A Backyard and Porch for Every Day of the Year

Summer is undoubtedly ‘the’ time for parities, sure you have your end of year holiday parties but they’re all meant to be had indoors and summer is a time when you don’t need an excuse to go out and enjoy your backyard. It’s time like that when you’re grateful for any and all gardening work that you did in spring. So while the landscaping that you did will work wonders for the outdoor parties you plan on having this summer, you might want to consider doing the following for to make the partying even more fun!

A theme
It may be outdoors but that doesn’t mean it can’t have a neat design and theme to it. You can decorate your porch to match your garden. You know what flowers are going to be blooming so find fun some cushions for your lawn chairs that match or try painting your wood or wicker chairs a fund color like bright green.

Something fun
If you’ve got some cash to spare and are in the mood of really giving your backyard a fun factor, add an archway or a trellis to it. It makes the perfect entrance for the party guests. You can plant a vine or climbing ivy (these plants grow fast), and before you know it, you’ve got a beautiful archway. If you already have (and most people do) it would be a good idea to repaint it. If you’ve got ivy climbing up the archway already, give it a nice trim. If it’s been there for a few years, cut it off and let it grow all over again. It keeps the arch from being damaged and prolongs the life.

The old red, white and blue
One thing that I always love seeing on a porch is the American flag. With the 4th of July coming up in a few months and Memorial Day around the corner, it’s that perfect thing to have on your front porch.

Homemade lights
You probably have a lot of wine bottles lying around from those winter parties, and even if you don’t you can find them easy at local stores or recycling centers. You can have the bottom cut out and wire small florescent lights through it or cover a bottle completely in paper and then peel it off some places to give it a fun look.

Stepping stones
The good thing about stepping stones is that they never go out of style and you can make them in any shape or color you want, if you have kids, this can be a fun summer project. Stepping stones don’t necessarily need to be used to mark the way to the back yard or the front door, you can make them in smaller sizes to outline flower beds. If you’re making them at home, add marbles (whole or broken)in fun colors that match the color you’ve painted your porch.
Summer parties take a lot of planning and even more decorating because even if they begin indoors, they’ll end up outside and you need to provide a relaxing environment to your friends.

Taking Your Paint Palette Outside - How To Decorate The Backyard

Decorating inside may seem easy if you consider the daunting task of decorating an outdoor area. Inside, where you have a four or three walled room, you hang pictures and decorative lights and you don’t have to worry about the rain or snow ruining the shine on your new table top or the color running in your new cushions.

Whenever you plan a party you know where you’re going to hang the streamers and where the guests can set their drinks down (you’ve placed coasters accordingly) and when it’s time to eat everyone can sit where they see their place card on the table. All of this goes out the door once its summer and most if not all parties are likely to be held outdoor where decorating ideas on a budget run somewhat thin.

Here are a few things just to help you start out slow and steady so that by the time summer is full on and school is out, you can start the partying.

Lawn chairs
You may already have a lawn chair, you may have two of them but it would be nice if you had an entire outdoor sitting arrangement much like your living room in your backyard and lawn chairs are best for it. Here’s something that might surprise you; buy/ make cushions to match your lawn chairs. You can put cushions outside as easily as you can put them in. Make/ buy an outdoor storage baskets or cabinet to put them in when the weather is likely to get rough. If you have some old wicker baskets lying around, bring them outside and use them for storing the cushions.




Lighting
People have had the sense to create lighting for every room in your house and they’ve also had the sense to create outdoor lighting. If you try shopping online, you’ll find that there are all kinds of unique lightings available, ones that are decorative and that can stand any kind of weather. You’ve probably heard of tiki torches, well there just in a huge variety of outdoor lighting options available like Chinese lanterns. If you plan on having a party, it may be a good time to bring out all those scented candles (don’t forget to place them safely) to create a nice ambiance.

Outdoor accessories
Give your back yard a cozy look by adding ‘backyard accessories’ like a hammock, a nice table; one that can stand rain and excessive exposure to the sun and is preferably a darker color and don’t forget to mow the lawn! You can use place mats made of bamboo (instead of the regular doilies you use inside) and give you flower beds a unique look by planting different flowers in uniquely shaped bottles.