As the colder winter chill yields into warmer spring and summer days, outdoor spaces become a haven for entertaining. Whether planning a casual summer barbecue or a spring tea party, shifting socializing from indoors to outdoors can make your event more memorable and enjoyable. Hosting in outdoor spaces can be tricky and provides a unique set of challenges. Keep reading for tips on how to get your outdoor spaces ready for warm-weather hosting.

Prepare for the Weather

When hosting outside, the most important thing to prioritize is preparing for the weather. Even during warm weather, it’s crucial your outdoor spaces are equipped for unexpected weather changes. Whether that be a tent for rain, blankets and heat lamps for cooler nights, or a ceiling fan, umbrellas, and a pergola to keep cool, ensuring you can adapt to the weather is vital. Installing heat lamps can also allow you to extend the use of your outdoor space. Adding citronella candles can also enhance the vibe while regulating the atmosphere for pesky insects.

Lighting Outdoor Spaces

Another essential feature of warm-weather hosting is the lighting you create in your outdoor spaces. Ensuring your backyard is well-lit can be inviting and comforting for guests while making it safer and easier to navigate. Use wet-rated and damp-rated outdoor lighting fixtures so they can withstand outdoor use. Landscaping lighting can create a warm glow in your yard, and adding solar power lighting can add a gentle ambiance where you don’t have to worry about turning anything on or off. If you have a patio, stringing fairy lights overhead can create magic.

Comfort and Function

Having both comfortable and functional seating options will make your guests feel relaxed and at ease while also encouraging your guests to linger and engage in conversation. Stay away from heavier furniture items so that you can more easily move them around for guests or storage. Investing in outdoor furniture and fabrics such as mesh seats or pillows and rugs with indoor-outdoor fabric is also important. I love Perennial Fabrics because they offer an extensive range of acrylic fabrics that are durable and easy to clean and come in a myriad of colors, textures, and patterns. Having items made for the outdoors will also make your outdoor space easier to maintain, as you don’t have to move your furniture indoors whenever it rains. Adirondack chairs are also a great outdoor option because of their durability, and they also have extra space on their wide arms to hold plates or drinks.

Outdoor Kitchen

If cooking for guests is one of the most inconvenient parts of outdoor entertaining, installing an outdoor kitchen can simplify your meal prep routine and make your life easier. An outdoor kitchen area with a prep station, an outdoor sink, and a small refrigerator can completely change the game for warm-weather hosting and eliminate the need to constantly transition between indoor and outdoor spaces while preparing meals for outdoor events.

Landscaping Outdoor Spaces

Landscaping is another important way to elevate your outdoor space for warm-weather hosting. Refreshing your landscaping can make your outdoor spaces pop, add color and design to your backyard, and make your space feel relaxing. Refresh your mulch, define the borders of your beds, and create a perennial flower garden that can brightly bloom each year. Landscape designs with filtration or water flow maintenance are crucial to reduce rainwater runoff. Keeping standing water out of your space can also help with bug control. And creating a regular maintenance schedule can keep your outdoor spaces ready for hosting all year round.

Your outdoor spaces are important, and investing in them can increase the value of your property and your entertainment space. See my other articles Creating an Outdoor Living Space for Hosting, Outdoor Living: Design Choices, and Outdoor Living: The Best Bang for Your Buck for more ideas.