When we renovated our house, I was devastated to see the back yard completely eaten up by our reno plans. We do have a small courtyard, but no actual back yard. It was a hard choice to make but with the house and block being so small, we really had no other. Luckily, we are not completely without a back yard…
Believe it or not, my brother lives next door to us, and his house has a lovely little backyard, complete with hills hoist and veggie patch. Hello Australiana! I’ve had a hankering to get out there and have a little picnic for a while, and a few weeks ago I finally got my chance – the day was surprisingly warm so it felt wrong to be indoors. We partnered with NESCAFÉ Gold on the launch of its new café inspired sachet coffee range to put together this simple but festive affair, and share with you a few tips and tricks for having your own!
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1. Lay down a rug
It might come as no surprise that my first tip is to lay down a rug… I mean, that’s pretty much my tip for all rooms, spaces and anywhere really. I usually talk about how to bring the outside in (cue, lots of plants!) but in this case we’re trying to bring a little bit of comfort to the outdoors, so essentially bringing the inside out. And it starts with a rug! Obviously you want a fairly hardwearing rug, or one like this that has a protective coating on the bottom. This one that I got a while ago form Adairs is perfect.
2. Add a low table
So you COULD eat on your lap and laze around. But if you want to take it up a notch, a low table, such as a coffee table, is where it’s at. It turns what would be a casual, and lets be honest, uncomfortable affair into something you would be happy to stay at all day.
3. Make it comfy
More is more when it comes to cushions… And this is especially true for a backyard picnic. And by laying down a rug you don’t have to worry too much about ruining your cushions! We added a few DIY mudcloth ones and a few of my favourite cactus silk cushions. How pretty are they?
4. Set up some platters
You know how much I love a platter, and they are absolutely perfect for the backyard. And you know what? They’re not even that hard to put together! For a breakfast one, simply grab a chopping board, add some fruit, cheese, pastries, jams bread and you’ve got a delicious (and easy) spread!
5. Finally.. add the perfect coffee!
Finally, the absolute icing on the cake, a yummy coffee. The perfect on-the-go or in my case, in-the-backyard option, NESCAFÉ Gold. The new NESCAFÉ Gold café inspired coffee sachet range is my choice – it’s so rich and frothy. There’s also lots of flavour options – two cappuccino – Cappuccino Original and Cappuccino Intense – and two flavoured options – Crème Brulee Latte and Roasted Hazelnut Mocha. They’re so easy to make, just using some hot water.
And there you have it, the perfect little spread that was pretty simple to put together. Just cross your fingers it doesn’t rain!
This post is in collaboration with NESCAFÉ. Thanks to Lillie for helping me!
