Summer outdoor entertaining is best spent with friends, neighbors and good food. The kids are outside playing in the yard, most likely catching fireflies. The days are longer and the mornings are slower.

Decorating your patio, screened-in porch, or poolside deck should evoke a casual feeling. Using neutral colors and wood tones brings that sense of well being. Black and white is also a great monochromatic color palette. The Katrina & Co. Shoppe Norden dishes are a best seller great for both indoor/outdoor. Choose dinnerware and serving ware that are dishwasher safe and can be used all year long. We live on the coast of North Carolina so entertaining lasts long into November here.

With an indoor/outdoor space like our client's screened-in porch, we were able to bring some indoor elements to the outside. She has a beautiful stone fireplace, which we decorated by putting cutting boards and a boxwood above the mantle. Boxwood’s love the humidity and will thrive as long as they are not in direct sunlight. The cutting boards will also survive a screened in porch.

Let nature inspire your summer outdoor entertaining

Opt for more natural materials, lines, and textures. Introduce greenery to add pops of color, use sprigs of fresh herbs to mark a place setting, or bring out elements from some of your favorite beach memories by scattering shells throughout the tablescape.