(BPT) - Families everywhere anticipate the holiday season months in advance. If you have visions of delicious dishes and happy guests dancing in your head, you’re certainly in the right spirit, but is your home ready to make that holiday daydream a reality? By prepping your home – and especially your kitchen – for the celebration, you’ll be better able to focus on the joy of your get-together.

When planning a party, the kitchen – as the heart of any gathering – is a good place to start. And, with holiday celebrations so often food-focused, ensuring that your kitchen is up to the task should be your first order of business, says Laura Johnson, home economist and kitchen expert at LG Electronics USA. First, it’s  good to think about the details of your soiree. How many people will be attending? Do any guests plan to contribute dishes? Knowing how much food you’ll need, and what folks intend to bring, will help you determine the demands that your cooktop, oven and refrigerator will need to meet.

If you’ve found that your kitchen was unable to meet the demands of the holiday season in years past, consider alternative appliances while you still have the time, Johnson says. A “mega capacity” refrigerator like the new 33-cubic-foot French-door model from LG (the largest available in its class), enables you to store everything you need to feed a crowd until dinner time comes around … and even all those great holiday left-overs into the next day.