Summer seems to make everything better – even food tastes fresher and more exciting in the summer months. There’s nothing better than organising dinner parties during the summer. Everyone is in a good mood, you got plenty of produce available for some stunning summer recipes and the world is full of exciting decorating ideas for the dining area.
If you are looking for a bit inspiration, here are some of the best summer dining ideas for this season of love and laughter.
Outdoor summer dining ideas
Summer warmth, of course, makes it easy to enjoy food out in the open. It’s extremely satisfying to fire up the grill and sit around the table sipping a quality wine while the food cooks. So, how to create a great summer dining experience outdoors?
First, you need to invest in good furniture. Summer won’t just be sunshine and rainbows so it’s important your furniture is sturdy and durable. You also need it to fit your space. Measure your patio or garden area carefully to ensure your table doesn’t end up filling the whole space. Now, metallic furniture is a superb choice for gardens. You can soften them up with accessories.
Now, when you are eating, you might not want to sit directly in the sunlight. If your patio is not roofed, then you should get a structure to cover the dining area if needed. This could just be a large dining table umbrella attached in the middle of the table. A wooden umbrella would look stunning in any space. You can then attach outdoor lighting to it – such as fairy lights around the roof.
In terms of accessories, you want to add softer fabrics for diners to enjoy comfort. Have a large trunk outdoors or indoors where you can place the furnishings if the weather gets bad or when you’re not using the dining area. Individual blankets add a personalised touch to your evening dinner parties and ensure you can all sit outdoors enjoying the food under the stars.
Indoor summer dining ideas
Of course, you don’t just need to focus on decorating your outdoor area. There are plenty of ways to bring the summer sun indoors as well.
If you are ready to buy new furniture, then bright summer colours work beautifully in the dining room. Combine a white wooden table with bright yellow chairs, for example. Another great furniture colour for the summer is green – Pantene’s colour of the year in 2017.
There’s also plenty of combining of different materials. For instance, you could have a wooden table and match it with leather chairs. You can also soften a metallic table with wooden dining chairs.
The lighting solution in your dining area plays a big role in the summer. You want to opt for natural light as much as possible. When you need to turn on the lights, use a warm pendant with light bulbs that emit soft, orange-like glow. This creates an illusion of the sunset.
In the indoor dining room, you won’t need to use as much soft furnishings. Indeed, the trend currently is to leave the table bare, for example. You don’t need to use a tablecloth. If you want, you could pick bamboo placemats in a bright colour such as the yellow or the green.
The best summer dinnerware choices
Whether you eat inside or outside, the dinnerware can follow the same trends. The two hottest picks for the summer are simple glassware options and rustic, copper dinnerware. The two materials work as a combination as well.
You could opt for rustic coloured plates and pair them with simplistic cutlery. For the glasses, opt for timeless glassware and remember to pick the right types of glasses for different drinks. In terms of serving plates and cups, you want to have a combination of copper items and glassware. A classic wine carafe with copper bowls for serving the food will look stunning.
Overall, don’t be too afraid to mix and match different materials. You could also pair wooden dinnerware with metal or opt for wooden and ceramic pieces. As mentioned, different shades of copper are still popular, but you could also pick terracotta dinnerware for a trendy finish.
Make the most of your shopping
Renewing your dining room or creating an inviting patio dining room experience might seem like an expensive venture. But as the above ideas show, it’s not just about the furniture. You can simply use the accessories and the dinnerware to add a refreshing touch to your summer.
Furthermore, now is actually a great time to go shopping. All major retailers have tons of savings to be made across departments. Leekes.co.uk has a number of great offers in furniture and home furnishings alike. If you shop around and use vouchers, your new summer dining room won’t end up breaking the budget.
So, take inspiration from the above ideas and add a bit of magic to your summer dining!
