This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.
Last Updated on December 8, 2023
It is easy to stay entertained in your own home, but the same can’t always be said for other people. Whether you are hosting a large-scale party or just getting a few friends together for drinks, it can be important to think about the entertainment your home provides, especially if you have recently moved in.
While a large TV or a game console can provide some solid entertainment on its own, you sometimes want something a bit more fancy to serve as a centerpiece in your get-togethers. Here are five ways that you can turn some empty space into a new hub of social activity.
Add Some Games
A lot of people own game consoles in this day and age, but those are not the only games that you can add to spice up your home. Whether it is restored arcade machines in the garage or an entire foosball table in the living room, adding something that people can physically play can make a difference.
If you want to appeal to more people and get a larger crowd involved, then something like Snooker can work wonders. Gamblers might enjoy a proper poker table with all of the casino flair you would expect, and you could even extend this to things like board game tables or a dedicated space for miniatures games.
Creating an obvious social spot where everybody can engage in games and other hobbies makes a big difference, but only if you can provide something that friends and family actually enjoy. This means that you should think extra hard before committing to anything too large or expensive.
Create a Mini Cinema
If you know a lot of movie buffs or fans of specific television series, creating a home cinema can be a great way to turn an empty space (or even an entire spare room) into a practical entertainment spot. All you need is a big screen and enough chairs to seat a fair amount of people, making it relatively easy to plan out.
Some people may even go the extra mile and have staggered seating, along with things like drinks dispensers and specially-installed sound systems. However, even if you want to keep things low-key and straightforward, having a dedicated space to watch movies can be greater entertainment for a crowd of any size.
Create Special Social Spaces
Creating a general-purpose meeting and party space in your home can be surprisingly useful, especially if you often host parties or have groups of friends around who might not know each other that well. Providing a decent place to talk with one another can be a good way to keep people comfortable and entertained.
This could be something as simple as a room with extra seating or could be an entirely separate room that you have set aside specifically as a party area. However you decide to approach it, this can be a good way to keep people entertained without having to rely on a specific gimmick that might not appeal to each guest.
Even a simple living room can be perfect for this – they are often used as all-purpose rooms, to begin with, so even just adding some extra chairs can turn it into an ideal place to host parties or gather friend groups. A small practical change like this can make a huge difference when your guest list reaches the double digits.
Build a Home Bar
Home bars are an option that many people completely overlook, but they can be perfect for people who like a good drink and want to share it with friends. Whether you build one indoors or outdoors, putting together a dedicated home bar can make it into a hub of social activity during parties.
There are a lot of ways to approach home bars, from simple home bar ideas that can be placed in any room to complex designs that are effectively an entirely new section of your home. You could make something ultra-modern, retro, rustic, or even emulate the feel of a real-life bar that you like.
Home bars are also great for directing people to a specific room. If you have a party with a lot of guests, the home bar will serve as a place where most of them will go for a drink, which can make it a natural hotspot of interaction. Combine it with at least one of the other entertainment options on this list, and you can create a very versatile party space.
Have a Flexible Empty Room
If all else fails, you can always rely on an empty room that can serve almost any purpose. While not all homes will have a spare room available for this, it can be a good option in larger homes where you can afford to keep one room as a general-purpose private space.
This is good for people who host a lot of events with varying friend groups or who want to appeal to the tastes of different friends each time they come over. Having a mostly empty room allows you to rework it for each event as long as you have the time to prepare, and it can be good for recurring hosts that love to throw the best parties possible.
Even on a smaller scale with only a few guests, a nearly-blank room can be great for enjoying hobbies together or getting away from rooms that other people might be using. This can be great if you want to spend time with a friend without disrupting the other people living in the same home, and it ensures that you are not getting in anybody’s way.
Whatever you decide to do with your home, remember that your own personal party-throwing habits make a difference too. If you’re inviting people over to watch movies, then a home cinema would matter more than a games room, but it depends on the kind of company you spend time with.
There is no perfect way to add some extra party entertainment to your home, but some ideas will always fit your needs better than others. Take some time to look over your options and see what would work best for you.
