Shorter days and dropping temperatures shouldn’t keep you from enjoying your favorite outdoor room. Just warm up your deck or patio with a few new accessories, and bring indoor creature comforts outside for entertaining and family dinners. Get started with a few of the following.
Fireside dining: An outdoor fireplace easily extends your enjoyment of an outdoor room. Buy a simple cheap fire pit, or build a custom one fueled by wood or gas. Your local garden or home center should also have a selection of chimineas, which are portable, stylish clay fireplaces that provide quite a bit of heat.
Enhance the lightscape: Amp up your exterior lighting scheme, because you’ll need more of it as daylight gets scarce. Solar-powered fixtures are beautiful, affordable solutions, and range from tabletop lanterns to sconces to post lighting.
Warmth underfoot: Rolling out an all-weather area rug also warms things up, especially on a cold cement patio. It’s an easy-care addition, too: when the rug gets dirty, just give it a once-over with the garden hose.
Wrap guests in comfort: Keep a selection of throws and lap blankets handy for family and guests. When not in use, they’re easily stowed in a storage ottoman or a cupboard near the entry to your outdoor room.
Seasonal serveware: Chafing dishes and other heated serving pieces prolong enjoyment of an outdoor meal, and guarantee seconds will be just as toasty and delicious as the first serving. They’re also helpful the rest of the year, especially if you’re grilling in shifts for a big crowd.
Take time now to warm up your outdoor room, and you’ll enjoy more autumn evenings as well as an earlier start to outdoor dining next spring!
Leave a Reply