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KITCHEN | Maybe you've actually been blessed with that kitchen of your dreams, complete with cathedral ceilings and space galore. More likely, though, if you're like most people I know, your kitchen is of the closet-sized variety, with barely enough room for little old you to stand in the room and  open the fridge, never mind house a couple dozen party guests. Though it might seem natural to set up bar on your kitchen countertop, why not consider moving it to a more spacious section of the house instead [see living room]? Toss some ice in an icebucket, use a cooler to keep your beer and liquors chilled, and you've got a bar that can move anywhere. You can also reduce traffic by closing the kitchen door (if there is one), and keeping the lighting to a very dim minimum.

If you do want to make use of your kitchen as a party gathering spot, at least push any dining table and chairs to the edges -- or even better, to a spare room -- to maximize open floor space. You'll also want to replace those blindingly bright overhead kitchen lights -- a guaranteed mood-killer -- with lower-wattage bulbs, and turn on only those lights that shine directly over food/bar/sink. If you can't turn on the overheads without turning on ALL the overhead lights, skip the overheads altogether; import a lamp or two from another room, or go entirely by candlelight.

Click on another room in the image above, or continue on with the tour by clicking the link below ...

take a bathroom break  

---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home .