Alfresco entertainment tips from Sophie Paterson

Sophie Paterson is a high-end interior designer based in Surrey and London who specialises in luxury residential interiors for private clients and developers in the UK and globally. We’re delighted to have collaborated with Sophie and share her top tips for dressing your alfresco dining table.

“When it comes to furnishing a terrace or outdoor area don’t be scared to mix different styles of furniture together in the same way as you would in an interior. The Mauritius range from Bramblecrest combines rustic and contemporary elements - with its chunky rattan and anthracite coloured aluminium frame it can be combined with other materials and collections with a more contemporary and minimalist design or even teak.”

Sophie’s Top Tips

• To add colour and impact to your table or terrace use big ceramic vases with oversized foliage or flower arrangements.

• Add a small sprig of foliage to your place setting and tuck it into the napkin ring - olive foliage is very effective for this.

• When it comes to furnishing a terrace or outdoor area don’t be scared to mix different styles of furniture together in the same way as you would in an interior.

• Create an outside room by dressing your outdoor terrace in the summer months with cushions, solar powered table lamps, throws and decorative pots.

• Use a firepit to create drama and a cosy atmosphere, it really draws everyone to it.

• Use fruit as decoration - blue and white bowls filled with piles of lemons looks very Mediterranean and afterwards you can use them for cooking or a gin and tonic!

• For dinner parties in the evening use faux battery-operated candles, it creates a very romantic and cosy atmosphere without the worry of someone setting something alight.

• When hosting birthday parties for kids, use bunting that can be taken out time and time again to create an instant celebratory but chic look on your terrace. It is much more environmentally friendly than balloons you can only use once.

“I love using hydrangeas in the summer as they last so long and if I don’t have time to go and buy flowers, I cut a few branches of foliage from the olive or beech trees in our garden.”