Five Tips for Easy Summer Entertaining

Hooray for warm sunshine!

​     For many of us, Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of Summer. This is the start of a season full of outdoor gatherings with family and friends. In my family, we go camping, to the beach, and take turns hosting outdoor meals at each other’s homes.

     It’s all too easy to accumulate packages of disposable cups, plates, and cutlery. We’re at the store before the big weekend and think, “Hmmm…do we have enough forks? Did we finish that last package of plastic cups? When we get home, we find there were drawers and cupboards stuffed with these disposables: half-opened, mixed, and scattered around. As you can imagine, this habit can get pricey if you host often. What’s more, all these extras awkwardly take up precious space, both in our cabinets and as excess waste in the landfills.

     I recently worked with a woman who enjoys hosting cookouts in her beautiful outdoor entertainment space. She wanted to organize her kitchen as soon as possible. The warm weather was approaching and her house was the go-to for parties. The goal was to make entertaining less overwhelming and figure out a simple system to make set-up and clean-up easier. While sorting, we came to her built-in trash and recycling drawer full of the entertaining disposables I mentioned. She wanted to empty the bins, open up floor space, and use the drawer for the intended purpose. ​

​    Instead of continuing to use disposables, I suggested acquiring a set of re-usable party ware. She had some pieces already, and bought the rest to create a cute, colorful entertaining set. There happened to be an appropriately sized container on hand that made a wonderful home for all the pieces, and it fit snugly into the hall closet. Now, what she needs for events is always there: no more last-minute guess work on what supplies are needed, and no more overflowing trash barrels sitting next to the picnic tables.

     As for the washing up, I borrowed a little idea from my days working at a Montessori school to keep it simple. She would place a bin with hot soapy water on a table next to a trash can. Guests would scrape their scraps into the can and put their dishes into the soapy water. At the end of the night, the party host could simply pour out the water, and toss the dishes into the dishwasher - the guests did the rinsing!

​Here are a few considerations if you’d like to try this out:

• Estimate how many of each item you need - what’s the biggest party you host? It wouldn’t hurt to purchase 2-3 extra pieces.
• When shopping, look for items that are dishwasher safe to aid in making clean up easier. Stackable items will fit together more compactly and take up less space as well.
• Once you’ve gathered your supplies, acquire an appropriately sized bin to store everything, rather than take up precious cupboard space. If your kitchen or pantry is large enough to accommodate everything, go for it! Otherwise, get creative on where it can go, but make sure it’s easily accessible.
• After each party, make it a habit to store all of your dishware back in the bin. You’ll have your supplies on hand for the rest of the season and years to come.
• As always, we encourage you to use what you have, find items secondhand, share with nearby friends and family if you can make it work. And don’t worry about matching. Mixed patterns and colors are interesting, and your friends aren’t there to comment on whether your stuff belongs in a magazine - they’re just there to have a good time!

     Let us know - do you entertain and have a system that works well? Are you inspired to give it a try? We’d love to see photos and learn new ideas, feel free to comment below or send us a message!

Happy hosting!
Elena