Submitted by: Kenny M. Leichester

Patios are not meant just for your kids to play hopscotch. It is meant to be a recreational area for the entire family. However, they are very rarely used as such. That is not because people do not have time for recreation or prefer the closed atmosphere of the interior, but because they do not find the outdoor comfortable enough. Very few people are ready to enjoy the proximity of the nature unless they can do it in comfort. If you want your family to spend more time in the open, furnish your patio adequately.

A patio must be visually appealing and physically comfortable. Otherwise, nobody will come out to sit there. Be a little discrete while buying the patio furniture. They are today made from different materials such as wood, metal or resin, each of which has different characteristics and produce different effect. You must make sure that the furniture you buy is suitable for the setting or theme that you have created or want to create.

Let us go into different types of furniture first. However, this is only a rough guide. You can easily deviate from it:

1. Most of the wood patio furniture has a traditional look. Therefore, if you are in for some traditional setting they are the thing you should look into.

2. Aluminium patio furniture has more contemporary look and if that is the setting, you can look into such segment.

3. Cast iron or cast aluminium furniture on the other hand creates a periodic ambience. If that is your style, go ahead choose one from them.

4. Wicker furniture has a relaxed but stylish aura. However, make sure they are made with synthetic fiber.

5. You can also look for patio furniture made from resins and other synthetic materials. Some of them even have perfect wood finish.

It is important to note that not every patio furniture that looks like wood is actually wood patio furniture. They can be made with resins as well. Such resin furniture with wood finish may look like wood patio furniture from afar, but a discerning eye can easily tell the difference and so do not try to substitute one with the other.

Do not try to substitute wood patio furniture with wood finish furniture because however closely they may resemble, discerning eyes can always tell the difference. Also, remember that only some wood furniture is suitable for outdoor use. Teak for example is one such wood. Because it contains protective natural oil, it is hundred percent weather and pest resistant. You may leave them out round the year, year after year; they will not decay or spoil. On the other hand, their look improves with age. Just think of the benches in your city park.

However, not everybody can afford teal wood furniture. They are so expensive! However, you can look for shorea wood furniture as well. They are as good as teak furniture, but do not cost as much as teak. This is because it is more abundantly cultivated than teak. Eucalyptus and cedar are two more varieties that can be used for making patio furniture. There can be few more variety, but whatever the wood used in making the patio furniture, they will not be comfortable for use unless you have cushions to complement them. However, make sure to use outdoor cushions for that purpose.

Now, what is so special about an outdoor cushion? Nothing much! They are same as their indoor cousins. It is only that they are essentially made from water repellent materials both inside and out. The materials used in making the outer covering can never be cent percent water repellent. This will make them highly uncomfortable. However, they are at least 95% so. This makes it imperative that the inner material should be such that they can drain out the water and dry up very quickly .Not only that, the outer covering needs to be dust, dirt, stain and tear resistant as well.

Any outdoor fixture, be that wood patio furniture or outdoor cushion, needs to be as much water repellent as UV resistant. They also need to dust, dirt, stain and fade resistant. Most of all they need to be comfortable. It is a fact that we have become too fond of our comfort and unless the setting is comfortable to our body as well as to our mind, we will shun the place. That is why if you want your family members to make use of the patio more frequently than they generally do, make it physically comfortable and aesthetically pleasant. There is no other way.

About the Author: Article by Kenny Leichester of PatioShoppers.com, a website with the best

commercial outdoor umbrellas

and

gas patio heater

information on the web.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=659277&ca=Home+Management