Outdoor furniture ideas, for when the snow melts

Outdoor furniture has evolved as more home owners create living space outside their physical dwelling. Following this winter, outdoor furniture will be particularly welcome.

|
Patrick Semansky/AP
Snow rests on outdoor furniture in a park in Baltimore, Monday, March 3, 2014.

Earthy hues that blend into the landscape tend to dominate the outdoor furniture market. Understated woods, metals and cushions are easy-to-incorporate neutral elements.

But outdoor spaces also offer the chance to be more adventurous than we are inclined to be indoors.

Maybe bolder balconies and peppier patios on your redecorating radar?

"Vibrant color has dominated the home furnishings arena since last fall, and after an unusually cold winter, the time's ripe for bright color to become a focus for our outdoor spaces. Color is a great energizer," says Jackie Hirchhault, marketing vice president for the American Home Furnishings Alliance, based in High Point, N.C.

Aimee Beatty, in-house stylist at Pier 1, says lively outdoor pieces give people a way to make a statement: "Incorporating pops of color with furniture and accessories adds personality and flare."

She suggests adding a colorful bench to the patio to coordinate with a more traditional or neutral dining set. "One new piece is a simple, budget-friendly way to make a big impact," she says.

"Brightly colored furniture is also a quick way to punch up a small space," she adds. A bistro table and chairs in playful hues sets the stage, and you don't need much more than a few additional pieces to create an inviting space, even if it's a tiny terrace.

Pier 1's Paris-inspired Neely Bistro Set comes in red or peacock blue rust-resistant cast aluminum. Frontgate's powder-coated aluminum side and bar chairs in fresh colors like aqua and melon come in whimsical designs like curlicues and floral motifs.

The Rock Point acacia wood bench can be had in red, marine blue or dandelion yellow, and has the added benefit of being foldable for off-season storage. Synthetic rattan chairs are weather resistant and come in an array of clean, crisp brights like ocean, purple, orange and yellow. (www.pier1.com)

Z Gallerie's Madison garden stool comes in gold for a touch of metallic flair. You'll also find the Mimosa lantern, featuring a filigreed Moroccan motif in mandarin, white, lemon and aquamarine. (www.zgallerie.com)

A patio umbrella is a quick and inexpensive style changer. Start the party by setting up Hayneedle's shaggy acrylic Palapa umbrella, a 6-foot-wide hula skirt on a pole with thatched strips of acrylic in lime, whiskey, raspberry pink or lemon yellow. (www.hayneedle.com)

Walmart's got a well-priced basic market umbrella that can be had in a fresh sunny orange, deep green or canary yellow. (www.walmart.com)

Grandin Road's op-arty Lulu planter in a loopy black-and-white graphic would be an exclamation point to colorful outdoor furniture. Their Sea Life collection of outdoor pillows includes stylized starfish and sand dollars in brilliant hues. (www.grandinroad.com)

Usable as either planters or beverage receptacles, LED-embedded resin GardenGlo containers provide glowing illumination in a range of colors. (www.gardenica.com)

Consider adding a few glowing orbs to the garden, pool, pathway or anywhere you'd fancy ambient light. A remote control lets you run through a variety of soft colors or switch to just white. They'll last eight hours on one battery charge. (www.frontgate.com)

Seattle-based designer Nicole Ketchum creates lightweight acrylic chandeliers in 11 colors that can be hung from trees, deck roofs or anywhere you'd like. Choose a faux ornate pattern or an octopus. (www.chandelierbynk.com)

Outdoor polypropylene rugs add color and give outdoor spaces a more finished, room-like look. Horchow's Geometric Twist collection puts a crisp white graphic on a tangerine, lime or navy background for preppy punch, while Dash & Albert's indoor/outdoor rugs feature East Asian graphic motifs, chevrons and sailing stripes. (www.horchow.com)

Dash and Albert's new outdoor pillow collection includes exuberant retro-Hawaiian prints, sea horses, crewel florals and bubble patterns, all in a riot of fun-loving colors. (www.dashandalbert.com)

Designer Elaine Smith has come up with a collection of outdoor pillows that reflects a childhood surrounded by global art, and a love of both fashion and nature. "I like using and reimagining traditional motifs, and creating designs with a timeless feel."

She's done an Asian toile pattern in a pretty aqua/white combination, a zebra print in chocolate or blue, and a hula skirt motif in a kaleidoscope of tropical hues. (www.authenteak.com)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Outdoor furniture ideas, for when the snow melts
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0305/Outdoor-furniture-ideas-for-when-the-snow-melts
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe