UPGRADE YOUR ALFRESCO DINING EXPERIENCE AT HOME

Hello and thanks for dropping in today. As the days grow shorter and cooler days prevail, I’ve been thinking of ways to extend the time I spend outdoors. Living here on my beautiful mountaintop, where I have a covered dining terrace overlooking the forest, I like to take advantage of dining Alfresco as much as I can.

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I find it’s a great way to spend more time outdoors, something everybody needs when so much of our lives are spent indoors. I find that eating outside can turn a normal dining experience into a real sense of occasion, especially when entertaining.

When we built our mountain home by the time we finished the construction we had exhausted our budget, leaving little money to outfit what I had planned to make an outdoor kitchen and dining pavilion. Since then I’ve worked to improve the space and have uncovered lots of ideas and resources. So today I thought I’d share with you ways to upgrade your alfresco dining experience at home.

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Let’s all make the most of these last days of good weather, and extend the time period for using our outdoor spaces. So, have a look at these handy exterior home hacks listed below:

Add An Outdoor Kitchen

One of the best ways to get cooking outside in your garden is to have facilities available to both prepare, serve and enjoy an alfresco dinner. By installing an outdoor kitchen you’ll have the needed equipment at the ready, available to use all year round.

And an outdoor kitchen can also be stocked with all the equipment you need for an alfresco dinner party with friends. How about beer on tap and wine chilling in a wine fridge?

I recently discovered a terrific resource for designing such a space with this handy outdoor kitchen design software.

With it you can design your custom outdoor kitchen to fit your unique space, adding the cupboards, BBQ grill, a refrigerator, microwave or my favorite, a pizza oven for the ultimate outdoor kitchen. Garden party here we come, even in the dead of winter!

To help keep you warm while dining alfresco you can install built-in overhead heaters that really keep things toasty. I really wish we had added these to our outdoor terrace when we built our home!

Create A Seating Area

An outdoor seating area will add a relaxing design element to your garden, which will be perfect for entertaining friends and family. Hire a Landscape Contractor to create the designs for you. Or keep your costs low and opt for a DIY project if you’re handy and so inclined. 

Focus Around A Fire Pit

No matter how warm the climate is where you live, the temperature will always drop when the sun goes down, so adding a fire pit will create a great source of warmth all year long.

There you can enjoy a drink or two and roast marshmallows while listening to music. Yes, don’t forget to install an outdoor sound system!

The size and material you choose for your fire pit will of course depend on your budget, but fire pits range from fancy builtins with piped in gas, to simple and inexpensive cast iron fire pits.

Add a removable grill that can be placed on top if you would like the option of barbecuing over your fire pit as well.

There’s nothing like the taste of wood-fired food!

Accessorize with Plenty of Lights

To me proper lighting is the ultimate accessory. So even when designing an outdoor space, lighting is important. Remember, you’ll want to make sure your garden is properly lit when the sun goes down to ensure the comfort and safety of your family and friends.

There are plenty of creative ways to do so that can enhance your garden design and add drama too. One of the best things I did on my dining terrace was to imbed up-lights into the terrace floor. They dramatically illuminate my stone columns while also providing additional light.

Adding spotlights onto trees and foliage will give your garden a magical feel, and lights can also be placed along the borders of a garden path to light your way. String lights can be hung above a dining table to create a magical garden party feel, and citronella torches will help keep pesky insects at bay.

I hope these tips have inspired you to upgrade your alfresco dining experience at home too. Start your projects now and be all set for next summer!

So there you have it: UPGRADE YOUR ALFRESCO DINING EXPERIENCE AT HOME

Thanks so much for dropping in!

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All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.