entertaining Archives - Interior Design Ideas For Your Home

October 15, 2026

Dining Benches for Keen Hosts: What to Look For

If you love having people round, a dining bench can be one of the most useful pieces in your home. Unlike chairs, it does not fix the number of places at the table, so an extra guest or a few children can always squeeze in. In this guide we set out what keen hosts should look for, starting with a length that suits your busiest evenings and works alongside an extending table. We explain how padding, seat depth, height and backrests affect comfort during long, leisurely meals, and which materials make cleaning up after spilled wine and sauces easier. You will also find advice on choosing a frame that feels solid under several adults, keeping a bench easy to move when you rearrange the room, and deciding who should sit where. Finally, we share layout tips for serving, passing and relaxing, plus small touches that help guests settle in comfortably and stay at the table longer....

October 15, 2026

Dining Benches for Dinner Party Lovers: What to Look For

If you host often, a dining bench can make your table more generous and more sociable, but only if you choose one with entertaining in mind. The key things to look for are a length that matches your table and the number of guests you usually seat, a comfortable padded or well shaped seat for long evenings, a frame that stays steady when several people move at once, and a finish that copes with spilled wine and dropped sauce. Height and leg position matter too, as guests need to slip in and out without disturbing the whole row. In this guide we walk through each of these points, explain how benches compare with chairs for hosting, and suggest how to pair a bench with an extending table, carver chairs and a sideboard for serving. We also share practical advice on lighting, layout and comfort so that long dinners feel relaxed for everyone around the table....

October 13, 2026

Computer Desks for Keen Hosts: What to Look For

If you love having people to stay or regularly fill your home with friends, your computer desk has a harder job than most. It often lives in the spare room that becomes a guest bedroom, or in a dining or living space that needs to look welcoming at short notice. The right desk lets you work during the week and then switch the room over for visitors without a frantic tidy. In this guide we set out what keen hosts should look for: closed storage that hides work quickly, a footprint that leaves space for a sofa bed or a guest's suitcase, finishes that look good as a dressing table or console, and surfaces tough enough for a drinks tray or buffet. We also cover how to plan power and lighting so the desk serves guests as well as you, and the small touches that make visitors feel genuinely looked after when they stay....

October 1, 2026

Hosting Guests This Summer? Tidy Up with a Glass Shoe Cabinet

Summer brings long evenings, garden gatherings and friends and family coming to stay. It also brings sandals, trainers, flip flops and beach bags gathering by the front door. When guests arrive, the hallway is the first thing they see, and a tangle of shoes rarely makes the welcome you want. A glass shoe cabinet offers a neat answer. It keeps footwear organised and off the floor, while the transparent or tinted doors make the entrance feel light and open rather than crowded. In this article we look at how a glass shoe cabinet can help you prepare for summer visitors. We cover where to place it, how to arrange shoes so they look tidy through the glass, how to make space for guests' footwear, and how to keep glass looking clear with minimal effort. We also share simple ways to make the hallway feel fresh and welcoming for the season....

September 13, 2026

Where Do Britons Store Alcohol at Home? Survey of 2,000 UK Adults

Alcohol at home is stored where the kitchen ran out of room, and that is a storage failure rather than a choice. This analysis by Furniture in Fashion explains why standard British kitchen units, typically 300 mm deep at wall level and shelved for plates rather than bottles, push drink into sideboards, understairs cupboards and garages within months. It sets out the difference between wine and spirit storage, why cork sealed bottles lie down while spirits must stand upright, and why a glass fronted cabinet in a bright room is the wrong home for either. The report also covers access in households with children and the internal shelf clearance a drinks cabinet needs to hold tall bottles properly. No survey fieldwork was conducted for this report and no verifiable national dataset of domestic alcohol storage locations exists, so no figures or percentage breakdowns are presented anywhere in it. The analysis is offered as editorial judgement from a UK furniture retailer....

September 3, 2026

The Future of the British Home Bar

Furniture in Fashion research finds that the British home bar has become an edge rather than a room, appearing at the end of a kitchen run, in an alcove, under a staircase, along a garage wall or at the back of a garden room. Our analysis argues that the cabinet is the cheap part of the decision and the seated zone is the expensive one: a drinks cabinet commits 40 cm of depth, while adding stools commits around 1.1 m once the stool and a route behind it are allowed for. The report sets out the counter and stool height pairings that decide comfort, the 65 to 70 cm of counter length each stool needs, and the shelf clearances and weights involved in storing bottles and glassware. It covers the electrical and ventilation planning that a wine cooler requires under Part P, the permitted development limits on garage and garden bars, and why no licence is needed to serve guests at home. A specification table matches each bar format to its footprint and seating....

September 2, 2026

The Drinks Cabinet Buying Behaviour Survey 2026

The drinks cabinet has returned to British homes as a functional storage item but is largely bought as a decorative one, and that mismatch explains most disappointment in the category, according to new editorial analysis from UK furniture retailer Furniture in Fashion. The report identifies internal shelf height as the binding constraint, noting that standard 70cl spirit bottles run 28cm to 32cm tall while many decorative cabinets have compartments proportioned to the exterior design rather than to bottles. It attributes the format's revival to pressure on open plan kitchen worktops, which are now too busy to serve as an evening bar area. The analysis also treats placement as a preservation decision, recommending interior walls away from direct sunlight and radiators, and flags door mounted stemware racks as a stability risk that makes wall anchoring essential rather than advisable....

September 2, 2026

The Drinks Cabinet Size Calculator for UK Rooms

Choosing a drinks cabinet for a UK room comes down to two measurements buyers rarely take: door swing and serving height. Our 2026 analysis explains why a cabinet that fits the wall can still fail in use, and why depth beyond 45 cm consistently costs circulation space without adding usable capacity, since bottles and glassware are narrow objects. It sets out the internal shelf heights required for upright bottles and stemmed glassware, recommends a serving surface between 75 cm and 90 cm from the floor to allow comfortable pouring while standing, and gives cabinet formats and clearance figures for five common UK room situations from small flat living rooms to open plan kitchen diners. The report also covers alcove placement in Victorian and Edwardian terraces, why radiator walls and direct sunlight should be avoided, and when a serving trolley is the more practical answer in a room where door swing would otherwise block the walking route entirely....

August 26, 2026

The UK Christmas Dinner Table Planner: Seats, Space and Timing

Christmas dinner is the one meal that asks a British dining table to do something it was never sized for, and this planner from Furniture in Fashion treats the day as a space problem before a cooking one. The governing figure is 60cm of table edge per person, with 50cm as the practical minimum, and everything from table length to service timing follows from it. The report explains how to count what a table genuinely seats once legs and ends are accounted for, why 75cm of chair clearance still applies when extra guests arrive, and how a bench, an extending leaf or a second surface for serving dishes can add capacity a small room cannot otherwise find. It covers protecting glass, gloss and stone tops from roasting dishes and acidic spills, and sets out a full seating table pairing table length with realistic guest numbers and the floor zone each arrangement demands....

August 20, 2026

How Do You Set up Table for Fine Dining?

Setting a table for fine dining follows a clear internal logic, and once you understand it the whole arrangement becomes straightforward. This guide explains the outside in cutlery rule, where each fork, knife and spoon belongs, and why dessert pieces sit horizontally above the setting rather than alongside it. It covers the foundation layer of cloth or runner, the role of the charger plate, and how glassware clusters above the knives in order of service. There is practical guidance on spacing settings so guests are not knocking elbows, keeping centrepieces low enough for conversation, and why candles at the table should always be unscented. Lighting, seating comfort for longer meals and discreet service between courses are all addressed, followed by answers to common questions on napkin placement, glass numbers and setting a formal table without a cloth....

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