To ask for your tips for Christmas in a tiny house?

[Notdeliasmith]

Hello, I'm hosting Christmas for the first time in my small 2 bed house for me, dh , dm and df who are staying the night

I wondered if any of you clever people had ideas on how to maximise cupboard and fridge space? Cook everything in a small oven? Not trip over each other?

We have enough chairs (just) for the dining table and have bought out some camping chairs for the lounge.

Currently we are planning on storing drinks in a cold bucket outside to save cupboard space, (would they freeze?) and serving take away on Christmas eve.

Didn't want to skimp past, i had this issue. I spent the 23rd cleaning the house, getting everything in order. On the 24th i prepped the veg, then made bits i could in advance. i got pre made stuffing balls then in the morning i just wacked the meat in the over, took it out an hour before serving covered in foil and done the roasties, stuffing and roast veg. Put meat back in covered at the end to heat back through!! we had lamb so it didn't matter if a little pink!! Have you got any space under stairs for drinks? just take what you need to refrigerate as and when? i clean after i use everything to make it feel like im 'on top' of things. tetris the actual F out of the fridge lol try not to stress out too much and try to enjoy!!!

Everything in advance, chop the veg, prep the meat etc. I would thoroughly recommend investing in a tabletop stove. Ours was a tower one and I think about £40. Well worth the extra space. Also if it doesn’t fit in the fridge don’t panic, just shove it out the back door - obviously not the turkey!

You can store drinks outside. We even store food outside in a cool box with bricks on the lid to stop foxes from taking it.

You can roast all the veg in one big roasting tin if you are not cooking for too many. I serve the whole dinner on a big plate. Turkey in the middle, all the rest piled in heaps around the sides. Takes up far less space on table and looks really good.

Not specifically for small houses but use disposable foil trays inside your roasting trays to minimise the greasy washing up. Maybe send everyone out for a walk while you prepare the table and organise the meal? And specify small gifts.

Merry Christmas

Thank you these are fantastic suggestions

A cool box outside with ice packs, or some of those plastic bag things you can make ice cubes in. Yes, they’re plastic, but at least they don’t take up cupboard or freezer space later.

Also keeping it fairly simple is IMO a must if you’re short of space, not lots of different veg and sides. Just a Sunday roast with a few special extras.

Also, clear the lounge and dining room and even kitchen if anything you won’t need/use. Like a temporary de clutter.

Ornaments or anything taking up side space. Even in the kitchen - if it won’t get used; move it out of sight. Chuck it under your bed or in the loft until the guests have left.

May feel sparse to begin with but once you’ve a full house and eve presents etc everywhere you won’t notice.

Once you're settled in and not using the car (if you have one) use the boot as a cool box for fruit & veg. For the small presents rather than letting them spread all over the floor under tree line a laundry basket with festive wrap or paper tablecloth and dump all them all in there (well labelled of course). Only the kids toys need to be out after unwrapping so have a different large gift bag for each adult ready to gather each person's "haul" back into and straight back under the tree making them accessible but tidy. With toys make sure you've done a fair clear out of the ones they've grown out of or broken before they get more and have nowhere to put them!
Have the dessert crockery and cutlery counted out with the pudding on the sideboard, or in sitting room just before you serve the main meal so that the dirty dishes from main being cleared have somewhere to go in the kitchen.
Other posters have great tips in the kitchen but the top one is always clean and clear as you go. Happy Christmas!

Growing up, we would have a sack with our names on & as we unwrapped presents, everything would go back into the sack - kept things tidy & together!

Also made things easier when taking upstairs to bedrooms and not losing or mixing things up.

YY to foil trays - not the most environmentally friendly but the sides are more flexible to bend slightly if you need to get them into the oven.

Prioritise fridge space for meat & dairy. Clear everything else out & store in eskys, especially veg and drinks. Fill Tupperware with leftovers and put them into the veg drawers.

If you need o en space, consider doing the turkey on the barbecue. Works well

So 4 adults in a 2 bed house for an overnight Christmas visit is going to be fine.
Do a dump run on the last day the local dump is open before Christmas so you have plenty of wheels bin space
Have a few days living off the contents of your freezer if you have some half full packets in chicken, Chips or left overs in there. Might have a few weird meals but it will save a few £ and make room for Christmas food.
Drinks and veg stored in a cool box outside the back door.
Use foil cooking trays you can just bin after cooking.
If doing a gammon boil and then just roast for that last 20 minutes.
Do as much prep as possible before guests arrive. Potatoes, parsnips, carrots can all be peeled and stored in water and left on the side covered by a tea towel.
Stuffing can be made the day before and stored in the fridge.
Nibbles like sweets and chocolate can be stored in the bottom of your waldrobe and just bring down as needed.
When doing the dining table keep it simple. No need for candles and garlands which just take up space. Make sure salt and pepper pots are filed before hand. If you are going to put mustard or apples sauce on the table use two small dishes either end of the table rather than one bi one in the middle. Save people having to stretch over others.
Plenty of decent quality black bin bags so you can deal with rubbish as you go.
Buy prepared where you can so bags of microwave steam veg
Premade pigs in blankets and aunt bessies yorkies.

We have those enormous plastic storage boxes with lids, and we store stuff outside in them, that doesn’t need to be refrigerated, it keeps everything dry and safe from any little animals that may be doing the rounds and be peckish,

We have three, and we put drinks, chocolates, cheeses, puddings, all in there, if you’ve anything like that they are really useful.

www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Useful-Box-Litre-Storage/dp/B00ORQ13T0/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&crid=18BH990KRVBWU&keywords=plastic+storage+boxes+with+lid&sprefix=Plastic+s%2Caps%2C176&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1607514060&sr=8-6

We did Christmas for 10, one of whom was staying the night and two of whom were small children (not ours!) in our two bedroom flat back in 2006., and I have no memories of it being a problem. We were excited to host as we had just got married and had loads of new tablewear! Am trying to remember how we managed it. Downstairs we had a big kitchen and a living room, upstairs two bedrooms and a bathroom, no garden. I think it was a mix of:

• There were always some people hanging out in the kitchen preparing food or washing up, with others chatting to them
• We cleared things away as soon as they were done, so the living room became a dining room for lunch then the table got folded back, presents were stacked once opened or taken upstairs, wrapping paper was instantly put in bin bags
• Some of us took the two kids out for a short walk after lunch so others could tidy up and also to make space

Nothing to add but sort and agree a timetable and who is doing what! Agree with eskies (always useful) with lots of frozen bricks and ice. Defo bricks on top if you have foxes around .....

Whatever the size of house, simpler the better!

I misread the title as 'shiny house' and thought this was going to be a thread of keeping the house clean

Takeaway or a big sharing dish is a good idea for Christmas Eve. I do a big dish of macaroni cheese which everyone can help themselves to, with some cold sausages I cooked the day before - takes very little time and reduces the washing up.

Prep as much veg as you can in advance and freeze or pop in bags in the fridge - bags take up less space. I’m blanching sprouts this week to freeze, and will cook them from frozen on Christmas Day.

Turkey or a big joint can easily rest for an hour while you use the oven for the rest of the roasted elements. No need to try to reheat - put foil over and a couple of old towels over that, and you’ll find it stays hot enough. Make the gravy boiling hot and the rest will be fine.

Also invest in a tower steamer for your boiled/steamed veg - you can cook up to 3 veg on one ring, freeing the rest for your sauces etc.

If you have a biggish table it’s easiest to put everything there for people to help themselves, but otherwise dish up in the kitchen and just put sauces and condiments on the table.

Consider a pudding which doesn’t need refrigerating, to save space - something like a chocolate log, maybe.

Try a smaller tree on a small table, then you can put presents under the table and take up less floor space.

Your parents will be happy to be with you so don't think you have to cook loads of different things. Christmas puddings cook quickly in the microwave you don't need to take up a ring on the cooker steaming them for ages.

@CoRhona wouldnt mind ways of keeping house clean.

Things in boots? Foil trays?These are all really helpful.
Feeling much more reassured