Tips on How To Entertain Guests Outdoors This Winter

Tips on How To Entertain Guests Outdoors This Winter 

Entertaining outdoors is quite challenging, especially in winter. It’s cold and freezing outside, which is why some homeowners would rather stay inside instead of inviting guests for a get-together.

It’s not a lost cause, though. There are exciting and creative ways you can entertain outdoors, even if the winter season is in full swing. Your residential patio misting system will now be replaced with a heater, but you can still party and have fun.

Prepare your patio and backyard, get those party plates ready, and check out these cool tips for entertaining outdoors in the cold wintertime.

Use or Build a Fireplace or Fire Pit

A little bit of rearranging and redecorating will be good. So, move things around and find space for an outdoor fireplace or a fire pit. Adding some warmth to your party venue will make it cozy and comfortable. Your guests won’t mind the cold winter air or the snow if they’re all snug and relaxed.

Use the fireplace as the focal point of your venue. Spice it up by adding some decorations. If you can, find a permanent one so you can use it whenever you need to. If your budget does not permit you to do so, you can always go for portable fireplaces that come with DIY kits.

If you want a more practical option, buy a portable or DIY fire pit from your favorite home improvement center.

Creating a tabletop fire is your third and most affordable option. Use fire pots and torches and arrange them in such a way that they’ll illuminate the place. They can be your centerpiece, or you can line them up on the edges of the patio.

If you’re entertaining in the backyard, an open space, building a small bonfire is a great idea.

Lastly, adding a patio heater is a good investment, especially if you plan to have more outdoor get-togethers in winter. 

Level up on Your Outdoor Furniture

Change your regular cushions, throw pillows, and living room furniture isn’t suited for the cold winter outdoors. It would be best if you leveled up your outdoor furniture. Metal, wood, or plastic chairs should have thick cushions.

If you have an outdoor sofa, look for big cushions that you can place on top of it. Find as many as you can and cover your couch with these cozy pillows.

Also, take out your thick blankets and comforters and arrange them around your furniture. Your guests will appreciate it if you prepare one for each of them.

Be sure you have enough tables so your guests won’t have to hold their drinks the whole time.

Cover Your Patio Floor with Rugs

Even if you have a fireplace or fire pit, your patio floor will still be cold. Sometimes, the floor will be a little moist and damp, too. So, find thick rugs and use them to cover your patio floor. Better yet, if you have an extra carpet, place it on the floor. Add some fluffy floor cushions to make the area cozier and more comfortable.

Likewise, you can add curtains to cover your patio and generate a little heat. It can be a regular outdoor curtain, or you can use bamboo roll-up shades. Be careful and make sure that your curtain is far from your fireplace, fire pit, or tabletop fire.

Serve Warm Drinks

Instead of the usual ice-cold drinks, serve warm drinks. There are many options to choose from - hot chocolate or hot cocoa, hot white chocolate milk, hot vanilla cinnamon milk, eggnog, and warm or spiced cider. Don’t forget the marshmallows!

Brewed coffee is also a good choice, especially if you add some Irish cream or peppermint syrup. Alcoholic drinks like beer and wine are perfect for those who want a little kick.

To add some fun, try putting up a minibar, one that specializes in warm drinks. Experiment on some drinks for a memorable winter adventure; add some honey or mint on your tea, or sprinkle a little cinnamon on your friend’s coffee.

Prepare Warm-Up Food

Warm-up food is food that makes you feel all warm and satisfied. Examples for this are soup (any kind), chili (paired with warm toasted bread slices), and beef or lamb stew.

If you have enough space, prepare an area for roasting marshmallows and hotdogs. The kids will love this!

Don’t Forget to Remind Guests to Dress Appropriately

The appropriate outfit for a winter outdoor get-together includes a pair of gloves, beanies, boots, scarves, and winter clothes. When you send out the invites, specify that it is an outdoor event so your guests will know how to dress for it.

Make dressing up more fun for everyone by coming up with a theme or a wardrobe requirement, such as a winter hat, an ugly Christmas sweater, or colorful scarves.

Prepare Games and Entertainment

If your guests have exciting things to do, they won’t feel the freezing winter air. So, be sure to prepare games and some unique entertainment. It doesn’t have to be traditional party games like relays. Go with games everyone is familiar with, like Monopoly or Pictionary, for example.

For entertainment, bring out the guitar and sing some songs with your guests. Setting up an outdoor cinema is also a cool idea.

Follow these tips and have a fun and memorable outdoor winter entertainment get-together with family and friends!

Guest Contributor: Anna Fox

How to Design a Family-Friendly Home

How to Design a Family-Friendly Home

The personal environment has a huge effect on one’s well-being and happiness. Most importantly, the way people perceive their home affects their relationships and memories that happen inside that home. In that respect, it’s crucial that all family members feel comfortable, safe, and healthy when spending time together or alone in their personal environment. As the family grows and bonds, their home plays an important role in strengthening those bonds and contributing to making lifelong memories. This is precisely why it’s necessary to put some serious effort and thought into designing your perfect family home.

Utilize the power of the sun

Natural sunlight is very beneficial for both physical and mental health. The more you have it inside your home, the better it is for everyone living there. Not to mention that making the most out of natural sunlight can actually help you reduce the electricity bills when it comes to lighting, heating, and even cooling.

Essentially, you should talk to the contractors so that you can together come up with the best floor plan and design that will allow the sunlight to enter your home fully. However, during this talk, it’s also important to address the issue of adequate shade. While you may want to utilize the full power of sunlight during the winter months, it’s only natural that you want to enjoy a nice shade during the summer. After all, the Australian sun can be very strong, and having an effective shade is a must. Eaves and landscaping can aid in keeping the roof cool, while awnings, screens, and blinds can help with the horizontal and vertical shading.

Manage the view and entrance

The position of the windows, fence, and entryway will hugely affect the privacy and protection of your home. For starters, when you’re discussing the positioning of your windows, you want to make sure that you have a good view of what’s going on in the garden (especially if you have kids) as well as the street outside, to boost the overall security. However, you also want to keep in mind the privacy aspect, so ensure that your windows are positioned in a way that doesn’t provide a view inside for the neighbors. It might seem a bit overwhelming to incorporate everything into the design plan, but when you’re working with the leaders in the field of quality project homes in Sydney, you won’t have to worry about that.

Furthermore, think about the feel you wish to create when you and your family (or guests) arrive to your home. What kind of fence would be comfortable and secure enough for you? Do you want it to offer a clear view of the home and front yard? Maybe you have a car and need a proper driveway. And if your garage is further away from the entrance, you should probably consider a separate driveway and entryway.

Establish a connection throughout your home

When it comes to the interior design of your family-friendly home, keep in mind the importance of connection. On the base level, you should strive to create family nooks for every room, so that everyone can gather effortlessly. What’s more, it’s important to create a clear view from one room/area to the next; for instance, your kitchen island can provide you with a proper view of the play area and part of the living room where the TV or computer is located.

In case you want to have a two-story home, which is very popular in Australia, it’s paramount to take into account the visual and audio connection. That way, your entire home will feel more harmonious at the first glance, and you’ll also be able to hear someone calling you or make sure that the kids aren’t up to some mischief upstairs with ease.

If you’re already taking up the project of designing your ideal family home, don’t hesitate to do so with the future in mind. In that respect, you might want to accommodate the design of having more kids or even living together with your elderly parents.

Guest Contributor: Diane Smith