Your yard is basically one big dining room, living room, and playroom combined. You can eat, drink, play, and relax—as long as the weather is good, the yard is your oyster!
In forgiving climates, your large outdoor space can be turned into a year-round entertainment room. You can throw dinner parties on an evening, enjoy family picnics, and breakfast during summer mornings, and arrange birthday parties, weddings, and other get-togethers.
A Grill
A grill is a must-have for any outdoor space. It’s the centerpiece, the reason for throwing many of those parties and gatherings in the first place! Whether you’re grilling hamburgers, vegetables, or chunks of halloumi, there’s a little something for everyone and no one can resist the flavor of freshly grilled meats, cheeses, and vegetables.
The price of barbecue grills varies considerably, and there are several grill types to choose from. There is no “best” option. It all depends on what you’re looking for, what you’re comfortable with, and how much money you have to spend.
The good news is that none of that really matters as all grills will sizzle, cook, and keep your guests happy. You can’t go wrong when it comes to choosing a grill, but if you have a lot of money to spend and want the best grill on the market, we recommend doing some research and seeing what the experts have to say.
A Pizza Oven
Grills are standard, but pizza ovens definitely aren’t. A pizza oven is unique, special, and it will give your food-themed backyard the “wow factor”.
YouTube is filled with videos of people making their very own pizza ovens. They make it look easy and it’s also very cheap, requiring a lot of know-how, skill, and some basic equipment. In practice, however, it’s not quite that simple and if you don’t have those skills or the time to put them to use, you can buy a portable pizza oven instead.
As with grills, they can vary. The basic idea, though, is to combine a heat source with a brick/metal construction and a pizza stone.
Once you have the oven in place, you just need to make some simple pizza dough and lay out the toppings. Your guests can have fun making their own pizza pies or you can do the work for them. It makes for a great change from the usual backyard fare of burgers, sausages, and soy-based alternatives.
A Bar
In its most simple form, a bar is basically a tall table. You can buy stools and chairs to push up against it (make sure they are bar height) and you can enjoy drinks and snacks just like you would at your local bar.
But if you have more money to spend, you can make it into something much more complicated and interesting. Install bottles, kegs, racks for glasses, and spaces to make food.
Some bars come with just the basic unit that you stand behind. Others are more like little tiki huts, complete with backs and roofs. The one that is best for you will depend on your budget and space, but there’s a lot to choose from.
Dinnerware and Drinkware
You can never have too many plates, serving bowls, and glasses. If you’re throwing lots of outdoor parties, you’ll need all the serving sets that you can get, and quality melamine or other hard-wearing materials make for more an attractive and attention-grabbing alternative to disposable paper.
Melamine is just as attractive as stoneware but it’s much more durable. You can also find attractive dinnerware made from bamboo, a sustainable but surprisingly durable material that makes for a premium alternative to plastic.
If you want to do something a little different, use mason jars instead of glasses, and if you’re a little short on cash, just save jars from old jams and pickles and tell everyone it’s “rustic”.
Acrylic is a good option, as well. It’s durable, it’s cheap, and it’s very easy to clean. The problem is that it’s not very eco-friendly and it doesn’t have the same appeal as more expensive dinnerware. Still, if you need something low-cost and robust to give to your younger, messier, and less responsible diners, it’s a good option to have.
A Cooler or Fridge
Bottles of beer, soda, and white wine will warm up pretty quickly under the heat of the afternoon sun, and so you can’t just leave them on the dining table or bar. The easy solution is to keep them in the kitchen fridge, but that means you’ll need to head back inside the house every time someone wants a top-up.
Instead, look into buying an outdoor fridge. Outdoor fridges are made to be stored on your patio. They are much smaller than the fridge in your kitchen but are still large enough to hold a dozen drinks or so. You can also keep food in there, making sure it doesn’t melt or rot in the sunlight.
If fridges are out of your price range or you just want something more economical, buy a cooler instead. They are portable, and so you can use them in your backyard, at the beach, or for a picnic in the park. They will keep your drinks cool throughout the night and also transform into a makeshift seat if all the other chairs are taken.
A Fire Table
If you want the ultimate in outdoor dining and entertaining, look no further than the SummerSide Fire Table. It’s a bar/table and firepit rolled into one. It’s a high-quality table with space for several people, all of whom can enjoy their snacks and drinks long into the night as a fire rages in the middle of the table.
It’s just like dining on a patio in Greece, Italy, or Spain—you can almost hear the gentle rolling of the sea in the background.
A fire table will keep you and your guests warm and well-lit long into the small hours. You can enjoy your very own Mediterranean fare, sipping ouzo, sampling olives, and eating Greek salad as the sun goes down.
Make Sure It’s Well Lit
Is that an olive or a grape? Are you reaching for a glass of vodka or ouzo? Is that a carrot that you’re crunching or did you just grab a cricket? Good food needs good lighting, and if you’re eating and drinking late into the night, you can’t rely on nature to provide that light.
Firepits will go some way to keeping your patio/yard lit, but they’re made for heat, not light, and it will be difficult to see what you’re serving, eating, and drinking.
Invest in a spotlight or two for your patio or purchase some lights for the tables and patio. The trick is to strike a balance between practical and cozy. On the one hand, you don’t need to light up your garden like a football field, but at the same time, you don’t want the light to be so soft and “ambient” that you can’t see your hand in front of your face.
Don’t Forget the Lawn Games
When everyone has filled their stomachs, it’s time to get out the lawn games and start burning off those calories. These simple games are basically oversized versions of the games you played as kids, including Twister and Jenga. Of course, you’ll want to wait for an hour or two before you ask your guests to start twisting, bending, and potentially vomiting their dinner, but in the meantime, those games will keep the kids busy.
Kids are not big on dinner parties, and if you or your guests have any little ones in tow, they’ll get very bored very quickly and will start disrupting things. They’ll be spitting out olives, asking for fries, knocking over drinks, and testing your patience. Lawn games will help to limit that chaos and ensure that their idle hands are kept busy throughout the day and night.
The Perfect Outdoor Furniture and Accessories for Foodies
Let’s be honest, we all get a little antsy when we have a lot of people around for dinner. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a child’s birthday party, you know that they’ll create a mess, cause chaos, and leave you in a constant state of panic that someone’s going to vomit on your floor, put their dirty shoes on your sofa, or annoy the cat.
By moving everything outdoors, you’ll negate all of those issues. It also means that you don’t have to worry too much about the spread of infectious diseases. Hopefully, we’re turning the corner on that disaster and it’s a problem that we’ll never have to deal with again, but that “problem” is still there, it’ll still spread, and it may still return.
With an outdoor dining space, you can reduce the risk while still getting people together and enjoying drinks and food.
Check out the Seven Summers Patio blog for more great tips on buying patio furniture and don’t forget to drop by our online store to see what’s available.