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Inside Out: Designs to Move a Party Outside
With the holiday season underway, pumpkin pie and holiday shopping often go hand in hand with a marathon of party planning and playing host. This is the time to showcase the effort you have tirelessly put into your house over the past 12 months. More often than not, however, as soon as 10 or 15 people start crowding the kitchen with martinis and merlot, your white shag carpet doesn't seem like it was the smartest decision, and a 2,000-square-foot house feels more like 100. It's times like these that you need to lure your guests from inside your snug and breakable house out into a more forgiving and open space. In other words, let's get everybody outside.
Disclaimer: For those of you lucky enough to live in a climate mild enough to entertain outdoors year-round, congratulations. For the rest of you, cling to these ideas until the snow outside your home has melted, or tell your guests there is no better way to enjoy winter, and that they'd better bring their coats.
Disclaimer: For those of you lucky enough to live in a climate mild enough to entertain outdoors year-round, congratulations. For the rest of you, cling to these ideas until the snow outside your home has melted, or tell your guests there is no better way to enjoy winter, and that they'd better bring their coats.
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| Move the food and bar outside. It's really the simplest and easiest way to sway people out of the house without asking. A party, especially a holiday party, revolves around alcohol and food. This way, after your neighbor has had one too many eggnogs and drops a plate full of nachos on the ground, the cleanup is a snap. |
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Light things up. Outdoor lighting is one of the most critical parts of a successful landscape design, but is often the first to be forgotten. The key is to create an inviting outdoor space for your guests—not a dark and foreboding exterior. The combination of the outdoor fireplace and modern table lamps is fun and unique. So fun that everyone will forget how cold they are and stop wondering why they're outside for a party in winter.
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Promote outdoor seating. Parties are for mingling and meeting new people, but also for catching up with old friends. Plush outdoor seating that is arranged to encourage intimacy and conversation is always appealing. If you limit the seating you provide inside, people will be more inclined to head to the patio before diving into a deep discussion.
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| Reveal exterior points of interest. Curiosity and exploration are two key reasons people move through space. Create those features outside of your home to move your guests from inside to outside.
From inside the house you can catch a glimpse of the Bertoia Chairs at the end of this hall, but in order to fully understand the space you would need to walk to the end of the path. Don't reveal too much, but spark just enough interest for people to need to see more. |
Add attractive outdoor games. A party doesn't really get going until everyone is together playing a game. And after a few cocktails and appetizers, your visitors will be eager to join in a friendly competition. With a game like bocce, a large number of people can play as well as watch. The court itself is quite elegant with gravel and clean lines, and the design complements the landscape when it's not being used.
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Eliminate the threshold. Folding doors and sliding walls make the transition between indoors and outdoors seamless. Visually your eye can lead smoothly from the house to the exterior, and the effort required to open and close a door is eliminated.
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| Tip: Using the same flooring material for both inside and out creates a continuity between the two spaces. |
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| Sit by the fire. This is another no brainer-especially for cool nights. Even if you haven't managed to move your soirée from the living room to the patio as quickly as you would have liked, as soon as the outdoor fire pit is lit, everyone will congregate. Make sure there is plenty of comfortable seating as most people will want to stop and enjoy the fire for as long as possible. |
| A majority of fire pits today are gas, so there is no hassle building the fire. And if you use concrete logs or other nonflammable material instead of wood, there is no smoke. This is great not only for your lungs, but also for the environment.
See more fire pit ideas. |
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| Enjoy the hot tub. For more intimate gatherings, or as the night wears on and the temperature drops, the hot tub is a perfect way to warm up and get to know your friends really well. You can always just put your feet in if donning a swimsuit sounds more like a punishment than a party. Having a spa near the entrance to the house is convenient for the swimmers as well as for people who choose not to partake but still want to join in on the fun as the party draws to a close. Do you dare entertain outdoors in winter? |
Ideabook updated on Nov. 25, 2010.
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