Category Archives: Outdoor Entertaining

When the weather warms and your parties move outdoors, try these simple ideas. Entertaining doesn’t demand any elaborate decor, just simple food, good company, and your patio.

Outdoor Entertaining

Home Wall Fountains & Waterfalls

Comment

Slate Wall Fountain

A Multi-Sensory Approach to Reducing Stress & the Negative Effects of Everyday Noises Using Fountains

Try this experiment. Be as fully aware as possible of your stress and energy levels following a day when you are occupied with your standard activities, and then compare that to the stress and energy levels you experience following a day in nature. It is very likely that you end your day in nature with less stress and more energy than you feel at the end of a typical day of work, school, errands, and other miscellaneous tasks. Even if the results of this comparison are obvious, you may be astonished to find out that much of our stress and lack of energy as a society comes from the very fact that we are constantly surrounded by noise.

Throughout the entire day, our ears and brains are required to deal with a multitude of low frequency sounds that drain the brain of energy and cause stress. Low frequency noises include the ever-present hum of household appliances, the drone of the computer and fluorescent lights, and the din of traffic, large machinery, aircraft, and other everyday technologies. According to a January 2007 Consumer Reports: On Health article titled “Shhh! Everyday noise can be harmful,” stress and lack of energy are only two of the negative effects that everyday noises can have on our bodies. In addition, it has been determined that daily noises are a factor in sleep problems, lack of motivation, lower efficiency levels, decreased creativity, poor mood, and increased heart attack risk.

Counteracting the Negative Effects of Everyday Noises

Noise may not be the sole cause of the stress and other health issues we experience, but it is undeniably a contributing factor. Fortunately, we can reduce, and even reverse, the negative effects that noise has on our brains and bodies through regular exposure to the higher frequency sounds found in nature.

Spending a day, or even part of a day, in nature provides our bodies and brains with a much needed relief from stress. Regrettably, going out to nature on a daily basis does not always fit into the daily schedule, so bringing nature sounds into your home is the practical solution. Listening to sound machines and audio recordings that feature babbling brooks, ocean waves, rain showers, bird songs, and other natural sounds is one option. An abundance of these products can be found at many shops or internet sites. However, home wall fountains and waterfalls are many times a favorite choice for nature sounds because they offer a multi-sensory stress-relieving experience that sound machines and audio recordings are incapable of providing.

The Benefits of Wall Fountains and Waterfalls

Wall fountains and waterfalls — which come in tabletop, wall mounted, and free standing varieties — bring the soothing sounds of flowing water into the home, but they also bring a visual element. Not only are waterfalls and wall fountains beautifully conceived and able to fit into any home’s decor, the water itself lends another dimension of stress relief to the equation. Watching the dance and trickle of water as it flows across rocks, down textured surfaces, and into a basin at the bottom enhances our auditory experience. When we listen to sound machines or audio recordings of nature sounds, we may feel the need to close our eyes to block out visual distractions around us that take our minds away from the goal of relaxation. In contrast, the visual attributes of wall fountains and waterfalls transport us toward that end by giving us something beautiful and elemental to focus on with our eyes as we listen with our ears.

Furthermore, the water that flows in a wall fountain or waterfall changes its sounds subtly at every moment. This dynamic quality keeps our listening experience from becoming tedious or repetitive, which can easily happen if we listen to sound machines or audio recordings regularly. We can also choose to dramatically change the “song” of the water in our wall fountain or waterfall simply by rearranging rocks or other features in the basin or by adding a new element — such as a seashell, leaf, or small piece of wood — along the water’s path. We can even place our own fingers in the water’s flow to change the sound of the water as it moves; feeling the water stream across our skin would bring yet another sensory element to our experience.

The Gentle Quality of Water

Because water is an integral part of our world and our bodies, it has an innate ability to soothe. We are instinctively drawn to the sound of water, and we feel spellbound by its gentle movement. Spending time near water — listening, watching, touching — allows us to breathe more slowly and to break the cycle of stress we experience each day. Making a space in our home for a wall fountain or waterfall, whether it is a small tabletop version or a larger wall mounted or free standing version, gives us the luxury of regular access to real water, as opposed to pre-recorded water sounds. Wall fountains and waterfalls provide us with a multi-sensory relaxation experience that may not only lower our stress levels, but improve our sleep and our moods, increase our motivation and efficiency, and even lower our risk for heart attack.

Holidays & Gift Ideas, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor Clocks

Comment

Dragonfly Outdoor Clock with Thermometer

Bring Beauty and High-Tech Function to Your Outdoor Living Spaces

Expanding your living space and increasing the value of your home can be as easy as making the most of the areas outside your door. Patios and decks, screened porches and sun rooms, and outdoor kitchens and dining rooms are the most desirable places to entertain friends or to enjoy some quality relaxation time when the weather is pleasant. Your outdoor spaces should be an extension of your indoor living areas in that they should feel comfortable and reflect your personal style. Furniture, rugs, lighting, and decor are some of the basic ingredients that allow you to create your perfect outdoor room.

Beauty and Style

An outdoor clock is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to bring the feel of the indoors outside. Today’s outdoor clocks are not only affordable and can withstand the elements, they are also beautiful. They come in a wide variety of sizes and colors, and the available materials range from weather resistant metals and natural woods, to glass and durable plastics.  In addition, you are sure to find a style of outdoor clock that satisfies your taste, whether traditional, antique, contemporary, whimsical, rustic, or retro.

High-Tech Function

Outdoor clocks bring more than beauty to your outdoor living spaces; they can also offer a variety of high-tech functions.  Many outdoor clocks come with thermometers to measure temperature, barometers to measure air pressure, and hygrometers to measure humidity. One of the most impressive features of some outdoor clocks today is their ability to automatically synchronize to U.S. official time.  The Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, houses the NIST-F1 cesium fountain atomic clock, which is one of the most accurate clocks in the world and which sets the standard for the nation’s primary time and frequency.  The NIST broadcasts a low frequency signal from its own radio station near Fort Collins, Colorado (WWVB), and this signal is received by outdoor clocks, as well as other electronic devices, that contain a miniature radio receiver.  Once the radio controlled clock receives the signal from the WWVB station, it will synchronize, so the time is always accurate to the second.

Outdoor clocks differ in the number of times per day that they synchronize to the WWVB time signal; some synchronize every 4 or 6 hours, while some only synchronize once per day.  Clocks that synchronize only once per day usually do so at night when the signal from WWVB is at its strongest.  Outdoor clocks that synchronize once each day are just as accurate, though, as those that synchronize several times.  The NIST’s Time and Frequency Division explains that “in between synchronizations, the clocks keep time using their quartz crystal oscillators.  A typical quartz crystal found in a radio controlled clock can probably keep time to within 1 second for a few days or longer.” As a result, a clock that synchronizes more than once per day has no real advantage over one that synchronizes only one time.

The Value of an Outdoor Clock

Beauty, style, accuracy, high-tech functionality, and affordability — today’s outdoor clocks offer so much in a single package. As a whole, clocks have been an essential element in our lives for centuries; they remind us of occasions we don’t want to miss and allow us to mark the moments at which our greatest achievements occur. Bringing the beauty and practicality of a clock to your deck, screened porch, or outdoor kitchen is a natural way to bring an essential element of life and the comfort of the indoors to your outdoor living spaces.

Source:

“WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks.” Time and Frequency Division. National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://tf.nist.gov/stations/radioclocks.htm

Indoor Living Spaces, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

All Weather Indoor / Outdoor Rugs

Comment

Indoor / Outdoor Rugs

Durable Beauty For Every Room Inside and Out

Remember When . . .

In the not too distant past, the word outdoor rugs referred to something like a small patch of Astroturf that one placed in the backyard. Those old outdoor rugs were basically utilitarian, and sure didn’t add any ambiance to the landscape. But then again, few people cared much about what patios looked like at the time.

Outdoor Rooms Come into Their Own

All that is changing. Now, it is not uncommon to hear decorators, architects, and outdoor enthusiasts talk about “outdoor rooms,” explaining how outdoor living areas are more than just a place to put your backyard furniture. They have become integral parts of the home, and as such are treated like any other room in the house. Of course, along with this alluring new take on outdoor rooms came the desire for higher quality and more stylish outdoor products. Enter braided outdoor rugs. An improvement over the older models, braided rugs were more pleasing to the eye, and, being made of polypropylene, they were also water, UV, mold, and rot resistant.

Indoor/Outdoor Rugs

Recently, though, there has been a large increase in outdoor rug manufacturing. Now, polypropylene threads are actually woven, as would be done to make a normal indoor rug. The result is rugs that are durable enough to withstand outdoor use, but comfortable and beautiful enough for indoor use, especially in high traffic areas. And because they are available in a huge selection of styles and patterns, they can easily be matched to any home decor.

One advantage of these indoor/outdoor rugs is how easy they are to clean. Usually, they can simply be hosed off, and even if they get especially dirty, all that is needed is some mild soap. In addition to patios and decks, woven all weather rugs are also ideal for kitchens and mudrooms where the biggest messes often happen.

Indoor/outdoor rugs offer one more way to blur the traditional distinctions between the inside and outside of homes. These elegant and durable rugs can take comfort and elegance outside, as well as bring tough durability indoors.

Indoor Living Spaces, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Outdoor Curtains – Tab Top, Rod Pocket or Grommets

4 Comments

Tab Top Curtains

The Inexpensive Choice For Backyard Privacy and Comfort

The desire for a private, comfortable, and beautiful backyard living space often leads home owners to make expensive decisions. Adding on a sun room or even a screened-in porch requires contractors, building permits, large and noisy machinery, and a lengthy wait for the finished product. Luckily, a simple and inexpensive solution exists, especially if your home already has the advantage of a covered patio or deck, or if a pergola or gazebo already serve as a focal point in your backyard. The simple solution is to install outdoor curtains or drapes.

Curtains and drapes are an unexpected and often overlooked option that can quickly and easily provide privacy for very little money. Enjoying the pleasant weather and a good book or entertaining a group of friends can be a challenge if you feel that your backyard activities are constantly on display. Homes that sit close to each other, and homes whose backyards overlook roads or commercial areas, can benefit from the privacy that exterior curtains and drapes provide.

In addition to creating privacy, curtains add a soft touch to the hard surfaces of a wooden deck, pergola, or stone patio. The gentle drape of fabric brings a comfortable indoor feel to the outside space and makes the backyard living area so much more inviting. Curtains offer flexibility, too, in their appearance. Whether you prefer fabric that hangs fully or that is tied back with a decorative tassel, you have the freedom to change the look of your backyard room simply by changing the look of the curtains.

When selecting curtains or drapes for a backyard living area, fabric quality is the most important feature to consider. Indoor fabric would not be suitable in an exterior space because indoor fabrics tend to fade and certainly would not stand up to harsh weather conditions. Outdoor fabrics, on the other hand, are made especially to be fade resistant and water resistant. High quality fabrics, such as those made by Sunbrella, block up to 98% of the sun’s harmful UV rays, are breathable, and resist mildew and stains. Like indoor drapes, though, those made for exterior spaces come in a variety of colors and hanging styles, including tab top, grommet, and rod pocket.

For a fraction of what it would cost to construct a new exterior living area, you can hang beautiful, durable outdoor curtains or drapes around your existing covered patio or deck, pergola or gazebo to instantly create a private and comfortable backyard room. Many home owners will find that outdoor curtains are the ideal solution for their backyard living space.

Backyard Fun, Outdoor Entertaining, Swing Sets & Play

Three Swing Set Upgrades That Keep Kids Interested in Backyard Play

Comment

Heavy Duty Scoop Slide

The backyard swing set you bought for your kids when they were small was probably filled with challenging and fun equipment just right for their age and size. Bucket swings for safety, a short ladder leading to a scoop slide, and maybe even a club house for hours of pretend play. As kids grow older, though, their ideas about what’s fun and challenging evolve. Making sure that the backyard swing set doesn’t become an unused eyesore means keeping up with your children’s changing interests and abilities. By updating the swing set periodically with equipment and accessories that meet your kids’ current needs, you can ensure that the swing set continues to appeal to your kids over the course of many years.

Alternative Swings

Swings are an affordable place to start when it comes to updating a swing set’s accessories. If you haven’t done so already, swap out the bucket swing or half-bucket swing with a traditional belt swing or two. The belt swing is a standard “big kid” swing that will continue to interest kids as they grow. Don’t stop there, though. Swings come in all shapes and styles, and a little variety adds a lot of appeal to a backyard swing set.

Some of the more popular alternative swings include tire swings and disc swings. Kids like that these two swings move in any and every direction, rather than just back and forth. Kids also like the tire swing for its ability to hold two or more friends, which brings an increasingly social and cooperative element to the activity of swinging. Glider swings are another fun alternative to standard swings. Glider swings seat two people, back to back, who work as a team to keep the swing flying high. Finally, older kids and even adults can enjoy a wooden chair swing. A chair swing attaches to the swing set in the same way as any other kind of traditional swing, and it offers a relaxing way to swing gently while chatting with a friend or reading a book.

Slides

Swing sets generally come with a standard scoop slide, which is straight, smooth, and adequately thrilling for little ones. As kids get older, though, they tend to prefer a more exhilarating ride. Replacing your original slide for a spiral slide can offer that extra bit of thrill to older kids. Spiral slides are often completely enclosed tubes, too, similar to what you find on commercial or public playgrounds. The enclosed spiral brings an additional measure of excitement to the sliding experience.

Climbing Accessories

Climbing equipment offers growing kids a fun way to challenge their bodies’ developing abilities. While not usually appropriate for young children, climbing accessories help older kids gain confidence, strengthen muscles, and refine gross motor and motor planning skills. Monkey bars may be the most common type of climbing accessory found on standard swing sets, but they can be added to an existing swing set that doesn’t already have them. Rope ladders and rock wall climbing kits are available, too, and are exceptionally appealing to adventurous kids.

Updating the backyard swing set to meet the changing abilities and interests of your growing kids can be as easy as replacing the existing swings and slide and adding climbing features more suited to older kids. Making small but meaningful changes over time will not only encourage years of continued interest by your kids, but will also reinforce the value of your initial investment in the swing set.