I am a very social individual.  I love any excuse to host a party to get together with friends and family and share a delicious meal, a laugh, and invariably, an embarrassing story or two.  Aside from the joy I get from the wonderful people that surround me, I also love to host because it gives me ample opportunity to try new design layouts and techniques. Basically, I get to play.

I talk frequently about how affordable interior design can be, but today I am focusing on one fun and affordable solution – an interior design progressive dinner.

We’ve all done the traditional progressive dinner – you start at one house for appetizers and drinks, move to the next for dinner, and the last for dessert. It is an opportunity for each person to show off their home and cooking talents (or lack thereof) and provides a little twist to the traditional dinner party.

I have yet to meet a social individual that does not enjoy a dinner party with friends, but all fun activities can occasionally use a face lift. When it comes to the progressive dinner, what I like to do is take it one step further by including a home accessories trade. Each person selects artwork, furniture, lamps, vases, etc. that they are willing to part with temporarily. They place a Post-it, ribbon, or some other identifying marker on the selected pieces. When the friends arrive, each person gets to pick out the items they want to borrow for a predetermined amount of time. This happens at each house until you have a car full of new to you items with which to adorn your house. It gives you a fresh yet temporary look and an opportunity to have a wonderfully fun and creative evening.