When my husband and I were building our home there were many disagreements, but one thing that was front and centre to us both, and that we never lost track of, was our desire to have people feel welcome and to create our living and entertainment areas to be spaces that would encourage people to stay.
One of the nicest compliments I have ever received on my home was when a new acquaintance once arrived and announced that my home made her feel as though she had just received a nice warm hug. Nothing could have warmed my heart more.
When my husband and I were building our home there were many disagreements but one thing that was front and centre to us both, and that we never lost track of, was our desire to have people feel welcome and to create our living and entertainment areas to be spaces that would encourage people to stay.
When we first met, my husband had a large boat that was often used for executive charters. Although it could accommodate many people for a party, the boat had lots of different conversation areas. There was a pilot house, galley, eating nook, back deck, and top deck for dancing. Everyone always left feeling that they had experienced a wonderful evening and in hindsight, I always attributed that to the fact that so many individual seating areas created very intimate conversation areas.
When we built our home, we kept that in mind. Our house is an open area in that we have a combined living room, dining room, kitchen, and family room. To create the same kind of intimate entertaining areas we created the following conversation groupings. We have a kitchen island with 4 stools, a formal dining room table that seats 10, a builtin eating nook for 5, a U-shaped sofa, an oversized fireplace hearth, which to this day is everyone’s favourite seat and a separate sofa away from all the other seating. This means in one room we have 6 separate conversation areas.
We used slate flooring throughout our home so that we could let a guest leave their shoes on when they arrived. The slate is bulletproof and after a quick wash, it remains the same as the day it was installed. We have carried the slate out onto our patios, so on summer days the house appears to extend all the way to the pool. Stone floors also allowed us to add in-floor heat which keeps the stone lovely and warm in the dark of winter.
Featured front and center of our open room is a massive floor-to-ceiling fireplace. Because it is damp here for almost 8 months of the year and both the warmth of the light and the heat draw people in.
Our sofas are leather so they are easy to keep clean, but between the floors, the fireplace, the counters, and the wooden tables there are lots of hard surfaces. Hard surfaces are practical and easy to keep, but often feel cold and uninviting. We have countered this by adding lots of warm and woolly sheepskins scattered on our seating surfaces, including our fireplace hearth, and have lots of textured pillows and carpets. All of the texture in the room makes it feel cozy, but because it is minimal, it is easy to change out and layer as the season demands.
Baskets stuffed with blankets are placed around the room and are great for cool summer evenings and rainy winter nights. It is amazing how different everyone’s internal thermometer can be and having layering pieces at hand means it is easy for guests to be able to be comfortable no matter how warm or cold it is.
We have followed the same principles outdoors with different seating areas, shaded overhangs and have 3 patio umbrellas to provide shelter and shade. By keeping the space accommodating it is easy for me to entertain because it is so easy for people to look after their own comfort.
Another thing that we have done to make our spaces feel inviting is that we have created lots of different lighting layers in our spaces. This is a great tip for hostesses and parents of young children. When my kids were small, I learned that I could help to encourage bedtime simply by changing the lighting. As evening came, I would shut down ceiling task lighting and switch to lamps. The subtle change of light signaled bedtime and calmed my kids making it easier for them to settle once it was time for bed. The same trick works great when you are getting ready to call at the end of an evening or event.
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