With warmer weather comes new entertaining opportunities. We’re nearing that time of year where we can step into the sun and move the parties outdoors. Here are some fun and unique ways to host a get-together for your friends and family.

Image courtesy of grillnation.com

The Classic BBQ

Something I look forward to every year is summer barbecues. They can be as simple as you want and you’re sure to have a good time. All you need is a good group of friends and a few patties on the grill. Although this is a very simple way to gather a group, there are some things you may want to take into consideration to make your BBQ a success:

• Plan ahead.  Get your patio/deck clean and organized. Marinate your meat 24 hours in advance (you will definitely notice a difference from the burgers you threw straight onto the grill).
• Don’t play around with your meat! More often than not, people will move their burgers around on the grill and flip them multiple times. Resist your temptation to look important at the grill! Place your patties down, rotate them once 90 degrees, flip them and rotate 90 degrees again. That way it will lock in the flavour and you’ll get those perfect criss-crossed grill marks.
• Be food safe. If you’re cooking up some chicken burgers make sure to cook them thoroughly and not to cross-contaminate. Nobody will be raving about your BBQ if anyone left with salmonella poisoning.

Image courtesy of examiner.com

Theme Party

Who can resist a theme party? I definitely can’t… in my opinion, if you’re going to have a theme to your get-together, you might as well go all out. Everything from the food to the drinks and the decorations. Have a Texas BBQ, throw a black tie outdoor dinner party, host a tiki luau, a patriotic Canada Day party… there are tons of different themes to choose from. You might think that it would cost you an arm and a leg but a quick trip to the dollar store may be all you need.

Image courtesy of picnic-basket.com

Outdoor Party Games

Simply enjoying your friends’ company is great, but it can also be fun to have everyone join in on some games. This is a great idea if you’ve invited a variety of people that may not all know each other. Here are some of my favourites:

• Water balloon dodgeball: it’s played exactly how it sounds. The team with the last person dry wins!
• Toilet paper mummies: form groups and wrap someone completely in toilet paper as quickly as possible.
• Three-legged soccer: like a three-legged race, tie two people’s legs together. Each pair acts as one player and can only kick the ball with the feet that are joined.

These are some of my favourite outdoor party ideas. What are yours?

Last November we held our first ever “Win a Private Chef” contest.  Chef Dale MacKay, winner of Food Networks Top Chef Canada cooked a gourmet feast for our winner Pamela, her family and their close friends in her Port Moody, BC home this past Sunday!

Here is a note we received from Pamela: “It all came together so beautifully, the table was grand, the guests decked out in Mad Men garb, and Dale and his sous chef Doug were lovely. I was in shock all night, that they were in my kitchen working their magic, serving us, clearing dishes, and even washed dishes!!”

Pamela felt her 1960′s home would come to life with a semi formal ‘Mad Men’ theme for the guests, and decor . Unknown to her at the time the date was set, the dinner party fell on the same night the hit TV show, “Mad Men” season premiered.

Pamela also received Urban Barn dining accessories and an entire table setting. The table looked gorgeous!

The starters included a beet tartar with mascarpone and preserved lemon (left) and a tuna tartar with cucumber and green onion (right).

The first course was a delicious Dungeness crab salad with avocado and Mexican spiced pineapple.

For the second course, guests enjoyed a butternut squash soup with parmesan and button mushrooms.

The third was a duck confit leg with white cocoa beans and Shimeji mushrooms.

Dessert was a simple but exquisite dried fruits and nuts paired with a chocolate fondant topped with caramel and a hazelnut-nougetine ice cream.

Road 13 provided delicious wines to pair with each course!

We are so happy that Pamela and her friends enjoyed their night.

We’d like to give a special thanks to:

Yinger Wong for his beautiful photography: http://www.yingerdesign.com/

Chef Dale MacKay: http://www.ensemblerestaurant.com/

The results are in! The custom chair that reigned supreme in the Custom Chairity Competition was Maria Killam’s contemporary, fresh and on-trend Groove Chair. And it can be all yours if you place a bid. If that wasn’t your favourite not to worry because all of the blogger designed chairs are up for auction with the proceeds going towards five very worthy charities.

Don’t delay as the auction only lasts for one week. The starting bid is amazingly low at just $250 (shipping is included). All five chairs are valued at up to $1200.

Custom Chair by Maria Killam – proceeds to World Vision	Custom Chair by Christine Da Costa – proceeds to Jays Care Foundation
Custom Chair by Kim Johnson – proceeds to Country Cat Rescue	Custom Chair by Nyla Free – proceeds to Neonatal ICU at Rockyview General Hospital
Custom Chair by Meredith Heron – proceeds to Arthritis Society of Canada

The BC Home & Garden Show was this past week. If you didn’t get a chance to check it out I can tell you that it was a great show! There was tons to see and do and Urban Barn was thrilled to be a big part of the event. You could see our products displayed in our booth or in the Karoleena “Kitsilano” Dream Home. The home was gorgeous (definitely the most visited area of all) and we were fortunate enough to be the furniture sponsor!

We featured a lot of brand new products that have or will soon be hitting stores. We also featured some of our customer favourites. Shown below is the Manhattan Sofa in a custom “Bella White” fabric. It looked very sharp with a mix of coral accent cushions.

A very popular piece from our booth was the Ella Bed in a custom “Posh Purple” (shown below). The bedroom set-up was very feminine and pretty. I lost track of how many young girls wanted this bed for their room.

The most asked about piece by far was our new Cartwright Dining Table (shown above). Made of solid pine wood, sandblasted and finished in grey, this piece is modern rustic at its best. The collection also includes a dining chair, glass cabinet and sideboard, and is arriving in our stores now!

Coming up soon is the National Home Show in Toronto (March 16-25). We will be there and hope to see you!

If you’ve ever tried to hang multiple pictures you can understand how frustrating it can be. Finding the right supplies and ensuring that everything is level can be difficult. Design expert, Ramsin Khachi shows us on the Marilyn Denis Show how you can do this quite easily! Take a look at this video for some expert tips. You’ll also notice a couple Urban Barn products like the Reflection Mirror and the Dash Frames.

Our Transform Your Walls Sale starts today! Save 25% on all wall art including sale items. Click Here to see what’s on sale.

I’ve never been one to take Valentine’s Day too seriously, but it’s nice to do something special for your partner every once in a while. There are the traditional gifts: jewellery, flowers and chocolates… why not try surprising them with something different? February 14th could be the perfect time to cuddle up on the Nest Chair. This chair is big and comfy – fit for two! Get it sooner by ordering the Furniture Faster model (shown below in Bella Grey) or customize it to match the taste of that special someone.

Who says furniture can only have one use? When looking at console tables you may only be planning to use one in your living room or in your entryway. Ever thought of using it for something else? Seen here in Chatelaine, they’ve used the Settler Console Table for storage and display in the kitchen. Creative ideas like this are what make your home unique. What are some inventive uses you’ve come up with?

We were thrilled to be included as part of the Holiday Gift Ideas special on The Marilyn Denis Show.  Watch the clip for some fantastic last-minute gift ideas!

We’ve got tons of great gifts in stores right now. Check out this post to see our accents buyer Stacey’s favourites, and click here to see even more ideas!

Do you have all your shopping done yet?