Built for a Full House: Designing a Custom Home for Entertaining

The holidays have a funny way of exposing every flaw in a floor plan.

Suddenly, the kitchen island that seemed enormous has eight people standing around it. Someone needs ice. Someone else needs a wine glass. The oven is full. Coats are piled on a bed. Kids have taken over the living room. Your mother-in-law is looking for somewhere to put the casserole she brought. And somehow, everyone is standing in the kitchen.

If you have the opportunity to build a custom home, entertaining is worth thinking about long before the first holiday dinner. Not because your house needs to be designed for parties. Because many of the same choices that make a home wonderful for entertaining also make it better to live in every other day of the year. If we were designing a custom home with a full house in mind, here's what we'd put on the plans.

1. Start With How People Will Move Through the House

Before choosing countertops, think about traffic.

Where do guests enter? Where do coats and bags go? Can someone walk from the living room to the powder room without cutting through the kitchen's primary work zone? Can you carry food from the kitchen to the outdoor dining table without navigating half the house?

Good entertaining spaces have flow. The kitchen, dining and living areas should feel connected, but that doesn't necessarily mean putting them inside one enormous open room. Wide openings, thoughtful sight lines and well-positioned furniture zones can keep everyone connected while still giving the house some definition.

We'd think about: What happens when 20 people are here—not just four.

2. Give the Kitchen Two Jobs

When you're entertaining, the kitchen is simultaneously a workspace and a gathering place.

Those two things don't always coexist peacefully. A well-designed island helps enormously. Put seating on the side opposite the primary prep zone so guests can talk to the cook without standing directly between the refrigerator and the range. Then think beyond the island. A beverage refrigerator or bar positioned just outside the main cooking zone gives guests somewhere to refill a drink without opening the refrigerator you're trying to cook from. An ice maker may feel like an indulgence until the first Christmas party. Deep drawers make serving pieces easier to access. Double ovens suddenly become very easy to justify around Thanksgiving.

The goal isn't to build a commercial kitchen.

It's to keep everyone from needing the same six square feet at the same time.

3. Build the Working Pantry

We've said it before: if you're building and have the room, the working pantry is high on our wish list.

It's even better when you entertain.

Give it countertops. Outlets. Closed storage. Space for small appliances. If the floor plan and budget allow, consider a sink, second dishwasher or additional refrigerator.

During a party, this becomes command central.

Dirty dishes disappear into it. Dessert can wait there until you're ready. The coffee maker isn't competing with appetizers for counter space. Serving platters and oversized appliances finally have somewhere logical to live.

Best of all, the main kitchen can still look relatively pulled together even when you're feeding a crowd.

That alone might be worth the square footage.

4. Create a Beverage Station Away From the Kitchen

This is one of those little floor-plan decisions that can make a surprisingly big difference.

If every guest needs to enter the kitchen for water, wine, coffee, ice or another drink, your kitchen will be crowded all night.

A dedicated wet bar, beverage center or even a beautifully designed bank of cabinetry between the kitchen and living area changes that.

Include an under-counter beverage refrigerator, glass storage, an ice maker if you'll use it, and enough counter space to pour a drink.

If you're coffee people, consider whether the same area could handle coffee service after dinner.

Guests can help themselves.

Hosts can keep cooking.

Everybody wins.

5. Don't Forget Where Everyone Will Sit

We love a beautiful dining room.

We love it even more when people can comfortably pull their chairs out.

When you're looking at plans, pay attention to the space around the dining table, not simply whether a table technically fits there.

Can you add leaves for Thanksgiving? Can someone walk behind a seated guest? Is there space for a buffet, console or china cabinet? Does the dining area connect naturally to the kitchen?

Then consider secondary seating.

A breakfast table, island stools, outdoor dining table and conversational seating around a fireplace give people somewhere to naturally break into smaller groups instead of trying to fit an entire gathering around one table.

The best parties rarely happen in one room.

6. Make the Outdoor Space Part of the Party

In Chattanooga, outdoor living doesn't have to be a three-month luxury.

A properly designed covered porch can become one of the most-used entertaining spaces in the house.

Make it deep enough for real furniture. Give it ceiling fans for summer and a fireplace or heaters for cooler months. Plan outlets, lighting and TV placement during construction instead of adding them later.

Most importantly, pay attention to how the porch connects to the kitchen.

Large doors are beautiful, but placement matters just as much as size. If people can move naturally from the kitchen and living room to an outdoor dining and lounge area, the entire house feels larger when you're entertaining.

We'd choose: Enough space for both a dining table and comfortable seating if the footprint allows.

7. Give Coats, Bags and Shoes Somewhere to Go

Nothing says "we have people over" quite like a primary bedroom covered in coats.

A generous entry closet is not the most glamorous thing you'll choose for a custom home.

Build it anyway.

If most friends and family enter through a side or garage entrance, make sure the mudroom can handle guests too. Hooks, closed storage, benches and clear floor space become incredibly useful when people arrive carrying purses, jackets, gifts, diaper bags and whatever dish they were assigned to bring.

This is especially worth considering if you're building a mountain home, where heavier coats and wet shoes are part of entertaining for several months of the year.

8. Put the Powder Room Somewhere Sensible

Powder-room placement deserves more attention than it gets.

Guests should be able to find it easily without walking through private parts of the house.

It should be close enough to the entertaining spaces to be convenient. It should not open directly into the dining room. That last one feels worth emphasizing. A powder room is also a great place to have a little more fun with the design. Wallpaper, a beautiful vanity, interesting lighting or a dramatic paint color can give a small space personality without committing an entire room to something bold.

9. Think About the Morning After

If you frequently host overnight guests, don't design only for the party.

Design for breakfast the next morning. A comfortable guest suite with a nearby or private bath changes the experience for everyone. So does a place for luggage, accessible outlets for chargers and enough bathroom storage that guests don't have to live out of a toiletry bag. If parents or adult children visit often, a first-floor guest suite may be worth serious consideration. For larger custom homes, a small upstairs beverage station with coffee, water and a mini refrigerator can be surprisingly useful. Hospitality isn't just having somewhere for people to sleep. It's making them comfortable enough to stay.

10. Give the Kids Somewhere Else to Go

When adults are lingering around the table, it helps to have another space where younger guests can settle in.

A bonus room, media room, basement den or upstairs lounge gives kids and teenagers somewhere to gather without disappearing into bedrooms or taking over the main living room. Think comfortable seating, a television, game storage and easy access to snacks. It doesn't have to be enormous. It simply needs to function well enough that different generations can enjoy the same gathering in their own way.

11. Storage Matters More Than You Think

Entertaining requires stuff.

Platters. Extra dishes. Wine glasses. Table linens. Serving utensils. Holiday décor. Folding chairs. Vases. Crockpots. Roasting pans that are approximately the size of a Volkswagen. Plan where those things will live. A dining-room built-in can hold china and linens. Kitchen drawers can be sized for serving pieces. The pantry can accommodate oversized appliances. A nearby closet can hold folding chairs and table extensions. Storage isn't wasted square footage. It's what allows the square footage you see to stay beautiful.

12. Lighting Should Change With the Evening

Good entertaining lighting is layered.

You need enough task lighting to cook. Softer lighting for dinner. Lamps and sconces that make a living room feel warm once the overhead lights go off. Outdoor lighting that lets the porch keep going after sunset. Put as much as possible on dimmers. Plan outlets for lamps when you're laying out the electrical plan. Think about where pendants, sconces and picture lights might add warmth rather than relying entirely on recessed cans.

The house should be able to transition from getting ready for everyone to arrive to nobody seems ready to leave yet without feeling like the lights are either fully on or completely off.

13. Plan for Parking Before You Need It

Parking is easy to overlook on a set of plans, but it can make a noticeable difference once the house is full. Think about how several additional cars will arrive, park, turn around and leave. On larger or mountain lots, this becomes even more important. Can guests park without blocking one another? Is there a comfortable, well-lit path from the driveway to the house? Can cars turn around easily rather than backing down a long or steep drive after dark?

Depending on the property, a circular drive, parking court, widened driveway or thoughtfully placed overflow area can make hosting considerably easier without detracting from the home's curb appeal. It's one of those details you may not think much about once the home is finished—which is usually a sign that it was planned well.

14. Remember That the Best Entertaining Houses Aren't the Biggest

You don't need a ballroom. You need a home that works.

Some of the best houses for entertaining aren't enormous at all. They simply have good flow, plenty of places to sit, a kitchen that can function while guests gather nearby, easy access to outdoor spaces and enough storage to hide the evidence that real people live there. That's the difference between building more space and building better space.

Build for the People You'll Invite In

When you're designing a custom home, it's easy to focus on the things you'll see every day: the countertops, flooring, cabinetry, fixtures and finishes. Those choices matter. The experiences you're designing for matter too.

Thanksgiving dinner that runs late into the evening. Christmas morning with grandparents staying upstairs. Friends crowded around the island during football season. Summer dinners on the porch. Kids running between rooms while adults stay at the table for another hour.

A great custom home isn't simply a beautiful backdrop for those moments. It makes them easier. So when you're looking at plans, don't only picture what the house will look like when it's finished. Picture it full. Those are usually the homes people love living in the most.