Your patio could be so much more than a place to store patio furniture. Here are the loveliest ways to enjoy this outdoor space all summer long.
You’re lucky enough to have a patio, but are you smart enough to use it? Patios are some of the most criminally underused areas in homes, and we’re here to change that. The weather is warming up now, so read on to explore the loveliest ways to enjoy your patio this summer.
1. Host a Backyard BBQ Night
Who doesn’t love an excuse to eat and socialize? That’s the magic of a BBQ night. These events have a loose, easy energy that indoor dinner parties don’t. Nobody’s worried about coasters, the kids can run around, a little charr is no big deal, and the summer breeze puts everyone in a good mood.
A backyard BBQ is one of those summer rituals that people love, and you can make one happen! Just pick a day, text some friends or neighbors, ask for people to bring side dishes, and fire up the grill.
2. Claim a Morning Reading Spot
If you’re someone who has trouble slowing down, a morning reading habit on the patio could be just what you need. The early part of the day, before the heat kicks in and before anyone needs anything from you, is some of the best outdoor time summer has to offer.
Make your coffee, pull a comfortable chair into a shaded corner, and crack open that book you’ve been putting off. Even thirty minutes of quiet reading outside before the day gets going will set a positive tone for everything that follows.
3. Try Planter Gardening
You don’t need to commit to a whole garden bed setup to start growing herbs and other tasty produce. If you want to exercise your green thumb, just start with some container plants on your patio.
Summer is the perfect time to get the ball rolling on this activity. Go to your local nursery and pick up some baby plants that are forgiving, fast-growing, and useful. Some ideas include mint, basil, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and wild strawberries. All you have to do afterward is keep the plant watered and adequately shaded. Eventually, you’ll pick something off it and eat it, and it will taste incredible because you grew it yourself.
4. Paint or Sketch Outdoors
If you’ve ever wanted to try painting, your patio is the perfect low-stakes place to start. You don’t need expensive supplies, and you certainly don’t need to be good at it. All you need is your medium of choice (watercolor, acrylic, or graphite) and some all-purpose art paper.
Painting on your patio gives you the advantage of endless inspiration. After all, you just have to paint or draw whatever’s in front of you, whether that’s the garden, the fence, a plant pot, or the neighbor’s cat perched on the wall. When you sketch and paint outdoors, you’ll start admiring your beautiful outdoor space instead of just noticing it.
5. Eat Breakfast Outside
Dinner gets all the attention when it comes to outdoor meals, but breakfast on the patio might actually be better. Whatever you’d eat inside will taste even more delicious with a view of the backyard.
Treat this as calm solo time that you use to simultaneously nourish your body and mind before you attend to the rest of the day. Trust us—you won’t be able to enjoy your scrambled eggs indoors as much ever again.
6. Set Up an Outdoor Movie Night
A patio movie night takes about 20 minutes to set up, and, like the BBQ, is a social event your friends and family won’t want to turn down. A portable projector and a white bedsheet are the main ingredients. Add a Bluetooth speaker for sound, drag out some blankets and cushions, and you’ve got a proper outdoor cinema. There’s something about watching a movie under the open sky that makes even familiar films feel different.
7. Play Patio Games With the Whole Family
Another great social activity to enjoy on your patio is a yard game with the whole family. Your options abound, including cornhole, bocce, giant Jenga, card games at the table, a simple game of catch, soccer if your yard is big enough, and so on. Patio games don’t need to be elaborate to be super fun, and they bring people closer in a way that sitting around talking can’t.
Plus, if you or someone else in your family has kids, patio game time is some of the best unstructured time you can give children. Even if it’s adults only, we promise that everyone will be grinning and stirred up by some friendly competition by the end of the night.
8. Do Your Workouts Outside
Whatever your exercise routine looks like, most of it can move outside in summer. Bodyweight workouts, stretching, resistance band exercises, jump rope—all of it works on a patio or in a small patch of backyard. Yoga, in particular, is a totally different, more grounding experience on the patio in the morning than it is in your living room.
Exercising outside will make your brain happy and give you something to feel great about for the rest of your day. Moreover, finishing a workout and immediately being able to sit in your outdoor chair with a cold drink is one of summer’s better small pleasures.
Just be cautious because the summer sun will hit you harder when your body’s internal temperature is already elevated due to exercise. To be safe, make sure to do cardio-based workouts in the shade. If your patio doesn’t already have a shade structure, you can’t go wrong installing a louvered patio cover to make workouts and all other times on your patio a bit cooler.
9. Host a Slow Evening With No Agenda
Not every patio gathering needs a reason. Sometimes, the best one is just because you want to unwind with your favorite people.
So the next time you have a free evening and a few people to call, invite them over to your patio. You all can chill and chat until the sun sets on another perfect summer day.
Get Outside and Get Started
You’ve got a whole beautiful season ahead of you and a patio that’s ready for it. These nine lovely ways to enjoy your patio this summer will get you and your loved ones outside and enjoying the amazing amenity that is your patio. Soon, your patio will stop being background scenery and start being one of your favorite places to be.