Decorating Tips For Summer Outdoor Living
With winter snow well behind us, it’s time to start planning for making the most of the warm months and long days to come. To make your outdoor space a welcoming extension of your home, we’ve got some decorating tips for summer. Create a comfortable space to enjoy summer parties, glorious weekends, and lazy Wednesday evenings with family and friends.
What are your favorite things to do in your home’s outdoor space? Do you make s’mores with your kids after they hunt for fireflies? Do you invite the softball team over for burgers and brats after the game? Do you host the family reunion or your kids’ pool parties? What would you like to do in your outdoor space, if it were set up better? Check out our decorating tips for summer and find your inspiration!
Easy Decorating Tips For Summer
Summer living should be easy and relaxing, so summer décor should focus on not only making your space more attractive, but also making life as comfortable and simple as possible.
- Place decorative basket near each seating area for sunscreen and bug spray; if it’s handy, people will use it.
- Add a pair of decorative rugs, one inside and one outside the doorways you most often use to access your patio, pool, and yard. This will help keep dirt from spreading indoors and making cleaning harder later.
- Install solar lights along walkways and around trees to create a beautiful scene at night while keeping family and guests safe.
- Consider creating an outdoor game space for giant Jenga, checkers, or Scrabble. Cut 2x 4” lumber into Jenga pieces; use Frisbees as checkers and create the game board with alternating squares of cement pavers and ground cover; or make Scrabble pieces from 2×8” shelf material and paint ceramic tiles to use as the “special spaces” on the game board.
- Plan safe places to use citronella candles to keep biting insects away. Hanging candles in metal buckets and using tiki torches with citronella oil create a comfortable space after dark.
- Leave oversized beach towels around seating areas for guests to use as lap blankets when the evening gets cool: Comfort for them, easy care for you!
Shade & Seating
If your home already has a covered patio or a built-in pergola you’ve starting with an advantage! If not, you’ll need to create some shady spots to enjoy when the sun’s blazing overhead. Umbrellas are more portable, allowing you to move them poolside, or over to your favorite reading spot whenever you like.
Once you’ve determined where people are most likely to want to sit and how to provide shade there, you’re ready to take some measurements and decide what kind of furniture will best suit your space and style. Sectional group seating is ideal for covered patios and built-in, large-scale shades like pergolas and gazebos. Conversation groups offer a perfect solution for smaller seating areas, and many can be arranged to fit under the shade of a large umbrella.
For all-day comfort by the pool, start with enough chaises to go around, add some bright, fluffy beach towels and ice cold drinks on convenient side tables, and a Bluetooth speaker to keep your favorite music coming while you relax and revel in the day.
Outdoor Dining
Choosing an outdoor dining set depends largely on what space and amenities you already have in your outdoor space. If you’re planning to put the dining set under an existing shade structure, you don’t need to consider things like accommodating an umbrella. Is your style more elegant or more laid back? How many friends typically show up for dinner when you’re eating outdoors?
If you have a built-in bar or kitchen outdoors, you may be able to simply seat everyone there with outdoor barstools. Wherever you’re seating your guests, make serving easy on yourself by choosing a decorative tray, caddy, or basket to keep loaded with your outdoor dishes, cups, napkins, and flatware, salt & pepper and serving pieces.
Gather Around A Fire
If space is at a premium and you’ve been wishing for a fire pit, you don’t have to choose between a practical piece like a dining table and your desire for fire. Choose a dining table with a fire pit built in, and you’ll be ready to make s’mores or enjoy after-dinner drinks by the fire, even if you don’t have a huge patio or yard.
If you have more space available, a stand-alone fire pit surrounded by comfortable seats can extend your outdoor season well into autumn with warmth and beauty.
Summer’s Almost Here! Let’s Get Your Outdoor Space Ready!
If you’re ready to get ready for summer with new patio furniture and decorations, drop by your nearest Value City Furniture NJ location. We’ll help you take your ideas and space and turn them into a beautiful and functional extension of your home with a wide selection and more decorating tips for summer.
