Spring is here again! March 20th marked the beginning of the 2018 vernal equinox, which means that summer isn’t far away. If your yard is looking a little bare, then you might want to choose a new set of outdoor furniture. You can add aesthetic flourishes or find a whole new use for your backyard, turning it into a place to relax or your neighbourhood’s number one outdoor party venue.

Let’s take a look at some ideas for raising your outdoor game this summer:

1. Soft Outdoor Furniture

In the summer your backyard can be your new family room - you can even get a TV out there if you’re willing to do a little building and wiring! Plastic lawn chairs might be hard-wearing, but they’re no fun to sit on, especially at parties.

You can find outdoor furniture that’s as comfortable to sit on as it is beautiful. The trend is for bold, deep colours to go with the green of your yard, accented with pillows to throw in even more vibrant colours. If it goes with green, then it’s all good.

2. Firepits

Sitting around a firepit on a gorgeous summer’s night is a national pastime, so it’s your patriotic duty to have an amazing firepit. There are a range of options available depending on your budget and personal sense of style: a simple brick or concrete pit that allows you to burn firewood or a more elaborate propane-fuelled garden centrepiece.

You can build a firepit by yourself (we’ve got all the supplies you’ll need), hire a contractor, or buy ready-made firepits that you can put down in your yard.

3. Outdoor Heating

Firepits are a great way to keep warm, but they’re certainly not the only way. Infrared heaters built into sun umbrellas, fire columns and mounted radiant heaters all allow you to keep yourself and your guests warm once the sun goes down. They give off light as well as heat, so you may also want to invest in a bug zapper or repellent sprayer to keep those pesky mosquitos away.

4. Barbecues

This is the big one, and one you’ll want to put a lot of thought into it before committing potentially thousands of dollars on a new barbecue. If you’re planning to entertain then they are absolutely essential, and the barbecue that you get will depend on your needs.

If you’re planning on having a couple of friends over for burgers and beers then a single two to four burner range with a small portable propane tank. If you’re planning on preparing food for a whole neighbourhood cook-out, you could spend over $10,000 on what is essentially an all-weather kitchen, with multiple burners, a refrigerator, sinks and prep space.

Want to compare the top grills for 2018? Check out this comparison from Top Ten Reviews.

5. Décor

It’s not all toys: your yard needs to look good too. You can decorate your garden with more than just plants and trees: there’s statues, water features, and planters. The latter can add depth and height to your outdoor space, and allow you to have plants where they would otherwise be impossible to plant. Be sure to pick trees that are suitable for the temperature once summer’s over unless you plan on bringing them inside.

6. Lighting

Lights don’t just keep the party going after the sun goes down, they can also be powerful decorative elements. Small solar lamps along a pathway are easy to install and maintenance free, while LED spotlights can highlight impressive features with clear white light- and they’re fairly inexpensive to run too.

Beyond Outdoor Furniture: making your outdoor space functional & fun

1. Get Green

Greenhouses aren’t common in Alberta yards, since the harsh winters make them tough to utilize for half the year, but there are alternatives. A pop-up greenhouse like this four-tier model allows you to grow plants for your home or plants for your kitchen when it starts getting warm, then take it down to store for the winter when it starts getting cold.

2. Games

The open space in your yard is the perfect place to play. While your kids can enjoy water-guns, you and your friends can enjoy more grown-up fare: croquet and lawn bowling are the classics, and bag-toss (also called ‘cornhole’) and lawn darts are always popular, but you can also think outside of the box. There’s giant versions of popular tabletop games like Jenga and Chess, or if you have enough space, you can put up a volleyball or badminton net.

Start your Outdoor Furniture search & get ready to officially ring in the spring

Your local Lakeland Co-op Home Centre has a great selection of most of the items described above, and if you check out our Home Centre E-flyer you’ll find dozens of deals on outdoor furniture that’ll make your summer.