How to Find the Right Home for Your Entertainment Needs
Key Tips How to Find the Right Home for Your Entertainment Needs
Entertaining in your home requires a lot of preparation and careful planning and it all starts with looking to find the right home for your entertaining needs. As an avid party planner, it can be tough to find the perfect home for every occasion.
When you consider the following, you will be able to pick and choose which areas are most important to you in your home search. Once you find your dream home, you can focus on planning the ultimate house-warming party for all your friends and family!
Find the Ideal Location
When looking for a new home fit for entertainment, location is a large factor to consider. This can be because of schools, nearby shops and restaurants, or proximity to metropolitan areas. Once you’ve settled on a location, you can weigh other factors such as square footage, bedroom count, lot size, and amenities to determine the right budget for you.
Location can also play a large role in your home’s functionality for entertainment. If your home is located in a secluded area or is a difficult commute for guests, it may deter people from wanting to come to your home frequently. A good rule of thumb is to choose a home in close proximity to major highways, but not too close where your home might be subject to a lot of traffic congestion. This also helps to ensure that your home is centrally located to shops, restaurants, and other amenities in case you need any last minute party assistance.
Living near a variety of restaurants can come in handy for a party, especially if you’re not a fan of cooking. This gives you the option of catering some items for each party if you want a specific dish, and can make each party unique by changing up your menu.
Another factor to consider in terms of your home’s location is the neighborhood or street you choose. This is especially important if you host a lot of parties because your guests will need somewhere to park their cars. Living on a street with ample parking makes things a breeze.
However, if you have a smaller driveway or live on a more crowded street, this might make things a bit difficult for guests who are planning to drive to your party. If you’d rather live on a more bustling street, providing guests with nearby parking suggestions will help ease the stress of this. Many neighborhoods also have guest parking areas if they don’t allow street parking, so communicating this to your attendees ahead of time is crucial.
In terms of the neighborhood you choose, it’s also important to consider the safety of the surrounding area. Is this an area that guests will feel comfortable driving to and leaving their vehicles? Does the area have a neighborhood watch program or an entrance gate for added security? These are all questions you’ll want to ask yourself during the search for your dream entertaining home.
Just remember, not only is location going to determine your budget, but it can also provide many benefits to your parties. In terms of budget, location will help determine how expensive of a house you can afford as the cost of your desired home will vary based on the area.
Let your search to find the right home for your entertainment needs begin. Happy House Hunting!
Choose the Right Floor Plan to Entertain
The first thing you need to consider when searching for your ultimate entertainment home is the layout. This may seem obvious, but it is one of the most crucial areas of party planning. When you’re deciding between layouts, the more open your home is, the better the flow of your parties will be! Depending on how many guests you typically host in your home, making sure there is flow between each space will allow friends and family to mingle with each other throughout the home, rather than being confined to one room or area. Having an open floor plan allows you as a host to float from room to room with ease to ensure you’re making the most out of your gathering. It also makes it easy for you to keep an eye on everyone to make sure things are going smoothly.
An open layout is an excellent asset to an entertainer, but there are also ways to optimize your entertaining space if you prefer a more cut-up home. One way to do this would be to have a different station in each room you’d like to use for the party. For example, you can have some charcuterie boards in your living room, hors d’oeuvres on your kitchen island, and a cocktail station set up on a console table in the dining room. This way, guests will make their way around your home at various times to avoid congregating in one room. Placing different foods or activities in different areas will allow you to maximize your home and give you space for as many guests as you’d like.
Look for a Spacious Kitchen Area
Whether it’s your intention or not, the kitchen is where most of your party will take place as it’s the most versatile room in a home. Kitchens can be customized to your liking by adding new hardware, fixtures, or painting the cabinets if you choose. These small changes can elevate your space and prepare it for all your entertaining needs. Not only will you use your kitchen for all the food and drink preparations beforehand, but the counter space will also serve as a place to set up stations for guests to snack throughout the evening.
Your party guests will also gather around your kitchen island for ease of conversation. It gives everyone a place to set their drink and can provide lots of seating all around. A spacious kitchen, especially if your home doesn’t have an open floor plan, will provide you with the perfect place for your party’s focal point.
A dining area also goes hand-in-hand with the perfect kitchen. If your kitchen doesn’t have a large central island, having a dining table in your kitchen or adjacent dining room will allow your guests to sit and chat comfortably while snacking or having a drink. If your home has a formal dining space, make sure guests know this space is available for them to use, as these are often closed off from the rest of the home.
Placing a beverage station or some light snacks in the dining room will let everyone know that they are welcome to spread out around the home instead of all gathering in the kitchen. This also gives you the space you need in the kitchen for any food or drink replenishment you might need to do throughout the party.
Outdoor Space Entertainment Options
Outdoor parties involve more than you might think. In homes that have patios or decks, it can still be a challenge to prepare for an outdoor event if your home isn’t sufficient. One key to a successful outdoor party is to have a seamless indoor/outdoor living space. Although this is hard to come by, even having an immediate exit from your kitchen, living room, or dining room to your backyard will allow you to utilize your entire home during an outdoor event.
In terms of indoor/outdoor living, you can also add on or purchase a home with an exterior entrance bathroom. This way, outdoor party guests will have immediate access to a bathroom if they need it and can also use this as a secondary entrance to your home to divert traffic from one main door.
If indoor/outdoor living isn’t your style, consider creating a beautiful outdoor-only entertaining space. Your dream backyard might include a pool area, which is a great place to host outdoor parties for your friends and family. You can also consider homes with large patios or decks to host dinner parties and barbecues if that’s more your style. Either way, creating some built-in outdoor entertainment spaces will help elevate your parties.
A perfect example of this is an outdoor kitchen. An outdoor kitchen doesn’t need to be more than a grilling area, a small beverage cooler, and some seating, but the sky is truly the limit here. Many outdoor kitchens include a small cooktop, mini fridge, and built-in bar seating. You can also take your outdoor kitchen up a notch by including some unique features, like a wood-fire pizza oven or a firepit for s’mores.
No matter what features are included in the homes you find, you can always add more so it’s sure to fit your lifestyle. Even small changes like the addition of string lights or an outdoor living room set can add the perfect amount of ambiance to your new backyard.
Create Space for Overnight Guests
As someone who hosts a fair amount of parties, you will probably want to make sure you have space to welcome guests from out of town. When searching for your next home, it’s important to look for space that can be used as a guest bedroom. If this is not possible within your budget, there are many options available to accommodate your out of town visitors. For starters, you can include a pullout sofa in your office area or living room to easily house a guest or two in a pinch. These might not be the most comfortable, but it’s an easy and somewhat affordable way to open your home to overnight guests.
Another option is to utilize your basement space. If your home has a finished or partially finished basement, you can include a small bedroom area or a Murphy bed if you’re short on space. With utilizing your basement, you don’t have to dedicate the entire space to serving as a guest room. You can integrate it into whatever you’d choose to use your basement for otherwise.
For example, if your backyard has sufficient space, a small pool house might also be a smart option for you. Although costly, this can provide guests with somewhere to stay long-term without having them inside your home all the time. As a host, this allows you some space to carry on with your routine as if you don’t have any overnight guests. It also allows guests to enjoy time to themselves and help them feel less like visitors in your home and more like they have their own space and freedom to do what they wish throughout the days they are visiting town.
Make the Entertainment Space Your Own
Now that you’ve found your dream entertaining home, the next step is to make it unique to your style and needs. This can be as simple or complex as you see fit. As you search through home renovation trends, the most important thing is that you’re satisfied with the end result of whatever changes you decide to make.
If your entertaining space is in need of some major upgrading, make sure you take the time to carefully plan out and prioritize these renovations to avoid getting in over your head. If you make a list of projects and tackle them incrementally, you’ll be less overwhelmed and you can focus on the projects that require your immediate attention. This can also be done by tackling your home room-by-room to contain the mess of renovations to one area at a time. This way, you’re still able to utilize the rest of your home during these large-scale renovations.
If the home you purchase just needs some small sprucing up, consider adding a fresh coat of paint to some of the rooms to change the style. As you move in, you’ll also be able to add personal touches in furniture, wall art, rugs, and other accents. An important tip is to not rush through this process, as you might not be happy with the end result if you make rash decisions.
Take your time choosing each piece of furniture and accessory in your home. This way, you can ensure that the home is decorated to your exact taste and meets all your needs in terms of functionality in each room.
Lastly, make sure that in the midst of all this planning and decorating, you take time to enjoy entertaining in your new home. Party planning is surely a stressful task, but allowing yourself enough time to plan will give you ample opportunity to enjoy it when the time comes. If you follow this sage advice, I have no doubt you will find the right home for your entertainment needs. ~ Anita ~
Advice to Find the Right Home for Your Entertainment Needs
