By Tash Prout
Our top Christmas hosting ideas for a festive home
The weather’s colder every day, shops are crammed with party bits and wrapping paper, and I’m A Celeb’s about to kick off – Christmas is nearly here! It’s time to pull your favourite festive jumper out and deck the halls with all things turkey and tinsel.
If it’s your turn to have the family round this year, don’t panic – we’ve assembled a guide packed full of Christmas day hosting ideas, with tips for making every part of your day extra special.
Read on to find out how to host Christmas the DFS way!
Are you a Christmas prepper?
Presents? Wrapped. Sprouts? Peeled. Christmas? Conquered. If you like to get Christmas prepped as early as you can, you’re in good company – 62% of people we polled said the same, with over a quarter of them getting started as early as November to capitalise on big Black Friday savings and enjoy the festive season stress free.
Or a Christmas panicker?
The advent calendars are nearly empty, the radio’s playing Wham – and you still haven’t bought the turkey or wrapped your presents. Don’t panic: we’ve got just the thing for you. With lots of sofas and furniture ranges available for delivery in as little as 14 days, you’ll still have plenty of time to be sorted before Santa.
Still need help? We’ve put together the ultimate Christmas prep guide for panickers, with tips on everything from first-class wrapping to rearranging your furniture for the big day.
Start with a magical Christmas morning
The festivities start as soon as your eyes open – especially when there’s little ones involved! – so you’ll want to make the most of your magical Christmas morning.
The star of Christmas morning? The tree, of course! In the run up to the 25th, think about how best to arrange your living room so the tree (and the mountain of gifts beneath it!) takes centre stage.
A modular sofa comes in particularly handy here, with maximum rearrangeability letting you switch up your space at any time of year. Suites of 2 seater sofas and 3 seaters or cuddler chairs are just as handy for an adaptable set-up
Top tip: if you’re a late Christmas dinner kind of household, start your morning with an easy breakfast like salmon croissants or fruit with pancakes (shop-bought, unless you’re a kitchen organisation aficionado) to keep your guests content until the main event. Plus, a smaller, simple breakfast means fewer plates to wash up – always a win in our book!
How to host a Christmas dinner
Let’s face it: dinner is the headline act of a Christmas done right, but cooking up a crowd-pleaser isn’t easy. The best first step? Getting your dining layout guest ready. Space is the most important factor when planning for your Christmas dinner guests. In a large dining room, lean into all things luxury by popping a sprawling, festively dressed dining table with a green or red table runner in the middle of the room. Extra space on the dining table also means your turkey can proudly sit centre stage for carving, adding even more hosting flair to wow your guests.
On the flip side, it might feel daunting (to put it lightly!) figuring out how to host a Christmas dinner in a small house, especially with a big family. But never fear – functional furniture is here to save the day!
Whether it’s an intimate affair or even your uncle’s cousin’s friend’s dog is over for turkey, an extending dining table has you covered in a smaller dining room. Folding right back down to save on space once the last yorkshire pudding’s been snatched up, these dining tables offer a bit more room for all the trimmings without crowding your dining set-up for the rest of the year.
More Christmas dinner hosting ideas include opting for dining chairs without arms to offer extra wiggle room around the table and making use of storage furniture, like sideboards, for stashing crackers and table settings. Your grandma’s hostess trolley that never sees the light of day? Perfect for keeping leftovers warm when your guests want seconds.
Perfect your Christmas evenings
With dinner out the way, it’s time to kick back, digest all those roasties, and enjoy your festive evening entertainment. How to host Christmas evening depends on how you and your loved ones like to wind down. Are you glued to the TV for the Christmas specials? Perhaps you’re more Christmas conversationalists, with catch-ups over mulled wine extending long into the night, or gaming fanatics with years-long Cluedo rivalries?
For the movie marathoners…
If your ideal Christmas evening starts in Bedford Falls and ends up in Whoville, a sofa with suitable space to fit the whole family in front of the TV is a must. Make the most of your room with an L-shaped corner sofa – offering maximum bums-on-seats potential, often with a long chaise end for feet-up binge watching of all the festive hits.
Dreaming of a tech-tactular Christmas?
Take your film night even further with the Shaquille O’Neal Home Soundwave corner sofa, featuring exclusive UK-first speaker headrests that wrap around your ears for ultimate immersion.
For the gaming gurus…
What’s a festive family gathering without an uber-competitive game or two? If the post-turkey cooldown calls for the games to begin on your perfect Christmas day, make sure you’ve got the space and the set-up to accommodate your plans. Charades lovers? A couple of nesting or side tables dotted around the living room offer a place to stash drinks between rounds without stealing any precious performance space. Board game players and Uno enthusiasts, on the other hand, require a more suitable stage – think a wide, square coffee table with plenty of surface area for mulled wine and all that Monopoly money…
For the social butterflies…
For many, festive means family, and Christmas is a golden opportunity to catch up with those far-off relatives you might not see through the year. U-shaped sofas – 3-seater sofas with two chaise ends – are more popular than ever and a great choice for keeping conversations going way into the night. Better yet, most feature an accompanying footstool to slot seamlessly in the gap in the middle, creating the ultimate kick-back daybed feel for an unbeatably relaxed atmosphere. The more suave amongst us might opt for a drinks trolley stashed next to the sofa, so your next bucks fizz is never too far away!
Prepare for a Christmas sleepover
As the festivities wind down and the last of the eggnog is drained, it’s time to turn your attention to successfully getting your guests – and kids! – to sleep.
It’s always a good idea to plan for overnight lodgers, even when nobody intends to stay. Ahead of the 25th, make sure you’ve got plenty of clean towels washed and ready for guest showers, along with a well-stocked cupboard of loo roll for the guest bathroom if you’ve got one.
For sleeping spots in a smaller space, sofa beds are your sleepover saviours, with endless styles and sizes to choose from that don’t take up precious square footage through the day. If your spare room is ready to be transformed to a guest room, opt for an ottoman or divan bed with under-base storage to use all year round – the perfect place to store your Christmas bedding!
Whenever your guests settle down to sleep, it’s a good idea to keep a lamp nearby to help them navigate your space. After all, the last thing you want is a bump in the night and a Boxing Day trip to A&E!
How to host Christmas for less
Christmas day hosting ideas threatening to break the bank? Don’t panic – there are plenty of options when it comes to prepping for the festive fun.
Check out our top three budget-friendly Christmas hosting ideas below…
DIY your day
Put your Christmas craft skills to the test by DIY-ing your table settings, decorations, and more. Instead of splurging on fancy crackers with luxurious gifts, buy an affordable pack of fill-your-own crackers and choose inexpensive prizes catered to your guests’ tastes. You can even DIY parts of your dinner – prep ahead and make cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets, and stuffing to save on Christmas dinner costs.
Spread the cost
Looking to refresh your sofa before Christmas? Dining table in dire need of replacement? We offer a wide range of interest-free credit finance options across all our ranges, helping you get the furniture you need with manageable monthly payments.
Make it a collaborative effort
If you’ve got plenty of patrons coming for Christmas, don’t be afraid to use that to your advantage! Most guests won’t want to turn up empty handed, so politely request specific food or drink contributions to relieve some of the host-with-the-most pressure. Auntie Cynthia bringing the yule log means one less thing to worry about!
Get inspired
See some cosy Christmas hosting ideas – styled by DFS customers in their own homes!
