Depending on the type of event you are hosting, parties are a great time to experiment with different seating configurations in your home. For example, maybe you need to arrange for a kids table in a dining room, or desire more seating in a living room.

We hosted a cocktail party recently, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to play around with the seating in the breakfast area of my newly renovated kitchen. Usually there’s a table in this area, but I wanted to attempt to create a lounge atmosphere for my party. I wanted people to feel comfortable about taking a load off and relaxing, beverage in hand.

So, I slid the table into an adjacent hallway. I grabbed a couple of side tables from the playroom to serve as cocktail tables, and brought in an ottoman from the living room. You can see the transformation in the top photo.

In the end, my new seating area didn’t get much play during the party. I always want people to sit and get comfy at a party, but darn it, if everyone doesn’t end up standing and hanging out in the kitchen!

But after most of the guests left, there was a core group of about eight who enjoyed chatting and resting our dogs in the lounge. (Funny how that happens at parties. I always enjoy hanging out with the stragglers at the end.) I’m not sure if I’ll rearrange like this again, but I had fun experimenting.

-alyce eyster