As we head into end-of-summer and cooler evening temperatures, take advantage of this time and enjoy your outdoor entertaining and dining. Continue reading for tips to enhance your outdoor experience and maximize fun and decorating ideas!
5 Tips for Outdoor Entertaining:
1. Update outdoor containers.
At this point on the East Coast, your pots and containers may look a little sad. Remove all dead and dying things and add new late-summer plants or greenery. Using ornamental grass to fill in space is a great way to transition your summer pots to fall! For further ideas, check out my article 5 Tips to Add New Life to your Outdoor Containers.
2. Enjoy Outdoor End-of-Summer Furniture & Accessory Sales!
Late summer is a fabulous time to pick up outdoor decorating items at a discount! Now maybe the perfect time to find that new outdoor rug, light, or side table! Check out your local garden stores, Homesense, Home Goods, Target, instore and online.
3. Keep Guests Cozy.
As the temperatures cool in the evening, have throws available for your guests. Keep them stored and available in an outdoor storage container, such as these from Wayfair.
4. Keep Insects Away.
When entertaining outdoors, biting insects seem to know that summer is waning, and they become more voracious. To help you safely keep them away, protecting people and pets, I have accumulated a few tips:
- Preventing mosquito populations is more manageable than repelling them. Because they love standing water, walk your property frequently (every five days), check toys, flowerpots, and containers, anywhere that water may collect and eliminate it.
- For repellent ideas, sprays, oils, candles, TODAY offers these tips.
- DynaTrap is a device that releases carbon dioxide and attracts mosquitos. Because other good insects are not attracted to CO2, this device eliminates the ones you don’t want. They come in many sizes depending on the area you wish to keep mosquitos away.
- If you have a fountain, run the pump or aerator to keep the water moving as mosquitos want stagnant water. Use microbial insecticide (BTI), a “naturally occurring bacterium found in soils” which has proven safe for people, pets, and wildlife (EPA.)
5. Understand repellent ingredients and their proper usage.
Before purchasing, please do your research on the repellent’s ingredients and how to use them effectively. For example, the American Mosquito Control Association states that the oil of lemon-eucalyptus cannot be used on children younger than 3. You may think it is an oil for all of you looking for DEET-free products, so it must be ok. Again, do your research on the products you are looking at before you buy. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers information and a list of repellents for all age groups.
Enjoy your summertime outdoor fun and entertaining! If you plan to put your house on the market this fall or winter, reach out to me for a home staging consultation. Give me a call at 610-955-8202 if you struggle with a room redesign or color selection; I would be glad to assist!
By Debbie Correale, Redesign Right, LLC. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Pinterest, Houzz. Feature photo licensed from Shutterstock.