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Summer is just around the corner, and if you are lucky enough to live in a house with a private backyard (or perhaps a penthouse with a roof garden), you know what this means. If yours is the largest backyard in your group of friends, or the one with the best view, you will be automatically designated the host of the official summer gathering space. Although this is all well and good, it also implies a lot of responsibility! Throwing successful outdoor get-togethers depends on several things: food and drinks, vibe, music, the crowd, and last but certainly not least, outdoor furniture and decor. We notice that many people often don't devote the same thought and attention to detail to their domestic outdoor space compared to other indoor spaces. Indeed, a terrace or a backyard may not need the same amount of designer furniture and decor as, say, a bedroom, a living room, or a kitchen. However, choosing the right pieces can be the difference between hosting a gathering where people are just standing around having beers in a backyard and hosting a gathering where more interesting and engaging social dynamics are generated with the help of classy and tasteful furniture. If you are looking for the latter, AJAR’s catalogue of Spanish furniture has you covered. With this in mind, we bring you three steps to make your backyard into the ultimate summer gathering space. Step 1: Play Your guests have just arrived, it's still daytime, and there is a lot of energy to burn (or perhaps ice to break). What better way to do this than with a friendly foosball or pool game? RS Barcelona has a foosball table which we have already mentioned in previous blog posts (because we enjoy it so much!). Besides the indoor versions, the RS2 foosball table also comes in an outdoors stainless steel version which is completely weatherproof. Also, in addition to the different colours available, the RS2 is fully customisable: you can choose everything, from player uniforms and lineups to the colour of the playing field. There is even a dining version that comes with a 1cm tempered glass tabletop, in case you would like it to double as a dining table. Another thrilling option from RS Barcelona is the Diagonal pool table, designed by Yonoh. We are not exaggerating when we say that this piece is truly unique. How often do you come across a fully weatherproof outdoors pool table? But this is just half of the story. The Diagonal table manages to do this while displaying the elegant design and amazing attention to detail that characterizes all of RS Barcelona’s designer outdoor furniture. The board is made from a single fiber cement slab, while the structure is made from coated steel and comes in matte black or bright white. The table comes with a protective cover but you can also transform it into a dining table by using the Diagonal wooden top, available in iroko, finish. Talk about versatility! If you are going to use it as a dining table, you will have to get some seats to match. RS Barcelona has several options. However, we think that the Ombra stool with backrest would be a perfect fit due to its design and materials. They are also made from steel, and there are several colour coatings available. Such a unique luxury pool table cannot be paired with any old cue rack. Fortunately enough, RS Barcelona also offers the Diagonal floor cue rack, made from the same materials and available with the same colours as the table and wooden top. It has space for four cues and the 16 balls, along with a lower shelf to put the chalk, shelf, etc. Step 2: Eat It's already a couple of hours into the get-together, snacks have mostly finished and stomachs are starting to rumble. The good news is that you are well equipped for the occasion with a set of classy furniture perfectly suited for the barbeque you have prepared. Several of the Spanish furniture brands in AJAR’s catalogue have amazing design pieces for outdoor dining. However, today we would like to focus on a set of pieces from Viccarbe and Santa & Cole. The Burin round outdoor dining table is an iconic sculptural centerpiece for any outdoor dining setup. Conceived by world-renowned designer Patricia Urquiola, the design of the Burin dining table is a tribute to traditional wood carving techniques, recalling the shape and dimensions of a faceted tree trunk. The heavy appearance of the polyethylene base gracefully contrasts with the lightness of the bevelled tabletop. The Maarten outdoor chair is a perfect match for the Burin dining table. Designed by Victor Carrasco, the Maarten has already established itself as one of Viccarbe’s best selling outdoor furniture pieces. The Maarten is available in a huge range of configurations (with different kinds of bases, materials, and upholsteries), but we believe that the sled base version, paired with high-quality fabric upholstery, is a good choice in this case. If you prefer the seating arrangements that a rectangular table can offer, then Trestle table is what you are looking for. Designed by John Pawson, this is one of those pieces which takes a classic typology (the timber trestle table with V-shaped legs) and carefully strips it from all the unnecessary elements to reach its most distilled or pure version possible. The result is nothing short of an iconic example of designer outdoor furniture. With its rounded and solid geometric shapes,the Season outdoor chair may seem like an unlikely candidate to be paired with the Trestle table. However, once you put them together the contrast works surprisingly well! (Take a look at the Viccarbe webpage to see how they have done it themselves). The Season comes in several colours and finishes, so you can get creative with the colour combinations. Maybe it's already getting dark and you need a portable light source to match your other stylish outdoor furniture. Designed by Spanish design pioneer and veteran Miguel Milà, the Cestita Alubat portable lamp is a designer lamp that we love to recommend for stylish outdoor spaces. It is the latest cable-free and aluminum-built addition to the Cestita (Spanish for “small basket”) family that dates back to 1962. According to Milà, it was that year when he found an abandoned opal globe outside a glass factory in Barcelona and decided to create a lamp with it. The Cestita designer lamp can last up to 24hrs between charges, so it can definitely last for the whole evening. Step 3: Chill Dinner is done and, depending on the mood, it is time to either turn the party up a couple of notches or to spend the rest of the evening relaxing and chatting with your friends. Either way, for this situation perhaps you could use a different kind of designer outdoor furniture that can allow for more laid-back sitting options. Designed by Ramón Esteve for Vondom, the Tablet modular sofa is one of our favourite outdoor luxury sofas. However, it is not precisely a sofa, but rather a set of modules that you can arrange however you like depending on your mood, space, or needs. There are six different types of modules: armless section, chaise lounge armless section, left armrest, right armrest, small ottoman and large ottoman. The range of possible arrangements is enormous (you can see some examples in our website), allowing you to experiment with different setups. An interesting experiment would be to use a different configuration in each get-together and see how this affects the social dynamics between your friends! Besides a sofa for larger gatherings, a couple of sun loungers are always a must for any outdoors lounge space. Whether it be sunbathing next to the pool or just dozing off at sunset, Eugeni Quitllet’s stackable Ibiza sun lounger would be an ideal addition to your outdoor furniture collection. Quitllet’s lounger stands out due to its elegant, streamlined design, which vaguely resembles a skeleton of an undefined sea creature. Furthermore, the Ibiza lounger is entirely made out of recycled plastic, reflecting Quitllet’s environmental concerns. Lastly, plants are always a welcome addition to any outdoor lounge. Vondom’s Suave collection, designed by Marcel Wanders, would offer a nice contrast if paired with any of the two previous examples of designer outdoor furniture. The Suave planters lean more towards classic forms while remaining unmistakably contemporary. Wanders was clearly inspired by the traditional chess-piece-shaped planters that you kind probably find in, say, the gardens of a 17th-century baroque palace. However, the material (polyethylene resin) and matte finish make it suitable for a modern lounge setup. The Suave planters come in different sizes (from 65cm to 1.5m high) which you can combine to suit different kinds of plants. So there you have it. Play, eat, and chill: the three steps that you can follow to turn your backyard into the ultimate get-together with design pieces we have selected from our catalogue of Spanish furniture. If you would like to take a look at more options or request personalised advice, you can book a consultation with us. We are more than happy to help you make the most of your backyard or terrace for the upcoming summer months.

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