Do you know what the best kind of party is? An awards-show-watching party! You get to spend a few hours with your favorite people AND there is built-in entertainment, and of course lots of lounging….and eating. :)
We had a couple of friends over to watch the Emmy’s this weekend and I wanted to spruce things up a little in our family room beforehand. I swung into Target on Saturday to shop their new *AMAZING* fall line, which I’m sure you’ve seen all over social media. It’s good, guys. Real good. I think it only takes a few key additions – and just about five minutes of effort – to make your home party-worthy! Here are my best party-prep tips:
Tip #1: Splurge on fresh flowers
Tip #2: Set up a refreshment station
Let’s be real. Parties are mostly just a great excuse to eat delicious snacks, right? I wanted to keep it simple for us with this little refreshment station on our tiger wood chest right in our living room. This way no one had to venture into the kitchen for a refresh and potentially miss some especially juicy red carpet moment or Andy Samberg joke. I put out the mixings for Dirty Diet Coke (add pebble ice, a little coconut syrup, a dash of heavy cream and lime wedge or two) and a couple big bowls of homemade kettle corn (a new family favorite). It’s so easy to make it on the stove and it tastes SO much better than microwave popcorn.
I heat up a few tablespoons of coconut oil in a big lidded pot with three kernels in the oil. As soon as the oil is hot enough to pop all three of the test kernels, I add a half cup of popcorn kernels and a quarter cup of sugar, and shake the pan until the popping starts to slow down. Add a little salt, and you’ll never go back to microwave popcorn again! This big, wide bowl is gorgeous and perfect for serving your sweet/salty masterpiece. And of course, a handful of peanut butter M&Ms makes life worth living, especially when served in such a pretty footed bowl!
Tip #3: Burn your best candles
marble candle // tray
Tip #4: Keep your guests comfortable with extra pillows and foot stools!
Tip #5: Free up some space on your coffee table
If you’re like me, you keep your coffee table loaded with books and magazines and all sorts of other bits and baubles. A party is a good time to clear everything away and get back to the essentials so there’s room for your guests to get comfortable and have a place to set down their drinks and snacks.
My coffee table is big, so my essentials included a beautiful wooden bowl to coral our remote, some emergency reading material (isn’t that guilded antler sitting on top cool?), a tray with a candle and coasters, a couple little plants and a flower arrangement. That copper-faceted planter is pretty much my new favorite thing.
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Where are the hands figurine from?
This room is amazing! Love your style and I would have been giddy to join your party. The Nate B. rug pillow–genius! Your "Century" book….is it the mini addition? It's the only one I can find, but yours looks to be bigger?
Beautiful! What size pillow insert did you use for the Nate B. rug pillow? Thanks!!
I like Last Man on Earth too!
Where did you get the marble candle?
Jenny, love, love, love the pillow! Also, can you tell me about the painting that is behind the Dahlia flower arrangement? It looks beautiful, and I can't tell because I can't see the subject matter, but it looks like something I'd like to have in my house. Not sure if prints are available. :)
Hand figurines are old – I've had them for a few years now – and I'm not sure of the maker.
The painting is by Minerva Teichert. She is an LDS artist and it's a religious scene. I love it.
The down pillow insert is 14×36! Fits perfectly!
The marble candle is also from Target. Can't find the link though… It's in stores for sure!
I found the Century book at a local used book store, so I'm not sure about the sizing options online/when new, but the spine on this one is about 12/14"? Hope that helps!
xo
The new Target décor stopped me in my tracks this past weekend! I need to get my hands on the marble candles. What a beautiful living space you have. I couldn't agree more about the fresh flowers, a must have. xo
Hi Jenny … the fall Target line is so good! It just gets better and better :) I was curious where your rug is from!? Thanks!
This is so great! Fall definitely gets me in the mood to have parties :) And Target's fall line really is awesome.
We just bought a house (!!!) and I've been looking for the same large print of Minerva Teichert's painting of Christ and the Children, but I have had a hard time tracking down where to buy it as not all stores carry all of her paintings. Do you remember where you purchased yours? Is it canvas? Thanks!!
Check out the BYU Museum of Art store online, they have a huge selection of prints you can order from LDS and non-LDS artists
I love the pillow. It probably is a super easy process for most people but I think a short tutorial on that would be awesome! I get the whip stitch but how were the ends closed up?
love the rug turned pillow! just ordered one online so i can make one myself! now to find the correct insert size. . .do you know where you got your 14×36 insert?
Jenny your home is beautiful. I live in Canada & we no longer have Target (insert sad face here). However we are on going on a vacation to Virginia soon, will have to check out this new line. We also watch that show, Phil is pretty funny!
Jenny,
So nice of you to answer questions. Yep, you have the nice large size Century book. Lucky you as they are hard to find!
Merathon, look on etsy for great pillow inserts!!! All sizes.
LOVE the new rug in the living room! Is that another ebay score? If not, I'd love to know where to get one!
I've read the entire LGN archives about five times now. No one does upscale but affordable design like you, Jenny!
Your home is looking wonderful such a nice interior decorator you are. Really you blog is telling too much of your hard work. Thanks and keep posting more with us.Sharing something for all about bathrooms as there are many innovative small bathroom makeovers sites with which we makeover our bathroom with creative bathroom ideas and bathroom design and get your bathroom looks wonderful.
Love everything you do! I love the rug that's on the floor in this room. Can you give the details on where you got that or what brand or similar rugs are available to buy? I'm looking for a new rug & I think something like that could be perfect. Thanks!
Hello, I'd also like to know where the rug under sofa is from. Thanks!
I really like the way the room is set up now. I kept thinking it was all wrong but I definitely know sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where everything should go and fill in different pieces. Looks like you made it work! Great flow.
After some hunting around, it looks like the rug is from West Elm and all their rugs are on sale, woo hoo!! Here is the link:
http://www.westelm.com//products/kuba-wool-rug-t1660/?cm_src=MYRECS
Where did you find your coffee table? Love it.
I went out today and got the faux fur and navy plaid pillow. Your taste is so good. Loved this post
Jenny, I would love some practical advice from you. I notice you have chairs sitting on hardwood floors and would appreciate your sharing how you keep them from sliding out of place as people sit, slump, slouch, scoot, and otherwise move their weight about in the chairs. When I put an easy chair on a hard surface, it travels, no matter what I do. Thanks for any advice you can share. Ann
Love the pillow! It was the first thing I noticed in the photo before I started reading!
Also just wanted to say that I love that you have religious art in your home. I think this has come up before on your blog, but sometimes I've hesitated from hanging religious art/items in the "public" areas of my home, but now I think that's silly. If it's who you are it should be prominently displayed in your family room! It's also a lovely painting :)
watch me on Musiknisasi
Just ordered the rug and insert for my navy loveseat! Thanks for the great idea, I love it!
Everyone is talking about the decor but I just want to say that kettle corn was perfect! So
delicious with the coconut oil. Thanks for a great recipe!