Sponsored Content: This post is a collaboration with Suns Lifestyle. As usual, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

While most people’s homes work for them throughout the year, Christmas can be a challenge when it comes to hosting. The main grievances involve the dinner table not being big enough to sit everyone around it, a lack of chairs to seat all the guests, limited surface areas to serve and extra food and drink bottles taking up too much space indoors. However, with a little extra thought and a few clever products, there are several ways to increase your entertaining space at Christmas that will help to remove the stress of hosting over the festive season.

1. Invest in an extendable dining table that can be used both inside and out

2. Bring in colourful and comfortable garden chairs for extra seating

3. Create an outdoor drink station 

4. Don’t overload the decor

5. Encourage outdoor socialising with cosy throws and lighting

Invest in an extendable dining table that can be used both inside and out

While you may be happy with your current indoor dining table for daily life, it might not be an adequate size to cater for family and friends at Christmas. A good idea would be to invest in a good quality, stylish, extendable dining table that can be kept outside all year round and brought inside when it is required. 

The sharp and sleek look of the Rialto means that it seamlessly blends in with our interior decor. As the Rialto is easy to clean, it only requires a simple wipe-down with a soapy cloth before it is ready for use indoors. 

With a choice of matt grey or white table legs, the Rialto has a premium solid aluminium frame which is weatherproof as the double powder coating will not fade in the sun or rust in wet weather. The tabletop louvred slats are available in a choice of FSC-certified teak, or they are also available in aluminium to match the table legs.

Bring in colourful and comfortable garden chairs for extra seating

To avoid the arguments about who has to sit on the uncomfortable fold-away spare seat, a great way to always have stylish and cushioned extra seating (without it taking up valuable space indoors) is to invest in high-quality, colourful outdoor dining chairs that can be left outside all year round. 

To accompany our Rialto, we invested in Suns Lifetsyle’s popular Matera Dining Chairs, made with a high-quality aluminium frame and premium acrylic rope for a modern and unique look. The Matera collection comes in a range of six colour options and additional seat cushions, making them a sophisticated choice and the perfect indoor/outdoor dining set (we chose the green option as we thought they were a particularly nice choice for blending in with seasonal, festive hues). 

Create an outdoor drink station

With multiple bottles taking up valuable surface space and extra glassware getting in the way of food preparation, creating an outdoor drink station is a great way to allocate a space where all drink options can be gathered for your guests to choose from, as well as keeping beverages chilled in the winter climate. An extendable garden table from Suns Lifestyle provides adequate capacity for champagne buckets, bottles of tonic and barware.

Don’t overload the decor

While it is tempting to go all-out at Christmas, cluttering up the dining table and other surface areas can result in a room feeling smaller and does not provide adequate space for guests to place down drinks, gifts and other items they may need to rest aside. Keep table decor paired back, such as adding a small grouping of bud vases containing flowers that can be moved around as necessary, rather than adding a large, unmovable Christmas centrepiece. 

Encourage outdoor socialising with cosy throws and lighting

While encouraging your guests to go outside during winter may feel unfathomable, a break in the fresh air is often desired after lots of eating, drinking and being merry! Create an inviting area outside that your guests will want to spend a few moments in throughout the day. Zone the space with an indoor/outdoor rug and add seating, atmospheric lighting and lots of warm, cosy throws to entice guests and increase your hosting space.