The benefits of an outdoor entertaining area should not be underestimated. Regardless of the size of your home, if you have a generous backyard, you can still host parties and events that can bring all of your family, friends, and work colleagues together. However, getting the planning right is key if you want to use the area most effectively and if you want to ensure it doesn’t cost a fortune.
This can be much easier said than done, but following a few simple steps can get what you and your family want. These are far from complicated, but you will need to realize that you can’t do it all yourself.
#1 Find out what everybody wants
If you have a family, they will all want a say in how that outdoor space is used. You might be focussing on the grill and an outdoor bar, but your kids are likely to want a lawn to throw a ball around on, climbing frames, or even a treehouse. This can be a great idea, as other family members and friends are likely to have kids too, so when they visit, they can go and play and are not under your feet all the time.
The best move here might be to hold a family meeting and get down a wish list of what everybody wants. This way, you can discuss what is possible (and what is not) with your budget and get some of those more awkward conversations out of the way early.
#2 Start with the biggest jobs
It is usually better to first begin with the most labor-intensive, messy, and expensive jobs. If part of your plan is to have a pool in your backyard, it’s only common sense to get that installed first and build the rest around it. This is partly because it is likely to be the focus anyway, and you don’t want to go installing a patio area and a lawn only to have diggers and countless workmen ruining it.
Whether you are attempting to do this yourself or getting the specialists in, you need to ensure that only the best wholesale pool supplies online are being bought for this part of the project. If you find the right supplier, they will also have other supplies like fire pits and grills.
#3 Don’t forget the planting
Once you have all of the elements of your entertaining area in place, you also need to think about planting around the edges. It is, after all, your backyard, and people are going to expect to see some sort of foliage. What you pick will, of course, depend on the climate where you happen to live, and probably with one eye on changing weather conditions.
Bright colors are always popular, but you also need to think about planting that is easy to maintain, as you have the outdoor area for relaxing in, not as the source of more work for you. You should also remember that plants that attract flying insects might not be ideal for an area where people gather with plenty of food and drink.
