Enjoy the Season with Autumn “Backyarding”

Westlake Ace Hardware offers fall inspiration to make your backyard a beautiful extension of your home.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 13, 2021) –“Backyarding,” the trend of expanding your living space to the backyard to create inviting outdoor spaces for relaxation, recreation, entertaining and telework, continues to grow in popularity.

As families spent more time at home in the past year and rediscovered the hidden joys and peaceful retreats just a few paces beyond their patio doors, they crafted purposeful outdoor spaces that reflected how they lived their lives. Now that Autumn is upon us, the cooler temperatures signal it’s time to refresh those outdoor living spaces and extend the enjoyment of the season.

Westlake Ace Hardware shares these helpful tips to create an outdoor fall oasis and set the stage for a perfect night of BBQ, s’mores, pumpkin carving, and telling ghost stories around the fire.

Clean and prep: Before decorating an outside area for fall, devote some time to necessary cleanup. First, use a leaf blower to remove fallen leaves, twigs, and other debris. Then, spruce things up with a pressure washer to spray away mold, dust, and spiderwebs from hard surfaces like decks, patios, outdoor furniture, and the sidewalk leading up to your home.

Color it up: Make sure your guests feel welcomed by freshening up containers and entrances. Replace tired summer annuals with fresh and colorful mums, pansies, kale, or ornamental grasses. Many grasses planted in the fall may not be hardy enough to survive the winter, but don’t let that discourage you from planting them. Leave them in the ground until spring; it provides visual interest in a winter landscape and shelter for birds and animals.

Light the night: As the days get shorter, proper lighting can go a long way in maximizing time spent outdoors. Hang string lights along a fence, secure tiki torches along the perimeter, place candles on tables, and use solar-powered pathway lighting to brighten up any outdoor space. Plus, since solar options harness the sun’s light, they are a bright spot on your electric bill, too.

Fire it up: Nothing brings people together like a warm fire! Gather chairs and hay bales around a portable fire pit or the new Solo Stove Grill and bask in the glow of a crackling fire and good friends.

Make it tasty: From savory to sweet, champion grill masters Megan Day and Andy Groneman have created two new dishes that capture the mood of the season Thai Pork Skewers are spicy, easy-to-eat, and so satifsying on an autumn evening. Caramel Apple Cones are the perfect dessert to enjoy around a crackling fire.

Make it cozy: Whether you’re telling ghost stories or projecting your favorite movie on the side of a garage, think of your outdoor space as an extension of your home. Make it comfortable with an outdoor rug, blankets, and plenty of pillows. Don’t forget a Bluetooth speaker, and if you choose to move a TV outside to watch the big game, secure a heavy-duty outdoor extension cord to the ground with either duct tape or metal stakes to prevent unwanted accidents as your guests get up to refresh their apple cider.

About Westlake Ace Hardware

Headquartered in the Kansas City area, 116-year-old Westlake Ace Hardware has been the helpful neighborhood hardware store countless generations have shopped at for power and hand tools, fasteners, paint, plumbing, lawn care, pet, electrical supplies, and BBQ grills and accessories. It has been part of the Ace Hardware Cooperative since 1959, and a wholly-owned Ace subsidiary since 2012.

Westlake currently owns and operates 151 stores in 12 states:

• California (Ace Hardware of Chico, Fresno, La Crescenta, Livermore, Mountain View, Pinole, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Turlock, Van Nuys, West LA, and Woodland)
• Illinois (Buikema’s Ace Hardware)
• Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas (Westlake Ace Hardware)
• North Carolina (Westlake Ace Hardware, Outer Banks Ace Hardware)
• Washington (Dennis Company Ace, North Bend Ace Hardware, Westlake Ace Hardware)