Outdoor Living Ideas

Is your backyard swimming pool as much for entertaining adults as it is for children? Or maybe you’d like it to be? This floating party table (called the “AquaPub”), complete with attached floating chairs, can give the adults a place to hang out and have a drink.

I remember when I was down in Cancun, I got a big kick out of the swimming pool bar. You could get your pina colada and sit at the bar in the water and drink it. Or you could take your beverage and toodle around the pool. Though this table doesn’t come with a complete bar, it would at least give you some place to sit and enjoy your beverages in between sun bathing and chatting with friends and family.

The party table comes with 6 chairs, 6 drink holders, and 2 removable ice trays so you can keep drinks and snacks cold. The AquaPub is available via Vacation Gadget Man for $125.

Here’s an accessory for your backyard swimming pool. Okay, maybe I’d call it more of a toy than an accessory, because it looks like it’d be fun to play with. The motorized pool lounger gives you a couple of joysticks to drive yourself around the water without going through all the effort of kicking or paddling. Want to see what’s going on over in the deep end? Just tap the joystick. Oops, you got too close to the diving area. No problem. Another tap puts you in reverse. A motorized pool lounger is probably the epitome of laziness, but who cares? It’s not like you’re flopping down on a pool toy in order to get a workout anyway.

The lounger is available from Vacation Gadgets for $130 plus shipping.

I’m not sure birds really care what their birdhouse looks like, so long as it’s warm, dry, and out of the wind (and there’s some decent grub nearby), but this acorn-shaped dwelling is sure to make your human guests smile. Much less of an eye sore than some of the drab plastic feeders and birdhouses you can pick up at Wal-mart or other unimaginative stores, this cast-porcelain acorn would be a fun addition to your outdoor living space.

The $40 birdhouse is “a charming, woodsy addition to your yard that will stand up to nature’s worst year after year, even in rugged northern climates.” This is thanks to a durable fired-enamel finish. Meant to hang from a branch, the acorn house comes with two cords and swivel clips for stability.

Available at Plow & Hearth

You spent the spring and the summer creating the perfect garden, complete with a seating area where you can bask in the back-to-nature feel surrounding you. The only problem? The neighbor’s second story back deck and kitchen window look right out over your yard. It’s hard to feel relaxed when your privacy is in question. And nude sun-bathing is right out. That is unless you fence yourself off a bit.

A fence can be purely functional, but as long as you’re spending money, why not get something that is as much a piece of art as your garden? I love the bamboo fence panels from Master Garden Products. They come in several different designs and sizes made up of various patterns. The panels shown here feature vertical and horizontal bamboo accented with eye-catching black bamboo lattices on the top. The fence panels provide privacy, but they’re also attractive enough to make them feel like a natural extension of the garden.

Master Garden Products