• Try making an outdoor fireplace the center of your space.fireplace image by Joseph Pierce from Fotolia.com
  
  During the warmer summer months, you're bound to invite friends over for an outdoor party, celebration or another type of event. After spending hours working on your landscaping and getting everything in the right place, you want your guests to appreciate your hard work. The last thing you need is for your guests to have trouble finding a seat, to feel uncomfortable or to stand around in silence. Unfortunately, if you don't spend some time coming up with ideas for decorating your outdoor area, you might encounter those problems.
  
  

Minimal Color

• Decorate your outdoor space with only minimal color, letting your flowers and landscaping shine. Use seating in neutral shades such as tan, beige and even black; or opt for white, but only if you don't have to worry about kids. Add a few bright pops or splashes of colors around the seating area by adding brightly colored table settings or even throw pillows. Add a few other colorful decorations to the space, such as a vase of fresh flowers in the center of your table. Using neutral colors with only a few other colors makes the space look bigger and makes it look as though you spent more money than you did.
  
  

Down-home Decorating

• Make a wood- or gas-burning outdoor fireplace the center of your outdoor entertaining area. Arrange chairs around the space, using wicker baskets or small tables in between each chair, which gives your guests a place to put their drinks and provides extra storage. When you throw a party, fill the baskets with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars, and put sticks next to the baskets so your guests can make their own desserts over the fireplace. It shows your guests where they'll be sitting for most of the night and also gives you a quiet spot to relax after the party.
  
  

Tiki Party

• Use a tiki-style bar as the center of your outdoor entertaining area. Tiki bars have bamboo decorations on the bar itself, and space behind the bar for storing dishes, bottles and other entertaining accessories, while the front has space for additional seating. Arrange tiki torches to not only keep away bugs and provide extra lighting, but also to differentiate between the different spaces. Use torches to create a path through the backyard, leading guests from the back door to the entertaining area. Drape grass skirts and flowered leis around the backyard, just to add more color to your area.