Skip the small talk, load up on wine, and more tips to host 22 guests in 241 square feet

By Leigh Kamping-Carder | February 26, 2015 - 11:59AM

It sounds like the setup for a bad punchline: how many bloggers can you cram into 241 square feet? This was, however, no joke. Last weekend, Curbed editor Hana Alberts hosted 22 real estate journalists and assorted friends and family in her Upper West Side studio, as part of the blog’s week of coverage on micro-dwellings.

We had a chance to attend and, it turns out, learned a thing or two about hosting in a small apartment. First, Alberts relies on classic space-saving tricks like rigorous decluttering (she has a storage unit in Long Island City), multi-functional furniture (a couch that folds into a bed, a bar cart on wheels for a coffee table), and creative storage (drawers under the bed).

See? Not too cramped.

But she pulled out a few effective and surprising tricks for the party and, in an exercise in getting as meta as possible, here are our favorites:

Stock up on disposable flatware. Dirty dishes will just clutter up the kitchen area.
Don't serve mixed drinks. Not only do you conserve space normally devoted to ice, mix and the rest, you also prevent people from clogging up one area while doing the actual mixing. And besides, who doesn't need more Prosecco in their life?
Hang coats on your shower rod. Just double check that it’s sturdy first.
Prepare for deep talk. Bottom line, hosting guests in a studio changes the flow of the party. People don’t have room to move around a lot, there are few seating options, and gesticulating wildly is a potential health hazard. All these factors mean more intense, longer conversations. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

For more tips on hosting in less-than-large apartments, check out our guide, "Tiny apartment, big party: Pull off a holiday bash in a small space."

3 out-of-the-box storage solutions for New Yorkers

9 questions to ask before renting a mini storage unit in NYC (sponsored)

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.