Great ideas for entertaining… and special birthdays!

Entertaining is often part of our planning in most home remodeling projects, so here are a few considerations for having a space made for scalable entertaining (the large annual event or the small intimate ones). 

Think about your guests arrival, if you often have 4-8 couples, you’ll need a large closet nearby, or a place you know the coats can go without interrupting the fun. If you’re the one that has the 20+ guest list often, leave out some of the walls in the planning your new space and create definition of space with furnishings. That will keep the home human sized for your day to day living, and allow you to move a few things an hour before guests arrive. Whether you prep the food  yourself or cater, some extra counter space and a sink next to say- a second refrigerator in the mudroom, walk-in-pantry or basement would be a helpful addition. Entertaining and cooking don’t always go hand in hand… but the following is an idea that I highly recommend. I recently had a birthday party for my significant other, and since she just turned- “a milestone”, I had a private chef come and prepare a surprise meal for 8. What a great night it was to be able to sit at the table in the comfort of home and not miss a beat while Chef Kurt and his trusted server, Meghan, took care of everything! My last suggestion for birthdays is that you ask your guests to show their love by donating to Birthday Wishes, a nonprofit that brings birthdays to homeless children, rather than giving you a gift.

My team and I are excited to announce our 2014 “Impact in our Community” recipient is Birthday Wishes! Each year The Wiese Company, along with our business partners and the community, aid a local charity. Together we can offer repairs and design assistance, along with much needed improvements in the environment where the staff and volunteers perform their good works. Birthday Wishes is a nonprofit located in Newton Centre that provides birthday parties for homeless children.  This terrific organization will bring special joy and acknowledgment of a birthday to 23,000 homeless children this year. We will be in touch with more information about a special evening in April where Chef Kurt will part with some invaluable cooking knowledge  (and food), and you will have a chance to win a perfect gift for your next project from one of our suppliers (prize to be announced soon).

Our ambitious and obtainable goal?

• Re work the much needed office space for the staff and volunteers who are currently working in what appears to be the tables found on the side of the road (these people are dedicated).
   
• Move some electrical and network connections so the server doesn’t have to live where the closest cable was located and we can make room for more donations!
• Re-organize the space. As often happens, the work of giving back to your community comes before taking care of the space where these folks work. We want to re-plan the storage and work spaces to make life easier getting these birthdays out the door. This will include improved shelving, work spaces for party and goody bag assembly, and to accommodate larger volunteer groups to meet and wrap gifts as well as process re-planning for intake and outgoing items.
  
  
• Not least…. Remove the dirty smelly carpet and re-finish the floors. This alone will make the environment that much better and healthier- and oh yeah, and a fresh coat of paint!