Style runs through the veins of interior designer Alexa Hampton. Her parents, Mark and Duane Hampton taught her what it meant to build a beautiful home, and further, how to welcome people into that home with grace and warmth. The decorator, of course, has found her own entertaining style that always involves laughter, happiness, and plenty of chairs. Here, Hampton looks back at the parties of her childhood and explains why lighting is key to any successful soiree.
From whom did you learn what a good party should look and feel like?
Alexa Hampton: My parents. Every year, they [Mark and Duane Hampton] would have this fabulous Christmas party for everyone involved in my father’s business, from design assistants to upholsterers and the movers. They’d pull out all the good silver, serve tomato sandwiches and cream puffs on toast rounds, and hire a piano player. There were so many people packed into my parents’ apartment, and they were always sure there wouldn’t be enough space. But during the party, with everyone singing at the top of their lungs, it was the last thing on our minds.
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Do you find that your parties strike a similar note?
AH: I love to have that level of welcome. I open up the whole apartment, hire wonderful caterers, and put all this great food on the dining room table just like my parents would. My father’s philosophy was that you can never have too many chairs. I line the walls with the chairs and that way people mill about.
If you were writing a book about parties, what would be in Chapter 1?
AH: Design your house so that you don’t have to go to a huge effort to have a party. Otherwise, will you?
This includes lighting, right?
AH: Especially lighting: the dimmers, the picture lights, the uplighting, the hurricanes. I think florist Renny Reynolds said it best: Don’t spend a dollar on your flowers if your lighting isn’t good. All the flowers in the world won’t help bad lighting, and that includes electric chandeliers. They’ve got to be on dimmers, otherwise, the downlight is ghoulish. I have picture lights going and I lower my main lights, and I even have little lights in the floor casting a glow upward.
What can guests always count on at your parties?
AH: Laughter and noise. There’s that trick at restaurants, you gotta get the music level just right. Not booming, but just enough so they speak a little more loudly so it’s more festive.
Are you a better host or guest?
AH: I think when you have a big personality, you should be of service. My friends know they can put me next to a potted plant, and if it needs some carbon dioxide, I’m their person for that. As a host, I want to make sure everyone, at any age, feels comfortable. Christmas parties are family affairs so I love having my kids and their friends in the mix, and for elderly guests, I’ll make sure there are quieter places to sit and talk and eat and just be comfortable.
What should hosts think more about?
AH: Exuding their own happiness, setting the tone. Think less about who isn’t showing up, why people are late, if someone has to leave early—if the place looks great and the food is good, just relax. The point is to make the most out of being together.
