Renting a Fort Collins apartment can make it challenging to host holiday events or out-of-town guests, but having a small space shouldn’t stop you from celebrating with friends and family. With a little bit of helpful advice, you can still be a wonderful host regardless of your square footage. Here are some simple tips for hosting holiday guests in a small apartment.
Even if your space is limited, you can still impress your guests by investing a little time in sprucing up your home for the holidays. Using a little extra elbow grease, you can go beyond routine vacuuming and dusting to help you prepare your home for a beautiful holiday gathering. You don’t need to clean until your hands are raw, but putting in some extra effort to clean out dust, pet hair, and other messes will make a difference. While you’re cleaning, make sure that bathrooms are stocked with enough toilet paper, clean hand towels, tissues, and soap so that guests are not faced with an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation after using the restroom.
Your apartment is lovingly decorated with items that fit your personal style and taste, but many of your favorite pieces of décor could be taking up valuable space. Before your guests arrive, do a sweep of your apartment and store any non-essential items in closets or underneath beds to open up space throughout. This idea can also extend to non-essential appliances in the kitchen so that you’re able to make the most of your countertops.
If your holiday guests will be staying past dinner and into the next day, you may also want to take some time to spruce up your spare bedroom. You can dust off dressers, change the sheets, and fluff up pillows to provide a cozy and welcoming space for your guests to stay. Make sure that your guest room is ready to go early on so that you don’t have to take time away from preparing for your event or from spending time with your guests.
Before you finalize the menu for your party, do whatever you can to prepare ahead of time. Start by making sure that you have enough dinnerware, glassware, and silverware for each person attending. If you live in a small apartment, you may not have the room for extra place settings in your cabinets, but you can purchase disposable plates, cups, and silverware instead. You can also borrow chairs and folding tables from a neighbor or family member to add enough seating for every guest. By strategically placing tables and taking advantage of extra counter space, you can fit a lot more people than you may think.
From there, take a look at your planned menu and do as much prep beforehand as possible. Preparing dishes the day before can save you from tiring yourself out on the day of your event and can also help you stay on top of cleaning the kitchen. You may also consider tailoring your menu to provide strategic serving times. For example, you may have an appetizer or salad ready to go before guests arrive so that food in the oven can finish cooking. This way, you open up space both on the table and in the kitchen.
Often times, hosting a holiday dinner or party gives you the perfect excuse to wow guests with over-the-top table arrangements and centerpieces. Although this may look beautiful, it can also overwhelm the table and the space. Instead of thinking big, keep your table décor on the simpler or smaller side. You can still make a statement without going overboard or losing space.
A small apartment filled with a lot of people will quickly heat up and feel stuffy. If it’s not too cold out, you might crack a window to let in fresh air. If the temperatures have dropped too low, turn on a fan instead.
Hosting holiday events while renting a Fort Collins apartment will inevitably provide you with limitations, but with a little creativity, you won’t have to sacrifice on your party plans. You might fill your sink with ice to double as a cooler and free up space in the refrigerator. You can set out appetizers on your coffee table and drinks on a bookshelf or TV stand. If you think outside the box, there are plenty of small space tricks you can use to help you host your party.
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