Outdoor Patio Furniture Introduction


Outdoor Patio Furniture can bring a ton of pleasure with a whole new outdoor family and dining room area. The BEST outdoor patio furniture is the kind that looks good, lasts a long time and fits into your budget and lifestyle.

Outdoor patio furniture can come in many styles and arrangements. The best outdoor furniture materials are the ones that are weather resistant, sturdy and good looking. Common outdoor patio furniture materials include:

Outdoor Patio Dining Furniture

Outdoor Patio Dining Furniture

Outdoor Dining Furniture sets typically include a patio dining table, a set of 4 patio chairs and a patio umbrella. Other patio sets can include a love seat and chairs with matching side tables. Outdoor patio bar furniture can also liven up and outdoor space. If you are just getting started with your outdoor patio furniture a single patio bench is a good piece to begin with. Place just right in the yard or patio it can become quite the back yard destination place.

My favorite piece of outdoor patio furniture is my hammock and hammock stand. They are perfect for spending a little time in the shade on a lazy summer day.

Don’t forget outdoor patio cushions to add some of your personal style to your outdoor living space. There are lots of choices when it comes to patio cushions so don’t be shy.

Outdoor patio furniture covers are a good idea to have if you live in a climate where the weather changes often or if you don’t have covered storage for your outdoor patio furniture in the off season.


Outdoor Patio Furniture Materials


Outdoor patio furniture is a great addition to your back yard providing you with extra living space when the weather is nice. There are quite a variety of materials that outdoor patio furniture is made from. There are very durable man-made materials like aluminum, wrought iron and plastic resins and natural materials such as woods like teak and cedar and wicker canes.

Wood is a great natural choice for your patio furniture. Teak and cedar are both weather, rot and insect resistant so they are the most common wood materials used in outdoor furniture. Teak is the more exotic of the two and is often significantly more expensive. Both teak and cedar can be treated with sealers to maintain their original fresh cut wood colors or allowed to age naturally to lighter coloring. Cypress is another wood that has all the right characteristics for outdoor furniture but it isn’t as common as teak or cedar.

Wicker is a common material and it was originally made from natural plant material such as reeds or willow switches. Plastic fibers are also a common material used for outdoor wicker furniture. Wicker is light and sturdy and this allows for it to be easily moved. Cushions often come with the wicker furniture to provide added comfort. Wicker is most often left a natural brown color or white but it can be spray painted to match any color choice.

Aluminum is an interesting choice for a furniture material because manufactures use is for both high end pieces and less expensive ones. The higher quality furniture items are made from cast aluminum and they are very durable, light weight and can be painted any color. The thickness can be any size so they can be very solid pieces. Thin walled aluminum tubing is used on the other end of the spectrum. It is very light weight and it can be used to make foldable chairs for easy storage and portability. The down side to aluminum tubing is that it can be easy to bend the tubing rendering the piece scrap aluminum ready for recycling.

Plastic resin is another material that is used primarily for the low cost end of the market. This material is easy to clean, it is light weight and plastic resin chairs and side tables are often designed to be stackable for easy storage. The negatives of plastic is that it is often made with minimal amounts of material so the pieces aren’t very sturdy and if they take a heavy blow they can bend and end up in the scrap pile in a hurry.

Wrought iron patio furniture is a classic choice and it is a very durably material. Wrought Iron is a general descriptive term that originally referred to the type of low carbon iron that was created prior to steel making. Wrought iron is a fibrous material that has a little bit of a wood grain texture on its surface. Items that are referred to as wrought iron today are most often made of mild steel. Wrought iron patio furniture is strong and durable and takes on color through paint or powder coating. Wrought iron patio furniture is often matched with glass table tops that create an intriguing contrasting look.

With all of the different types of outdoor patio furniture materials there is sure to be an option that will meet your style and budget goals. Once you have a general idea of the type of outdoor patio furniture you are interested in, starting thinking about other additions and add-ons and how well they will match your material choice. The more durable materials choices should last you for many years of outdoor lining enjoyment.