Interior Design Blog

Outdoor Living: Summer Entertaining Made Simple

5/31/2017

CatMax Photography

It's officially summer and are you ready for outdoor entertaining?

Outdoor entertaining and cookouts are a great way of gathering friends and family together. It's probably the easiest and stress free way to entertain. You just need a bit of luck in the weather department to pull off a successful party.

1.Keep the Menu Simple

The best menu ideas for outdoor entertaining should be centered around cooking on your grill or using a smoker. The idea is not to use your ovens at all for your party.
Find recipes perfect for an outdoor party on my Pinterest board.

Prepare all of the food except the meat 2 days before the party.
Cold salads,appetizers, and desserts are popped into the refrigerator.
I also use a crockpot for my baked beans while my gas grill has side burners to boil the corn.
The meat is prepped and ready to be grilled (which I don't do- this is when the men step up to the plate!)

If you don't have the time, get it catered and ready to be picked up the day of your party.
You can also have your guests bring food too.
Remember this is a STRESS FREE dinner party!

2. Set up your food stations-buffet style

Isn't this Burger Bar a clever idea from the Savvy Mom?

House Beautiful

3. Get creative with your cocktail/ refreshment table or bar cart.

HGTV

Country Living

Amazon

4.Make sure you have plenty of seating for your guests.

I love designing outdoor spaces and I prefer to use brands with a high level of quality when decorating outdoor living spaces. I want furniture to last and need to have superior construction. My favorites are Summer Classic and Jensen. Both carry many different styles that will suite your personal design tastes and are of exceptional quality. Both deliver great quality and I highly recommend them!