Outdoor Family Entertaining: 4 Designs Inspired by the TV Show "Parenthood"

The NBC show Parenthood aired for six seasons and followed the lives of the Braverman family. Some of the most memorable scenes featured in the series were the large family gatherings that took place in the backyard of Zeke Braverman's home. Not only were the scenes dramatic and funny, but the set design had a lot of great features. If you are looking to create a similar outdoor area for your own home and family, then there are four different design features you can add. Each of these features is inspired by the show and will help create a great environment for your backyard that can last for years to come.

1. Stringed Lights

Many of the family gathering scenes outside of the Braverman home take place at night. To help illuminate the whole entertainment area, the family used string lights. These lights provide enough illumination without overwhelming your outdoor space and can easily eliminate a lot of the shadowy areas of your backyard. The string lights that you purchase are similar to Christmas lights, but they feature large bulbs and single colors for more illumination. You can install the lights so that they hang in place and are strung across all of your eating and entertaining areas. The lights can be plugged into a timer or be set to a switch so you can turn them on or off manually when you need to.

2. Stone Pavers

Provide a solid walking area that doesn't need any landscaping with the use of stone pavers. In Parenthood, the entertaining area has stone pavers with a rustic finish to help match the cozy design of the home. You can extend a stone paver walkway to your entertaining area or have a large paver area extend directly from the back of your home. The flat pavers make it easy to place grills, chairs, and other entertainment accessories on your back deck. For example, in multiple episodes of Parenthood, characters used a ping pong table in the backyard area. A leveled stone design offers an ideal spot for placing a ping pong table or something similar and using it when family and guests are visiting.

3. Stone Fire Pit

Zeke Braverman loves to build and tinker in the backyard and garage of his home. Toward the later seasons, he decides to make a fire pit as another way for his family to bond and hang out together. The finale fire pit design uses precast stone to create the outside of the pit. Stone designs like this add a natural look to the fire pit and can create a great visual for your backyard. If you have the fire pit installed directly on stone pavers, then you can select the same stone materials and have the designs blend seamlessly into each other. The fire pit is great for entertaining at night and can expand the area into cooler months by providing extra heat in the backyard.

4. Oversized Picnic Table

The Braverman family includes more than ten people. Accommodating all of these people is made easy with the oversized picnic table that is used on the show. Ever since the pilot episode of Parenthood, the picnic table has been used for large meals and celebrations. You can add this kind of table to your backyard. Once the table is in place, you can choose to use large benches or place individual seats at the table. The rustic look of a picnic table will help match any stone designs in the yard, and picnic tables can be finished with a variety of staining options. These tables are great for serving potluck dinners and other large meals. They are also ideal for decorating with different table designs, like flower vases or centerpieces.

Watch various episodes of Parenthood to decide on other design elements that you want to include in your outdoor space and present screenshots from the show to stone manufacturers, such as Harristone Pre-Cast - Merrillstone Natural Stone Products - G. S. Harris Co., Inc., and other companies to illustrate the designs you want to showcase in your yard.