The dry summers of Salt Lake City are perfect for outdoor activities such as trekking through its multiple national parks like the Arches and Bryce Canyon. If you’re not in the outdoor mood, you can always throw a barbecue or pool party from the comfort of your own home. However, your place may still be in spring mode — or worse — untouched since winter. Here’s what you can do to prepare your home for a delightful summer soiree.
Stock Up on the Essentials
A day or two before your event, hit the grocery store for your party essentials. These usually include steak, ribs, and veggies for your grill, good alcohol, decorations, grill fuel, and most importantly; cleaning materials. You’ll end up buying a lot more than your average grocery run, so it’s best to make this a family event and have your significant other and your kids help you out with getting items from each aisle and carrying the bags.
Do Some Basic Grill Maintenance
No summer party is complete without juicy meat and vegetables sizzling on the grill. Start by cleaning the burner and tubes with a damp towel. Then, scoop off all the debris at the bottom with a spatula. Once the bottom is clear of debris, use a wire brush and some soapy water to clean the grates, the interior, and exterior. For charcoal grills, the process is pretty much the same. It’s even easier since you don’t have to scoop up the gunk at the bottom painstakingly. It already has an ash catcher that you can just empty out.
Do Some Light Lawn Care
You don’t want your guests to trip on dead plants or to see unsightly weeds on your yard. Give it some pampering by clearing out thatch and weeds, fertilizing the soil, and mowing the grass until it has a uniform height of about one to four inches. You should also replace any broken or crooked hardscapes to avoid any accidents and keep your landscape looking organized and clean.
Don’t Forget to Tidy Up the Interiors
While summer parties often happen on your patio, the rare instance of rain or sweltering temperatures may force you to take your soiree inside. As such, you need to give your home more than just general cleaning. Your interiors need to catch up with the colors of summer. Replace your sofa pillows and slipcover with cool colors like midnight or Carribean blue. Give your tables a pop of color with a bunch of summer perennial flowers like daylilies, yarrows, and lavender. If you recently had a gas fireplace installed, decorate it with flameless candles or some temporary wall decor, since it will stay dormant this season.
Summer parties aren’t as easy to pull off. Apart from cooking up a storm and entertaining guests, there’s also the cleaning and maintenance work you need to do to ensure that it’s presentable and safe. The elbow grease you put in is worth its weight in gold when you have a memorable and accident-free soiree.
