Summer is the perfect time to open your home to friends and family. With the sun high in the sky, you have the opportunity to maximize your indoor and outdoor spaces, create a relaxing atmosphere, and make everyone feel at home through strategic design choices.
How to Prepare for Summer Entertaining
If you’re excited about hosting some fun summer parties, make sure you get your home ready, too. Here are four tips to prepare your house for the season.
Deep Clean Entertainment Spaces
Your home and outdoor spaces can accumulate dirt and grime through the seasons, so a deep clean is crucial when planning to host parties in the summertime. Give your surfaces a good top-to-bottom scrub or wipe down, especially your living room, dining room, and outdoor entertaining areas. Outdoor furniture and cushions get covered in pollen and dust which makes this a pretty big task. If you can’t fit it into your schedule, or just don’t enjoy doing it, (who does?) ask your housekeeper to set aside some time for the outdoor spaces. These areas often get overlooked in the cooler months so you don’t want to wait until the day of your party. You’ll likely need a quick wipe down the day of as well but get the major cleaning out of the way beforehand for best results. Aside from getting your home ready for visitors, a clean environment makes you feel better, both mentally and physically.
Organize and Declutter
Whether or not you’ve done your spring cleaning, the start of a new season is always a great time to declutter and reset your home. Go around your house, room by room, and find items you and your family no longer need or use. You can sell or donate them to give them a new life.
Once you’ve cleared the clutter, organizing your home and putting everything back in its designated places becomes much easier. Use closets, shelves, and storage bins to improve the look and flow of your space, especially for your guests. Overhead cabinets are especially helpful for storing seasonal items like holiday decorations.
Spruce Up Your Decor
Summer means putting away the wool, the heavy fabrics, and the candles and replacing them with light, open weaves, bright colors, and fun patterns. Take inspiration from coastal boho, which marries natural elements with refreshing hues, and incorporate woven baskets, rattan pendant lights, and natural wood into your home. You don’t have to go all out, but switching up key details in your home can bring a light, refreshing summer vibe.
Set up Outdoor Spaces
Summer is ideal for hosting outdoor gatherings, so prep your deck or patio for your next party. Set up a relaxing living space outside — an extension of your living room. Clean your outdoor furniture and add colorful throw pillows, board games, books, and magazines to make the space more inviting. Ensure there’s enough shade to prevent guests from overheating and keep everyone cool when hanging out during the daytime.
Creating a Good Indoor-Outdoor Flow
A good flow between your indoor and outdoor areas makes hosting easier — people are more comfortable, and you can do more by seamlessly shifting between spaces. It saves time and energy and allows you to connect better with the outdoors. Consider these methods for establishing better indoor-outdoor flow in your home.
Maintain Continuity
Create a sense of openness in your home. The best time to do this is when planning the house, ensuring your indoor living spaces have uninterrupted views or access to the outdoors. This strategy makes the inside and outside feel more accessible to one another.
Use Versatile Materials
Using similar materials for both indoor and outdoor furniture and decor can further blur the lines between the two spaces. For example, you can use the same tile indoors and outdoors or buy furniture made of the same material. This consistency makes your design choices feel more intentional.
One of my favorite memories from living in France was being invited to a Sunday afternoon lunch near Bourges. It was at a small farm and our friends hauled their wooden dining table outside and placed it under a tree. While it wasn’t really outdoor furniture, it was fine being outside for a few hours. It completely elevated the experience. One of the best goat cheese salads I have ever eaten didn’t hurt either!
Integrate Natural Elements
Integrating natural materials and elements, such as plants, wood, and stone, in your indoor and outdoor spaces emphasizes the beauty of your surroundings. It also creates a relaxing space for you and your visitors. Research shows that exposure to natural environments relieves stress and increases vitality.
Set the Summer Vibe
You’ve done the prep — now, your home can do the talking. A well-prepared space makes summer entertaining more enjoyable for you and your guests. Use these tips to get everything in place for a season of easy hosting and making memories with your loved ones.
If you need help planning and designing for outdoor entertainment, give us a call.
Until next time, let your creative juices flow!
Evelyn Long is an interior design writer that helps young renters and homeowners style their spaces. She’s written for well-known publications like the National Association of Realtors and Decor Matters, and she currently acts as the editor-in-chief of Renovated Magazine.
