Disclosure – this is a sponsored post

With restrictions easing finally here in the UK we are looking forward to entertaining outdoors again. We can’t wait to invite friends over to enjoy our garden.

Top tips for creating a grown up outdoors area

Over the last 12 months we have all spent a lot of time at home. From making a home office to staying local for our daily exercise, we have all spent more time at home that we ever imagined. We are very thankful to have a garden large enough for our family to enjoy and the past year has given us the opportunity to create a garden which is perfect for both eating and entertaining.

Adapt the space you have to your needs

Despite its smallish size, our garden is well-used. With two young children and a dog our outdoor space is used every day. We’ve found it’s important to adapt any space to your needs, and over the last few weekends we’ve demolished the children’s old wooden playhouse and mud kitchen. They had grown out of these things which gave us an opportunity to try something new. This also gave us more space to play with to create a more useful entertaining space.

Create a family-friendly space

We love a family BBQ and wanted to create a more family-friendly space for outdoor entertaining. Our outdoor dining area was restricted to the patio outside the back door which was a little cramped. So we built a new patio area, where the playhouse had been, to give us a larger outdoor seating area. We wanted to use our existing seating and table so measured out the maximum amount of space we needed and got quotes for the patio. Thankfully it was done quite quickly by a local builder.

Choose the right outdoor seating

Building a separate space to sit and eat freed up the old patio. We wanted a more informal space with comfortable seats so we could sit and enjoy the afternoon sunshine. I’ve already sat outside in this area more times in the last month than I did with the older seating arrangement! It’s lovely to sit outside with the children after school and chat about their day.

I love looking at all the different outdoor seating possibilities. Of course, you will need garden furniture that doesn’t rust, as well as something that is both comfortable and stylish. As usual I turn to Pinterest for inspiration which inspired our tilting garden canopy for when the sun gets high in the sky, as well as the fairy lights we strung up all around the garden.

What garden furniture you invest in will be influenced by what kind of garden you have, where the sun falls in your garden, as well as what storage you have. We needed to have flexible seating options due to a complete lack of storage space, but we are happy with what we ended up with.

Our outdoor space is now a lovely place to sit and relax. Our children are growing up fast and we have created somewhere we can all sit and enjoy as the children grow older. We can’t wait for warmer weather so we can enjoy the first BBQ of the year – fingers crossed the weather is looking great for this weekend!