Four festive entertaining ideas to feast your eyes on

Are you hosting a Christmas party for family or gathering friends for a new year’s extravaganza? Give your guests – and your eyes – even more to feast on over the festive period with these colourful and crafty ideas from the talented Dulux team.
 

1. Terrazzo Table

Instead of dusting off a traditional Christmas tablecloth, why not try this terrazzo style table design? This vintage trend has been upgraded for modern tastes with playful pastels. So whether you’re planning a big party or prefer a cosy gathering, you can add pops of fun with this dashing corner table to stop your guests in their tracks. Plus, you can avoid waste and save on costs by getting tester pots in your chosen colours from your local Dulux store.

You’ll need:

• Old side table

• Dust sheet

• 4 artists’ paint brushes in different sizes

• Paint in five colours

Apply two coats of white paint to the table top for a smooth surface; leave to dry, then with one of the colours, paint a smattering of splotches in irregular positions using your largest brush. This is great if you’re a painting novice – the more imperfect the splotches the better! Repeat with a smaller size brush in a different colour until you’ve used one of every colour, making smaller splotches as you go.

Leave to dry overnight. Adorn with shimmering glasses and beautiful bottles for a dazzling party drinks table.

Which colours?

Pure Brilliant White 
Oyster Cove 3 
Niagra Blues 1 
Sea Urchin 2 
Desert Island 1 
Rich Black

2. Drinks Trolley

Achieve simple beauty and charm with a feature wall in a bold, dark colour. Faded Indigo is a rich, dusty blue that will guide the eye to a pared-down background.

Over the festive period this will be the perfect backdrop for a glitzy drinks trolley. This easy charity shop purchase is a cost-effective way to jazz up any social occasion. For a more extravagant bourgeois look, upcycle with a roll of marble-effect Fablon from your local craft store. Cut to fit the base on each tier then stick onto the surface. Gold and copper accents will dazzle and wow against a matt finish feature wall. Indulge in retro glamour and adorn your trolley with playful Art Deco accessories that match the luxe golden glimmer of the frame.

A feature wall adds depth and drama for a cosy space, so draw from the warmth of this look with soft furnishings like the wicker basket filled with rustic, textured blankets.

Which Colours?

Faded Indigo
 

3. Do it your-shelf

Carve out a stylish space for fun treats by painting your kitchen wall and shelving in the same colour. Bluey-green hues like Fortune Green are perfect for a luxurious edge.

Bring the look together by dressing the shelves, top to bottom, with pocket-friendly accessories that hint at glitz and glamour in gold accents and double-up as useful containers for drinks garnishes. Placing plants across tiers will draw out the green undertones for a fresh finish.

Which colours?

Fortune Green

4. Marble canvas

Watch our quick video guide on how to create a marble canvas [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4ZoF4ZYjBI] so you can have your very own piece of swirly heaven as a backdrop to party delights and fairy lights.

You’ll need:

• Plain canvas

• Jug of water

• Spray bottle with water

• 3 paint colours

• Artist’s brush

• Paper bowls

How to:

Put a few drops of each paint into separate paper bowls. Add water to dilute the paint in each bowl. Mix the paint and water together well using the paint brush.

Flick some water onto the canvas surface, making sure to cover all areas of the canvas. Drop your first colour onto an area of the canvas and allow this to bleed out over the canvas area. Drag the brush lightly to apply more colour. Repeat with the other colours, applying randomly to different areas, and allowing the colours to merge.

Spray the surface with water to move the paint around and blend the colours. Let your canvas dry in the same position before moving it.

Which colours?

Heart Wood 
Sapphire Salute 
Malt Chocolate