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Posts tagged “entertaining”

LA House Tour Roundup: Inviting Outdoor Decks

Maria's "Oh So You" BungalowA friend of ours has a great patio, perfect for entertaining. During the warm weather (which in Los Angeles can be three-quarters of the year), it's not unusual for the qu...

Dress For Dinner Napkins Makes Any Meal a Formal Affair

File this one under "silly, but amusing". Yeah, they're exactly what they look like: paper napkins with ties printed on them (come on, where's the bolo and bow tie options?). These could be fun for yo...

Look! DIY Outdoor Dining

Eating, having a drink, hanging out with friends, it's all made even better when you can do it outdoors. It doesn't take a sprawling deck and fancy lighting to make it happen. Check out this awesome...

Inspiration: AlFresco Triple Tray Pedestal

In the garden or on the deck, dining is an informal affair and an extra guest or two is not unusual. Finding room for everyone along with large platters of food, drinks, plates and cutlery can be cha...

Off-Duty Dining Room?

What does your dining area look like when it's not in use? We usually keep a few stacks of books and a vase of fresh flowers on our table to keep the space inviting. Sure, we make good use of the dini...

Look! DIY Pergola in Echo Park

ATLA reader David wanted to share his DIY outdoor summertime solution inspired by one of our past posts: "I was inspired from a pic you guys had posted of a 4 poled pergola with a nice fabric. Well m...

Inspiration: Birdcages and Battery Powered Candles
O at Home Summer 2008

With the warm weather upon us, it's prime time to get our patio in shape for entertaining. We've recently been looking into ways to add light underneath our patio umbrella. We love the look of fairy l...

Red Lanterns for Outside

Maybe it's the pagoda umbrellas, but we remembered that we had wanted to try out some red lanterns in the garden to throw off a moody (and flattering!) glow that will still feel festive and fun....

Fishs Eddy Floorplan Plates

Haha, we love the tagline for these plates, "Why rent when you can own?" Serve appetizers on your studio sized platters, hor'douvres on the railroad layout tray, and the main course on the penthouse p...

Outdoor Spaces from Elysian Landscapes

Especially in LA where the threat of rain is negligible you can use outdoor space to create extra 'rooms' like the one above. We love the landscape design from LA based Elysian Landscapes. Jump belo...

Grill Green This Summer

We're just about to replace our dying Weber Smokey Joe grill with something a bit more substantial for our summer grilling needs (we're torn between the Big Green Egg, the classic Weber One-Touch with...

Outdoor Blanket from Ballard Designs

Whether for a beach party at Zuma or at an outdoor screening at the Holllywood Cemetery, a good picnic blanket's one of the necessities of summertime in Los Angeles. If you don't have one, it's time ...

Baja BBQ Firepack by Mike and Maaike

Okay Angelenos, it's grillin' time again. And with it, one of the dilemmas of outdoor cooking. Oh yes siree, we love our outdoor eatin', but oh do we we hate hate hate the subtle taste of lighter fl...

Recycled Sunrise Rug from Viva Terra

Still looking for an outdoor rug to pull together your outdoor space? Or just need a rug for a high traffic area? The Sunrise Rug from Viva Terra is made out of recycled plastic which means it'll be...

Being a Good Houseguest, Part 2: Thank You Flowers from 1 800 Flowers.com

Although they say that “home is the place that when you get there, they have to take you in,” after staying with my mother during ICFF, I wanted to take Laure's advice and be a good house guest an...

LA Good Questions: How to Set Up an (Outdoor) Party?

We're hosting a birthday/Memorial Day party this weekend (along with three out-of-town houseguests! Eek!), and one of the things that we're struggling with is coming up with a good layout for backyard...

ICFF: Gandia Blasco Pergolas

In a town where outdoor entertaining's the rule rather the exception and the sun can be a force to be reckoned with (we hear we missed a killer heatwave this weekend!), a pergola's a welcome, even nec...

ICFF day one: FROSINE Glasses by Michelle Ivankovic for UMBRA

As Laure and Abby mentioned, the AT:LA team, joined with the other editors from AT, have been perusing the aisles of ICFF this weekend. Like Abby posted, we noticed a lot of designers utilizing found ...

Kartell's Folding Bar Cart

Last week, Gregory blogged a folding grill. To complete your summertime entertaining kit, pair it with this folding bar cart and quench your guest's thirst while the smell of barbequed food whets the...

Notebook Sized Flat-Folding BBQ Grill

We can see it now: a TV advertisement spoofing the Apple MacBook Air ad. But instead of pulling out a laptop from a slim envelope, the actor will pull out one of these compact, folding barbecue grills...

Sun Melamine Serveware at West Elm

We've been getting an early taste of summer here in So Cal the past couple days. And like Laure mentioned yesterday, we've got some outdoor entertaining on the mind. We just spotted this fun Sun servi...

Battery Operated Hanging Lanterns

It promises to be warm this weekend and Laure's post on lanterns reignited our thoughts of using them to light an outdoor party. Since we don't have any electrical outlets available to us outside (an...

Outdoor Lighting Idea

One of the great parts about summer is that if you have any garden or balcony at all, your living space can expand outside into the warm nights. We love the ambiance created by all these hanging red ...

How To...Clean Up After a House Party (Hungover, that is)

Unnnhhh. This past weekend's festivities has left us with a massive hangover and a massively dirty house (the kitchen, in particular). After everyone left, we surveyed the damage: cups, bottles, plat...

A Multi-Purpose Room

We have a back house attached to our garage that's barely been used since we've lived here. Since it doesn't have a bathroom, it doesn't lend itself well to being a guest house. So, we've been debat...

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