Get Ready For The Great Outdoors

Outdoor Living

Whether you have a large suburban garden or a small backyard in the City, your outdoor space is vital to the enjoyment of your home. More than ever, people are turning their outdoor spaces into living areas where they can eat, drink or just relax. It is a place where you invite friends for a party and a barbeque.

Furniture is a vital element to outdoor living, just as it is to living indoors but the big difference is that outside your furniture is open to the weather, and whilst wood and ironwork can be protected, special consideration needs to be given to the soft furnishings

Spring is in the air

With the onset of Spring our minds begin to turn to work that needs to be done in the garden, and often a substantial part of that work is the maintenance and/or possible replacement of garden furniture, which can prove quite expensive if we’re looking to replace items such as garden benches, dining chairs and table, loungers, garden swings, etc.

Budget is a big consideration

A great way of saving quite a substantial amount of money is by adding or replacing soft furnishings, such as pillows for a bench seat, chair seat cushions and backs. There are infinite ways of achieving luxurious and expensive looking garden furniture by choosing a comfortable, thick foam pillow for a bench seat which can be covered in waterproof, non-fade covers.

Other factors to consider

Reversible cushion covers with zip fastenings prolong the life of cushion covers, but materials also need to be:

·         Fire retardant, especially near that BBQ

·         Water resistant

·         Machine Washable

·         Durable

·         UV resistant to stop fading

Colors and Designs

There are endless designs and a fantastic array of colors which can bring a whole new and expensive look to your garden, adding a real sense of luxury and a place where family and friends can spend time enjoying outdoor living in absolute comfort. 

Colors and patterns should complement the surroundings. In the leafy suburbs, consider something like mango and lime. In a walled back yard, stripes work well. Navy or black on white is particularly popular at the moment. A stripy pillow for a bench seat would look great against a white-painted brick wall.

For materials, consider the fact that your soft furnishings are going to be out there (hopefully) in brilliant sunlight for days on end. Well, we can all dream can’t we, but if the summer of 2018 is going to be a more regular occurrence, then you will want fabrics that don’t fade.

The Garden

Any keen gardener knows that at this time of year the work doesn’t stop just because the grass and plant life remain dormant. However, it’s not all about vegetation. The garden furniture may well be covered up for the winter, but spring is not that far away, and now is the time to be thinking about bringing new life into your outdoor space. Wooden furniture may need a coat of stain, ironwork a lick of paint, but the best way to really spruce up that garden is to add a splash of color with your soft furnishings.

So if you want a pillow for a bench seat, think about how it will fair in all conditions.

 

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