Chelsea and Cole DeBoer's Best New Year's Eve Party Ideas

Chelsea and Cole DeBoer, the renovation and design experts behind Down Home Fab, are masters at creating bold and beautiful spaces — but they also know how to entertain. To celebrate the dawning of a new year, they’re pulling off a glitzy, kid-friendly affair right at home. The duo decked out their basement rec room with sparkles, snacks and games. Check out their brightest New Year's Eve party ideas.

The DeBoers’ celebration is a kid-friendly to-do, so Chelsea and Cole planned accordingly with food, beverages, decorations and activities geared toward the preferences of their guests, including daughters Aubree, Layne and Walker, and son Watson. “I wanted our New Year’s setup to be something the kids were so excited about,” Chelsea says. “Fun drinks, balloons, glitter, all the games. I really want to spend that time making memories as a family. It’s such a great evening to reflect on the year we've had and get excited about the year to come.”

Chelsea and Cole dreamed up a color scheme, decorations and activities that would be a hit with everyone in their crew. They opted for sparkly metallics, chic black and white for their palette. (“Black and gold is always a good go-to for a New Year’s bash, or ANY party,” Chelsea says.) Then, they infused the space with plenty of holiday lights for a cheery glow. The pair gathered board games, constructed a glimmering photo booth and set up a family-favorite movie to keep their young guests entertained into the evening.

The New Year’s Eve spread includes mini cupcakes, “since the kids never eat a full one,” says Chelsea, a big bowl of popcorn to accompany the movie and a charcuterie board with meats, cheeses and fruit. “We always have a charcuterie board out,” Chelsea says. “The kids love the grapes and fruit, and Cole loves everything. They never last very long, and you can never have enough snacks.”

“I got Cole to be the bartender tonight,” Chelsea says. The kids will sip on Shirley Temples, made with ginger ale or lemon-lime soda, grenadine and garnished with a cherry or two, through swirly straws adorned with disco balls. The grown-ups will toast with Cole’s rendition of a Dirty Shirley — champagne or prosecco splashed with grenadine and finished with a cherry garnish.

Chelsea’s glam photo station, with its metallic backdrop, neon “let’s party” sign, and cascade of balloons, is destined to inspire her kiddos to strike a pose. “I thought it’d be the perfect setup to get tons of pictures of the kids and the family,” she says. She bought a polaroid camera and photo album to ensure she gets printed keepsakes to remember the night.

To make the photo booth even more enticing, Chelsea gathered cute props for the kids to use in pictures, like faux glasses, animal faces and party-inspired phrases.

Chelsea grabbed 2024 decor in various forms — light-up signs and big balloon numbers — for a fun and simple display. Illuminated numerals in various sizes (small enough to brighten the bar and substantial enough to form a party focal point) add a festive glow. Large-scale balloon numbers create another eye-catching moment near the bar.

The DeBoers decked their downstairs living space in balloons of all shapes and sizes in their color palette of gold, black and white. In addition to the impressive swag of balloons that adorns the photo booth, there are large-format "Happy New Year" and "2024" balloons on the wall, as well as single balloons floating at various heights around the room for a festive effect. As a bonus, balloon decor doubles as a fun play item for kids.

Chelsea added sparkle with strands of gold lights strewn in unexpected places, like on their deer friend.

Chelsea is no stranger to embellishing spaces with disco balls, and for her New Year's Eve party she added a disco display on the bar — and even procured mini versions to spread among the charcuterie board snacks. She added more sparkle with cute garlands of miniature gold bells scattered around the snack spread.

To keep kiddos and grown-ups alike entertained, Cole and Chelsea rounded up games like Twister, Connect Four, Tic Tac Toe and more. They chose super-sized versions of the games for visual appeal and big fun for their young crew. “I recommend having plenty of games and toys and spreading them throughout the night versus bringing them out all at once,” Chelsea says. “That way once you're done with one activity, you can surprise the kids with the next one and keep them interested.”

The DeBoers popped popcorn and picked family-friendly flicks to enjoy until the ball drops — or until the kids call it a night.

Chelsea rounded up quintessential New Year’s Eve accessories like noise makers and festive gold confetti poppers to delight the kids and amp up the celebratory energy. “The kids are going to love the confetti poppers," Chelsea says. "They are so excited. And I am not going to love cleaning them up, but it’s all worth it,” she adds with a laugh.