As we move towards entertaining friends and family outside in the warmer months, in large entertainment areas, you can improve the experience in many ways. You no longer need to be stuck in the kitchen while your partner and your guests chat and drink out the back. Nor when it is super-hot, do you all need to perspire in pain, when you can have a dip in a swimming pool. Here are some of the best ways to transform your outdoor entertainment area.
Build A Deck
It’s an instant way of adding value to your property, by building a deck. Suddenly, you have an entertainment area that has become an extra area of your house. During the summer months, it is the perfect place to relax and unwind with your family, or sit and chat with friends. Add a table and some chairs for some al fresco dining, and you are away. If you are going to build one, then hardwood timber is the way to go as it looks stunning and can instantly transform the rear of your house.
Relax In An Exterior Room
If like most people you find you are spending more time outside the house than in, during summer, then it’s time to build an outdoor room. If you have a deck built already, then this makes perfect sense to complement this entertaining area. There is no need to wall this area as you want the breeze to flow through, while maintaining an outside experience. The roof can be approached several ways, including having lights and fans installed to keep you cool. Or you can have a flat louver roof that can be opened and closed depending on conditions. You can really dazzle your guests by installing external speakers for your sound system, some of which come disguised as garden rocks. Designing your external living area is easy if you talk to an expert.
Cook Up A Storm
Make sure you are still a part of the party by installing an outdoor kitchen. No one wants to be stuck inside over a hot oven with the sound of laughter coming from your entertainment area. Wouldn’t you rather be in the breeze cooking over a BBQ? The quality of outdoor kitchens is unbelievable with many costing more or less the same as a new kitchen refit inside your house. You can get multi-burners to cope with a large dinner party, add on a spit to perfect some roast pork and add side burners to cook food in pots and pans. Sinks can be added as can fridges to hold your cheese platters and fruit. The only thing stopping you from having a Michelin starred restaurant in your back yard, is the cost.
Swim To Cool Down
Everyone once dreamed of having a swimming pool in their back yard, and there is a reason we all didn’t: cost. On a hot summer’s day, there is nothing better than diving into a pool to cool down, or basking in the sun with an ice-cold drink in hand. You can integrate your pool into your external entertainment area with a lap pool, or an infinity edge pool for that additional wow factor. Be prepared to pay for a hole to be burnt into your pocket.
Landscape
Often an afterthought to the whole upgrading of the rear of your home, but nothing compliments your entertaining area better than a nicely landscaped area. Well-built and placed masonry can hold tropical plants around the swimming pool, stunning flowering plants all around your dining area can add that al fresco feeling as you relax.