Entertaining in winter is all about creating warmth, ambiance, and hospitality. It’s less about what you serve and more about how you make your guests feel while they’re in your home. 

Winter Entertaining Begins with Creating Comfortable Spaces for Your Guests

From cozy seating to inviting overnight accommodation, you can elevate your winter entertaining with comfort-forward details that make everyone want to stay.

1. Design Warm Lounging Zones for Cocktails and Conversation

Give your guests inviting places to gather as they arrive, so everyone can settle in their own way. Set up a cocktail hub where drinks flow easily and conversations linger. Finish the bar with our hand-embroidered cotton cocktail napkins for a thoughtful, elevated touch.

Create intimate nooks and small seating groupings around tables or ottomans that invite easy conversation. Balance the energy with a cozy retreat—a quieter spot designed for lingering, meaningful chats.

Define each area through thoughtful furniture placement and layered lighting—whether it’s gathering seating and throw pillows around a fireplace or forming warm circles of light with standing lamps.

2. Fashion a Beautiful Table for Dining

In winter, the table becomes more than a place to eat—it’s where guests gather, linger, and soak up the warmth together. A beautifully styled buffet or dining table sets the mood for the entire evening, signaling comfort, abundance, and care. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s creating a space that feels generous, inviting, and quietly magical.

A beautiful table setting begins with the linens.There’s a reason that most venues provide white or ivory tablecloths. They make a great canvas on which to build tablescapes. The versatility and timelessness of white is one of the reasons Pantone chose Cloud Dancer, a shade of white, for its Color of the Year 2026.

We recently introduced our tablescape etc collection of table linens, including table runners, napkins, and buttoned napkin rings, in our unique 100% cotton, white-on-white, jacquard-woven, damask floral pattern. They offer a luxe feel while providing a subtle background for place settings and centerpieces.

Winter food is naturally beautiful—rich colors, hearty textures, steam rising gently from warm dishes. Aim for abundance so the table feels full, warm, and welcoming. 

Lighting can transform the dining space. Warm the table with candles in varied sizes and shapes—their reflections dancing off glassware, cutlery, and china to create a soft glow and an added sense of warmth.

3. Create Kid-Friendly Zones

Whether you’re hosting a kids’ party or a family gathering that includes little ones, create a dedicated kids’ comfort zone. Set the scene for a cozy, slumber-party–style movie night with comforters and pillows, or our head heaven travel pillows in three bright colors, spread out on the floor. Add a treasure hunt to keep the fun and excitement going. Don’t worry about designing it from scratch. You can easily create one with online resources.

4. Prepare Guest Nests for Overnight Visitors

Turn a spare room into an inviting retreat by layering in warmth—start with a mix of pillows and finish with multiple layers of cozy bedding. 

The fanciest hotels offer their guests our menu of pillow options. You don’t need to go to those lengths, but offering your guests a few pillow choices to satisfy their sleep styles and positions would certainly make their visit special. Ask your guests about their sleeping positions upon arrival and provide them with the appropriate pillows. They will certainly appreciate your thoughtfulness. 

Layers of texture on the bed create a rich look and offer guests options for warmth. It’s all about different textures and shapes. Think of smooth cotton sateen-woven sheets, a jacquard-patterned duvet cover encasing your fluffy down or down alternative comforter, a luscious cotton or cashmere throw blanket at the foot of the bed, and decorative throw pillows at the head. The layers can be all white or all one tone. The layering of fabrics and textures will create depth and draw them in.

Decorative elements such as throw pillows and blankets can add a touch of color or another texture and create a finished look to your bed. Our throw pillows come in a variety of colors and offer the opportunity to change your room with the seasons or with your mood without extensive effort. Because hygiene is always critical, our decorative pillows are made with zippered covers that can be removed and laundered.

An extra layer of a blanket or throw allows your guests to adjust to changes in the temperature during the night. It also gives them something to wrap around their shoulders if they get out of bed. Our cotton and cashmere throws come in a variety of neutral colors so they can be laid on the back of a chair in front of the fire or at the foot of the bed for chilly nights. All our throw blankets are washable, in addition to being beautiful and deliciously soft.

5. Make Guest Bathrooms into Spa-Like Stops

Once you’ve made certain the guest bathroom is spotless, stock it with necessities your guest may have forgotten. Don’t forget to include a special amenity or two that will take their bathing experience up a notch. Here are a few suggestions for necessities and amenities we’ve enjoyed at hotels we’ve loved:

• Fill a basket with bathroom necessities they might have forgotten to pack like a toothbrush and eye makeup remover.
• Take things up to spa level by setting a clean robe and hotel-quality, one-time-use slippers on the bed for use during their stay.
• Place a candle and lighter on the bathroom counter to provide a soothing scent and lovely glow.
• Gift them a bath accessory to use and take with them like one of our heart twist spa head towels or wash me tender silk and organic cotton duo.

With this kind of preparation, there’s no doubt your guests will remember the warm feeling of their visit.

We wish you beautiful entertaining experiences this winter season.

-Team at down etc

Read more: 

Why Cloud Dancer Is the Perfect Color for Better Sleep and Serene Bedrooms

What Makes a Memorably Beautiful Wedding Table?

How to Avoid Bad Reviews from Your Overnight Guests

5 Ways to Prepare Your Home to Delight Overnight Guests

How to Layer a Cozy Bed for All Seasons

About down etc

For over twenty years, down etc has collaborated with hoteliers and professional housekeepers in hotels around the world to manufacture and provide pillows and the bedding that will offer hotel guests memorably great sleep. Through our retail website, we seek to provide products that will result in the same quality sleep for our customers at home. We believe in the restorative power of a great night’s sleep, whether at home or away. That’s the reason down etc wrote the book on it, Roll Into a Perfectly Made Bed: All You Need to Know About the Art of Bedmaking.

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