Favorite 5: Make Your Backyard Hangout Worthy

Favorite Five

5 Items to Make Your Backyard Hangout Worthy

 Who loves a little outdoor entertaining? I certainly do. A main driver for my husband and I buying our home was the potential the backyard had to host tons of friends and family. With two paver patios and a deck it has plenty of space to dine, lounge, and entertain. As I've figured out how to use our space there are five items I knew I had to have and I think most people should have in their outdoor living spaces!

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An Outdoor Rug

Outdoor rugs are a great way to give some personality to your space without painting our deck a wacky color. I love rugs that are versatile enough to pull inside or into a sunroom like this Dash and Albert rug from Nordstrom. For year round outdoor styles I tend to pick one of the woven "plastic" rugs but for that indoors outside feel the woven rugs. The Navy + Ivory is my favorite. 

Outdoor Table

If you're busting out the margs for a Cinco de Mayo party or just having your parents over dinner you'll want a place for people to sit their drinks while they enjoy your beautiful deck. We went with a glass and metal table set for outside but to be honest I wish we'd gone with a teak wood table set like this one. It's easier to clean and you don't have to worry about water spots.

Outdoor Approved Cups

Personally, I'm a little clumsy. I like to think I'm graceful as a swan but in reality I'm a little closer to bull in a China shop status so shatterproof drinkware was a necessity for us. I love a glass of wine or some sangria out on the deck during a summer evening and the less I have to think about tipping over a long stemmed glass the more relaxed I can feel. 

Waterproof Speaker

We like listening to music outside whether we're washing the car or hanging out with some friends. We didn't want to wire the entire outside with speakers right when we moved in so my husband bought this JBL portable speaker and it does a great job. The volume goes pretty high, it's waterproof*, and you can connect multiple JBL speakers to create amplified sound.*Waterproof is only to a certain extend. I wouldn't leave it out in a hurricane or anything. I just resists a drink being dumped on it. 

Umbrella

We love to grill out but before we ever got a grill or thought about entertaining outside we had to get an umbrella. We have large trees that provide shade except for that perfect sunset hour where you want to be eating dinner outside but the sun is RIGHT in your face. We had a cantilever umbrella but it was too cumbersome for how our deck railings are built so we switched to a tilt-able umbrella which we like much better.  

Happy Hunting,