It’s freezing outside and you miss the warm days of summer? Do you miss the warm breeze that carried spicy scents and developed your hair while you were lying under the warm sun playing PlayAmo casino? Would you like to feel it again? Well, nothing is impossible. Today we’ll tell you how to combine the incompatible and have an unforgettable summer holiday at home. No magic – just creativity and a bit of humor!
What are the advantages of a home picnic? First of all, it is an opportunity not to fool around and please your spouse (for example, on the upcoming Valentine’s Day), birthday boys, friends, or children, and at the same time to dilute the moping of colorless winter days. All the comforts remain at hand: a bathroom, nifty dishes (not disposable), electric kettle, and refrigerator (you won’t have to worry about how the treats will survive the road and the heat). You won’t have to swat away mosquitoes, rub sunscreen or worry if it’s suddenly going to rain.
If you are inspired by the idea, have courage and be prepared to think outside the box: for a home picnic in winter, you should transform your living space. Here are a few options of varying degrees of complexity, from which the reader can choose the best option for themselves, or find their own “design”.
A Slice of an Alpine Meadows
To begin with, it is worth deciding where to organize a “corner of wildlife”. It is best to free a whole room (the more spacious, the better) from furniture and decor.
Home a few rolls of live turf and evenly cover the floor with it. It is best to choose a grass cover without the use of soil when the roots of the plants are attached to a base of recycled textiles. The result – no dirt and unnecessary moisture. The bottom layer, anyway, is a protective polyethylene film – so you don’t have to worry about your parquet.
And do not say that it is too revolutionary: even in one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe – York Cathedral – have not been afraid to turn the floors into a fresh-scented meadow for a few months. In Europe, living turf instead of carpet is also gaining popularity, and not just as a one-time event, but for permanent decoration of homes with modern and classic interiors. In such a case, it is important to think about the drainage system, so that there is a possibility of water drainage, but we do not need to think about it in the framework of the organization of the picnic.
You can leave a couple of large plants in pots in the room – trees and shrubs will perfectly complement the “landscape”. To recreate a summer atmosphere you also need additional lighting (only classic incandescent lamps with “warm” light), a soft fan to imitate a light breeze, as well as recordings of sounds of nature, which can easily be found on the Internet (birdsong, babbling brook or river). The room should be well ventilated and warm enough.
Prepare for the picnic thoroughly: find a beautiful wicker basket for food and put drinks and snacks in it, bring a blanket and a few decorative pillows (if desired). An electric charcoal grill can easily serve as a campfire, and as dusk falls, you can light a few candles attached to a dish and enjoy the live fire. You can read an interesting book by flashlight, or tell stories, play guitar or listen to crickets singing (long live the Internet). And the kids will love it if you set up a tent in the corner and let them spend the night “camping”.
Artificial Grass
The only difference from the previous option is, as the reader has already guessed, the use of synthetic carpeting, which is very similar to lawn greenery. There are a huge number of types of artificial grass, so you can choose a lawn just for you, taking into account the size and density of the “bristles”, color, hardness. Of course, it’s a little different… however, on the other hand, it is a “reusable” decoration (service life of more than 15 years), which, if desired, can become a permanent “exhibit” in your home.
Spectacular “lawn” is made of polypropylene or latex. Artificial turf solely made of polypropylene has medium stiffness, which is useful for soccer and for decoration on the homestead. But latex artificial grass is much softer and looks like real grass. That is why it is recommended to use it where there is direct contact with the ground, for example, in the children’s room, on the balcony, or on the playground for kids.
Picnic Table
A simpler option for a home picnic is to limit yourself to an unusual “table setting”. For example, a Dutch architect Haiko Cornelissen has proposed a touch of nature with the PicNYC table (the ending NYC in the name of the piece of furniture alludes to New York City). The surface of the tabletop is covered by a cover of living grass, and under it is hidden a layer of fertile soil and drainage stones.
The creator of this unusual furniture offers different varieties of grass, which can be used depending on the lightness of the room and the desired shade of green. You can also use “useful plants” – such as parsley, rosemary, cilantro, basil, and whatever the owner of the unusual table will see fit. Any miniature flowering plants will also be appropriate.
The disadvantage of this creative “platform” for picnics is only the need to take care of it. From time to time, you will need to water the grass and manually mow it (all this is a trifle). If you don’t have time and wish to organize it, you can roll out some live grass, and a couple of meters of it will be enough to quickly make a fluffy green tablecloth and create a special atmosphere.
Good luck!
