Food
The same IKEA survey found that 43% of people find it difficult to make time to cook food at home, naturally if you have a gathering of people then cooking is something that you are going to have to make time for. If you are tight for time then you should aim for simplicity when it comes to the meal, one-pot dishes are brilliant for gatherings and take away much of the stress that you may feel whilst preparing it. Cooking things like chile and pasta are not only super simple ways of preparing the food, but they are easy to eat for your guests and tasty as well, the perfect combination which will please your guests and make sure that you have enough time to not only cook the food but prepare the house for your guests.
The expectation of regular gatherings of family or friends might not quite be the reality but with careful planning you can make sure that it happens just a little more often.
To inspire you when it comes to the pressures of expectation versus the reality of home life check it this video that IKEA prepared.