Choosing – and Maintaining – Great Patio Furniture for Your Outdoor Living Space
The idea behind creating a great outdoor space in the form of a backyard patio in the first place is that it becomes a place to relax, hang out and just basically enjoy the outdoors. Once you decide to put your home on the market it will also become something of a staging tool that can help you showcase your home in its best light.
For these reasons, great patio furniture is certainly a must but choose the wrong options and you find yourself spending more time cleaning, maintaining and maybe even eventually having to replace it than you might have bargained for. Here then are a few tips on how to choose the best patio furniture for your outdoor space and how to then keep it in great shape so you can get on with enjoying your time in the sun:
The New Wicker Furniture
Wicker has been a popular choice for patio and outdoor furniture decades. It looks great, is relatively inexpensive and tends to stand up to the elements a little better than other wooden options. Traditional wicker though does wear out fairly quickly with regular use and it is often not too long before splinters become a real problem (especially if you happen to sit on them!)
There is now a better alternative – resin wicker patio furniture. This man made alternative looks just like the real thing but you won’t have to spend hours searching for – and then sanding away – errant splinters. Resin wicker also holds it’s color better than natural counterparts which makes maintenance even easier. All a resin wicker patio set should really ever need is the occasional wipe down with soapy water if it gets a little grimy.
Eco Friendly, Low Maintenance Plastics
One growing trend in the world of outdoor furniture is the use of recycled plastic to create durable, long lasting, practically maintenance free patio furniture that looks a lot like a natural wood. The plastic used comes from recycled soda and milk bottles and plastic bags so by choosing this kind of patio furniture you will be helping to keep the world as a whole looking a lot nicer, not just your own backyard space.
Teak Alternatives
Teak has been another very popular choice for outdoor furniture for decades because unlike many other natural woods that need constant care in the form of varnishing, polishing and refinishing teak has natural oils that are very water and insect resistant. The only problem is that teak is very expensive. A less expensive alternative is a wood called shorea, that shares many of the same properties as teak but is much more affordable. Both require only minimal maintenance though so if you really want the wood look in your backyard then either would be a fantastic choice.
Fabric Fails
The idea of having a great fabric accent in the form of cushions or seats for your patio furniture is a very popular one. In theory as long as you remember to take the accessories in when the weather is bad such things should last at least a few years.
However careful you are though fabrics like cotton will fade in the sun far more quickly than you might like. If you really want to use patio furniture with fabric either place it in a nice shady place or opt for one of the offerings designed for outdoor use like sunbrella, an eco friendly outdoor fabric that is used to make patio umbrellas and not only offers more longevity but great UV protection as well.
Whatever type of patio furniture you eventually choose its not really possible to find any that is truly maintenance free. To keep it looking great any piece of patio furniture should get a basic wipe down once a week during the summer and when the temperatures drop and winter starts creeping in then the basement or the attic really is the best place for your patio furniture to spend its “offseason.”
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