Summer is quickly coming to an end, but it’s never too late to refresh your yard this season. We still have plenty of nice weather days ahead of us, so make the most out of it with the design ideas below and enjoy your newly revitalized yard before fall arrives.

Revive Your Planters

• • Replace fading blooms with summer favorites. Purchasing plants that are ready to bloom rather than already in full bloom will help you extend the season. You might also want to refresh your potting soil to give the new plants a good start.

Refresh with New Paint

• • Add a splash or two of an unexpected color to give your yard a new look without a lot of fuss. Start small with a painted pot or Adirondack chair, or experiment with other garden elements. Look for paint designed for both the surface you are painting and for outdoor use. Also, if you’ll be painting a planter used for edibles, be sure to choose a nontoxic option.

Add Umbrellas or Shade Sails

• • Use a freestanding umbrella to provide shade in spots other than above your dining table. You’ll find umbrellas in a range of size and colors. A shade sail can provide even more protection for a sitting or dining area without closing off the rest of the space. The breezes will still circulate to cool you down, but you’ll have a bit of respite from the direct heat. Even better, you’ll find plenty of color options to choose from so that you can tailor the look to your landscape design.

Change Out Pillows and Cushions

• • New pillows and cushions go a long way toward giving furnishings a fresh look. Bonus: Many retailers put their summer-theme offerings on sale at this time of year. And while you’re at it, you might also find just the right chair or table to fit the new look.

Light Things Up

• • Supplement your existing outdoor lights with lanterns and candles that will enhance the ambiance. Opt for large statement pieces, such as lanterns like the ones seen here, or place smaller pillar candles or tea lights around your entertaining areas for a soft, continuous glow. Whatever type of lighting you choose, be sure that it is study and place it so it won’t be knocked aside or tipped over easily, especially if you have live flames. Consider making things even safer by opting for battery-powered versions.

Hang a Hammock or Swing

• • Nothing says summer quite like hanging out in a hammock or drifting back and forth on a swing. If your hangout place is also a brilliant color that matches the colors in your summertime yard, so much the better. Whether you choose a hammock or a swing, make sure it’s securely anchored before you put it to use.

Create a Relaxing Retreat

• • Move chairs and sofas from a spot that’s basking in the sun to a location under a shady tree. The naturally filtered light will help cool things down, and you’ll be able to enjoy the beauty of your yard while reading, sipping or simply daydreaming.

Designate a Place for Drinks

• • Borrow the idea of a bar cart for your outdoor space. You won’t want to keep the drinks there full time, but having a set location and a few accoutrements handy, including a tub for chilling drinks and bar tools, will mean you’re ready to go when it’s time to bring things out. A bar cart also can do double duty as a table or counter when not in use for drinks. Closed cabinetry will let you keep some glassware and cutlery as well as any bar tools outside. To make juggling everything you’ll be bringing out from the kitchen even easier, consider having a weather-friendly tray on hand. If space is tight, look for other possible options when it’s time to entertain: the end of a counter, the top of a storage cabinet or even a potting bench.

Roast Mallows and Gather Around a Fire Pit

• • Extend the evening by gathering around a fire. It’s the perfect way to relax, sip some drinks and maybe make a s’more or two. If a permanent fire pit isn’t in your budget or landscape plan right now, look for smaller portable options, including some that use propane or electricity for the flames. They’re generally readily available and less expensive than built-in fire pits, and they have the added advantage of allowing you to place them wherever the action is for the evening.

Take Movie Night Outdoors

• • Turn your yard into an outdoor movie theater. A full outdoor theater is a commitment, but for an occasional family-and-friends movie night, especially if you aren’t fussy about quality, you can get by with a portable screen, white sheet or wall; a reliable projector or favorite movie player; speakers that can compete with ambient nighttime sounds from traffic noise or windy gusts; and some comfortable lawn chairs or lounges. Locate your screen in a spot that’s relatively free from adjacent lighting, and set up the projector and sound system. Also, be aware of how your location will affect your neighbors. You don’t want to blast them out with loud sounds or project something unsettling, such as a horror flick, to the neighborhood. Then just add popcorn and enjoy.

Comment with any changes you’ll be making to your yard before the end of summer. Until next month!

Source: houzz.com

Get the grill ready! Nothing beats the smell of dinner sizzling on the grill and relaxing al fresco dining. It’s simple pleasures like this that should be enjoyed more often. Here are 10 reasons to bring your crew outside for dinner (or breakfast or lunch) more often this season and beyond.

It Becomes a Social Event

• • When you’re cooking outside, preparing dinner is part of the fun instead of a chore that keeps you holed up in the kitchen alone. Family and friends can easily hang out and chat with whoever is stationed at the grill, and can pitch in by prepping sides or gathering plates.

Cooking Outside Keeps Your Kitchen Cool

• • On the hottest, muggiest days of summer, just the thought of turning on the oven can be horrifying. Keep your cool by cooking and serving dinner outdoors instead.

Skip the Kitchen Clean Up!

• • Not only does eating outdoors mean less kitchen prep, it means less cleanup too — and who doesn’t want that? Whether you’re cooking for a big crowd or just family, having a night off from messy pots and pans can be a big relief.

Hosting Outside Means You Don’t Have to Deep Clean the House

• • If you’d love to invite people over more often but hate the time it takes to get the house presentable, outdoor dinner parties may be the ideal solution. Put a fresh tablecloth on the outdoor table, maybe turn on some twinkle lights and you’re good to go.

Grilling is a Crowd Pleaser

• • When some folks in your group are vegetarian, some are vegan, some are gluten-free and others are mega meat eaters, it can seem impossible to please everyone. But when you’re grilling, customizing each diner’s plate is fairly simple — especially if you ask everyone to bring something they would like to eat to contribute to the grill.

Grilling Tends to be Quicker

• • With slow-cooked barbecue being the (rather delicious) exception, most cooking on the grill tends to fall into the quick-cooking category. Think grilled veggies, kabobs and burgers — it’s so easy, there’s no reason you couldn’t cook dinner on the grill most weeknights, especially if you have a quick-to-heat gas grill.

It Makes Weeknight Dinners Feel Special

• • There’s something about cooking and eating outdoors that can make any old dinner feel more like vacation. And if you have kids, eating outside also means that they’re more likely to run off and play outside when they finish the meal, rather than beg for screen time, so it’s a win-win.

It Works for Breakfast & Lunch Too!

• • If the weather is pleasant, why not bring your breakfast or lunch outdoors, where you can enjoy it in the fresh air? If you don’t feel like turning on the stove at all, make like you’re camping and cook up some French toast in a cast iron skillet on the grill, or roast hot dogs for lunch on a lazy Saturday.

You Can Host a Larger Crowd Outdoors

• • Even if your house is small or doesn’t have the right flow for entertaining a crowd, chances are that more can fit comfortably outdoors. And when you consider that people like to stand around the grill, you probably don’t even need as many seats as you would if you hosted the same number of folks indoors.

Food Tastes Better Outside

• • Is it some ancestral memory of cooking on the fire? Is it the fresh air? Whatever the reason, food eaten outdoors always seems to taste better, and who’s going to argue with that?

Be sure to comment with some of your favorite grilling recipes. Until next month!

Source: houzz.com