We feel like Sunday nights in June usually go something like this. You’re on an evening walk or jog around the neighborhood when you catch a glimpse of a flickering lantern in the backyard of the house on the corner. There’s a curl of smoke coming out of the grill, carrying with it the scent of shrimp kebabs. You hear ice clinking in glasses and the quiet murmur of talking from a couple of couples in striped chairs and an occasional burst of laughter. These people, you think, are taking full advantage of living outdoors.

What is it about these outdoor spaces that make you feel like you're part of some exclusive club when you're in and something you desperately want to crash when you're out? No hummus plate is as delicious as when you're eating it curled up on a back patio couch surrounded by bright throw pillows. Ah, to snag a bite of your BLTA before taking the two steps back to the lawn for your turn in corn hole. Is there a better place to watch those summer thunderstorms roll in and through than your own porch?

We don’t think so, and MDG’s own Marlena Ortiz has contributed some of her favorite essentials to create her perfect outdoor living space.

For more information on these items or how to customize your own space, contact Marlena here.

For more of Marlena's favorite things, click here, here and here.

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Picture it: The last day of school was four days ago. You hang your towel around your neck and you look through the sand dunes, the ocean glinting behind them. Your parents are taking an eternity getting the cooler and beach chairs out of the car and your little brothers are smacking each other with their boogie boards. Finally, everyone is ready and you lead the way out onto the sand on the first day of your family vacation to the beach.

Your flip flops are already hurting between your toes so you kick them off. The sand is scalding and you sprint ahead to the cool damp section before stopping in your tracks because there it is, the water right in front of you. Your mom helps you with your sunscreen and you keep losing your balance from the sheer rigorousness of her lotion rubbing. Sweat is just starting to bead above your upper lip as you trot the last few steps to the water’s edge.

The first wave that breaks across your feet is cold and exhilarating, and it leaves sea foam bubbles across your skin as it rolls back across the sand. There are shells and rocks and little burrowing crabs laid out next to you and a piece of sea glass that will make its way back home to your nightstand. Your brothers tear out into the water and you plunge after them, seaweed looping itself around your ankles. The wave pushes you down as you duck under it and then you launch yourself up, breaking the surface of the water, wiping its saltiness out of your eyes. You tip backwards so that you’re floating, your arms spread out on either side of you and you inhale deeply the ocean smell that you won’t soon forget.

Before vacation is over, you’ll find a sand dollar, build countless sand castles, lose a flip flop when the tide sneaks in and laps at your beach blanket, get a little sun burned on your nose, see a dolphin fin and swallow a little too much salt water. And you’ll want to take it all back home with you.

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marlena design group llc - 100 S. Madison St. Denver, CO. 80209