You've most likely had an entertaining event in your home with a buffet style offering. Have you ever noticed that it doesn't quite go as you plan. Instead of all your guests getting into a rhythm as they go down the buffet line, one will stop and dawdle, and the next will realize they missed something and shift backwards in line, it ends up being a huge mess. But what if they didn't all have to wait in the same line. Instead, you could spread the buffet out, allowing more traffic to all the items on the menu.

While you can't cut your buffet table into a number of pieces, you can use other tables, like end tables, to be able to set up more food stations throughout the room. Think of having the buffet as the place that holds the supplies, and the main course, and the end tables that are scattered around the room could be the locations where all the side dishes and desserts set out, inviting guests to dig in.

Instead of all being piled at one table waiting to get one item after the next, some of your guests could grab a plate and head to the other tables, stocking up on goodies from location to location. This open serving plan will let them all meet up at the dining room table and enjoy the meal instead of getting frustrated as they wait for one slowpoke to hurry it up.

People will also have more fun putting their meal together as it's a kind of collection game, getting all the pieces of a meal on one plate. You'll also likely find they'll start socializing before they even get to the table as they check with others of what each table has to offer and give their advice on the tables that should not be skipped.

Don't have enough end tables to do the job? Enlist the help of other tables in your house. Console tables, sofa tables, even coffee tables can be changed up to become some of the serving stations for this spread out buffet.

Before you move forward with this plan, make sure you have put measures in place to protect your tables. End tables, console tables, and other tables you may bring in to help with this task are not accustomed to dealing with hot and cold food items. Have tablecloths or other protective covers for each of the tables. Luckily, there are holiday tablecloths in all shapes and sizes on the market, so they won't only protect the table but also add to the atmosphere. Where you will be putting either a hot or cold pot, or serving dish, make sure to have a trivet or other item in place to keep the temperature of the pot from affecting the finish on your table. You may want to get a tablecloth with a protective plastic lining, so if there are spills, they don't soak into your table top and cause permanent damage.