Get Your Patio Ready for Summer Entertaining

With summer fast approaching, there is no time like the present to get your patio ready for summer entertaining. Who doesn’t love spending their summer evenings on their patios, sipping drinks and eating good food with fun company? That’s one of the best parts of the summer season. It’s warm, the sun doesn’t set till 9 o’clock, cool drinks are flowing and music is playing in the background. Sounds nice right? Well it can be if you make sure you get your patio prepped in time.

I’m sharing 5 tasks to get your patio ready for summer entertaining this week. Yes that’s right, these are easy to do this week. Spend a day and clean, get organized and set up. Summer is only around for a short few months a year. You don’t want to waste it inside.

With being located in the Pacific Northwest and specifically Vancouver, we are home bound with months of rain. Or so it feels at least. This means there can be debris, dirt, moss, furniture and decor stored away and landscaping to be taken care of. While you are cleaning and organizing you should also remember to check the structure of your place too whether it’s an apartment or a home. It’s a good idea to check the health of gutters above your condo patio so that you’re not left with a pool of rainwater to contend with. With little drainage unlike a home, you don’t want that standing water around. It’s a haven for mosquitoes.

While you might be tempted to go out and start buying up all kinds of cute new outdoor furnishings as soon as the weather gets warm, we suggest you do a little prepwork beforehand so that your outdoor space becomes as good as it can be. Starting off with the sort of un-fun stuff first will pay off big in the end.

5 Ways Get Your Patio Ready for Summer Entertaining

1. Clean your grill
Get out a good cleaner and scrub away! Mildew and other bacteria can grow over the winter resulting in a gross BBQ. With just a little TLC you can bring it back to life. Ready to grill delicious recipes for your guests.

2. Dirty Patio Furniture
If your metal and plastic outdoor furniture needs a good cleaning, start by mixing a generous amount of dish liquid soap with warm water in a bucket. Then spray the furniture down with a hose. Using a nylon scrub brush, wash the chairs with the solution; then rinse thoroughly.

3. Mildew on Your Wood Deck
Once the snow is gone, sweep your outdoor space, clear out any dead branches and leaves from the deck, and get rid of broken flower pots or any other detritus left over from last year. Moisture trapped beneath planters and debris can promote mold growth — even on wood that’s been treated. To remove mildew stains, mix 2 cups of liquid chlorine bleach and 2 1/2 tablespoons of powdered laundry detergent into 1 1/2 quarts of warm water. Thoroughly saturate the stained area with the solution and allow it to set for 10 to 15 minutes. Wearing rubber gloves, scrub the stains with a stiff broom. Be sure to rinse thoroughly, as any bleach that’s left behind can damage the wood.

4. Dazzle with Lighting
Update your backyard lighting scheme to give your lawn and patio an inviting atmosphere. String lights or lighting among your landscaping adds a certain summer ambiance. Think of those restaurant patios you love all light up in the summer, you can have that at home!

5. Plant small garden boxes
Whether it’s in the front yard or on the backyard patio, containers with pretty blooms will enhance the feel of your outdoor party arena. The key to success is to fill the planters or boxes with lightweight soil mix. This sustains the growth and health of plants and flowers by providing excellent drainage and aeration.

Consider succulents or cacti too, easy to maintain and look great indoors or outdoors.