Get Ready for Summer Entertaining! (Giveaway ends 7/2/12) | She ...

My family is currently prepping our condo to put up on the market. We desperately want to buy a house. Not only will a house give us the necessarily bedrooms we need, but also a yard. I REALLY want my own yard! I have always dreamed of having my own garden, planting Lilac bushes around my home (I love the scent), having a place for our pets to run around and most especially entertaining. I CANNOT wait to invite family and friends over for barbecues.

Where we live we are not allowed to have barbecues. A few years ago a building burnt down because some fool extinguished a cigarette in a flower pot that contained a dried up flower. Because of that the Fire Marshall banned barbecues. Sigh? I miss my barbecue.

We do have a 12? x 6? balcony. That is our ?yard?. We have a bench, folding chairs, small end tables and faux flowers on our balcony. We also added outdoor carpeting to make it nicer for our pets. Our wooden balcony is very old and you can easily get splinters. I don?t want to risk that with our pets. The outdoor carpeting also protects them from splinters.

When the weather gets warmer we bring all our outdoors stuff out of storage (we have a storage room in the basement). I love putting up my wind chimes and flowers (fake flowers ? I don?t have a ?green thumb?). I also make sure to wipe everything down and make sure the chairs and tables are clean. They can get pretty dirty, and even gross, sitting in storage so long.

Do you want to hear something interesting about outdoor furniture? According to a recent Procter & Gamble (P&G) survey, only 25 percent of consumers clean their grills and only 20 percent of consumers clean their outdoor furniture. Eww!!! The percentage of grills that are not clean grosses me out. I would think you would need to clean it out after each use. That is what we used to do when we were allowed to have our barbecue. I also make sure to clean the furniture so that guests feel comfortable sitting in the chairs (or bench) and placing their drink down on the table. No one wants to look at dirt and grim.

Did you know that keeping your outdoor furniture can also help make them last longer?

Mr. Clean, Bounty and The Home Depot are teaming up to share with you?some great tips and products to help get ready for summer entertaining. Whether you?re planning a backyard barbecue or just freshening up your patio or deck, The Home Depot has the products you?ll need to help you get the most out of your outdoor living space this summer.

Here are a few tips for getting your outdoor area ready for entertaining:

• Maintain Your Outdoor Furniture ? Keep it looking good?all summer
• Inspect your Deck ? Give it good once over -?check for loose nails, bricks, cracked concrete
• Remove the Clutter ? Clean up, power wash, remove?unnecessary items/debris.
• Accessorize ? Add in the little touches (i.e., plants,?outdoor lighting, lanterns, centerpiece)
• Clean your Grill ? Give your grill a clean start this?season.

I think accessories are really important when creating a nice outdoor space. Flowers (fake or real) add a splash of color. Colorful pillows are also a nice touch. Just make sure you can easily wash them if they get dirty.

Wind chimes and colorful spinners also add a bit of whimsy and fun to any outdoor space.

Hopefully this has inspired you to want to clean up and give your outdoor furniture (and grill) a freshen it up for family and friends. Don?t forget to visit Home Depot for all your outdoor furniture cleaning supplies. It?s your one-stop-shop for P&G products including Mr. Clean Outdoor Spray and Mr. Clean Outdoor Pro Magic Eraser (I love the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!). Don?t forget some Bounty paper towels too.

To find a Home Depot near you visit www.HomeDepot.com.

To help encourage you to clean up your outdoor space I have a nice prize package from Home Depot and P&G to give to a lucky reader. The prize package includes:

-???A full-size bottle of Mr. Clean Outdoor Spray ($3.97 retail value)

-???Mr. Clean Outdoor Pro Magic Eraser ($9.97 retail value)

-???One Bounty Paper Towels Roll ($1.97 retail value)

-?? Custom LeatherCraft 2-pocket natural colored canvas The Home Depot apron (.77 retail value).

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on July 2, 2012 at 12:01 AM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail.

To enter leave a comment on this post and tell me what you do to make your outdoor space look nice ? or ? tell me if this post inspired you to want to clean up your outdoor space to make it nice for guests?

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kimberly

*I received free sample products from P&G and Home Depot in exchange for this post. There was no financial compensation. All opinions expressed are my own and are not influeneced in any way.?

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