31 Days of Hospitality: Day 29-The Party's in the Kitchen...

It seems like just about every party ends up in the kitchen.  Big or small, it doesn't seem to matter.  Should it?  Does it matter to you?  Sometimes it's hard to steer the guests to another room.  Sometimes it's downright impossible.  If you want to get the group to mingle with your other rooms, try these ideas:

• Move the drinks out of the kitchen.  Try to set up a 'drink station' in another room.  We have a wet bar in our living room area.  This is a perfect place for us to set up drinks.  You can also set up a drink station on a table in the living room or great room- just remove your usual decor from that table and set the drinks up there.  You can even add a small card table to a corner and make that your drink area.  Likewise, you can take it all outside. 
• Move the food out of the kitchen. Same idea as moving the drinks out.  Be creative - look at your space and see how you can accommodate the food with the tables you already have.  I actually love the idea of setting food out on the coffee table.  Unless you have pets.  Yes, I learned that one the hard way.  But the dog loved the cheese dip! :)
• When the weather is nice take the whole party outside.  Have your guests enter the yard and not the house.  Basically keep them out of the house! Sometimes this is the only way to keep the group out of the kitchen.
• Make sure you have seating in the living room/great room/den/basement.  If your only seating is in the kitchen then people will naturally flock there.  I have been known to take the dining chairs and barstools into the living room to encourage people to mingle in there.

And sometimes no matter what you do people will migrate to the kitchen.  I am not sure it's always a bad thing.  Especially if you need help in there...

If you have missed any of my 31 Days post you can find them here.