Patio Furniture Wintertime Maintenance Is Easy To Do Right

By Michael Shook

It is such a sad day in the end of the autumn. Indian summer is over, for real this time, and you need to do something with the patio furniture before it really starts to get cold. You know this day has been coming ever since you first brought out your patio chairs and chaise lounges in the spring, and now it is really here.

It isn’t much fun to see that the summer is truly over, but if you want to have furniture to enjoy again next year, there are a few things you need to do.

Some of the steps you need to complete to care for your furniture will vary according to what material your furniture is made from. But in general there are a couple of things that everybody will need to do no matter what their chairs and tables are made from.

First of all, is an inspection of the wear and tear on the furniture. If you have kids that use your patio furniture this is a really important step. If you need to fix the spring on your glider or refasten one of the seating boards on your garden bench, this is the time to get these things taken car of. It might be a little work now, but guaranteed you are going to be kicking yourself if you put this kind of maintenance off until spring.

Next comes a thorough cleaning of every piece of patio furniture you have. This is the step that is going to take a while. And how you clean is very dependent on what your furniture is made from. Plastic resin wicker look furniture can simply be sprayed with a garden hose and then washed with a soapy rag. Just make sure you move the furniture off your patio or deck if you can so you don’t have to clean the floor afterward.

Wooden furniture maybe needs some light sanding and refinishing. This is something for sure that you want to do in the fall because you sure do not want to be waiting for the finish to dry before you can use your patio set in the warm season.

Wrought iron can be brushed off thoroughly with a soft hand brush and then wiped off with a damp cloth. If your paint is still really good on this kind, you can use the hose, but if you’ve got rust spots, don’t use the hose.

Even though it’s sad to be putting away your patio furniture for the season, it will be there fresh and new next year if you just take a few minutes to do a little bit of routine maintenance.

Michael Shook writes about the fun and excitement of living the patio life on his site at LAPatio.com. Stop by and check out the great deals on patio furniture available online at great bargain prices.

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Outdoor Living Spaces – Part 2

Let Function be Your Guide

By David Beaulieu, About.com

As stated on Part 1, you need only look to the intended function of outdoor rooms to determine the “building blocks” needed to compose them. Keep both aesthetics and function in mind when constructing outdoor rooms. But in areas dedicated to physical activity, if you have to choose between the two, focus on function. Never compromise on safety. You can make up for compromises in aesthetics later, when you accessorize your outdoor rooms.

Below are examples of outdoor rooms and how to put them together.

Outdoor Rooms: Pool Areas

Let’s begin with outdoor rooms whose main function is to house a swimming pool. Landscaping around swimming pools presents specific challenges regarding safety, maintenance and privacy. You don’t want people slipping on anything, you don’t want to spend all your time cleaning up debris, and you don’t want the neighbors peering in at you. In selecting a “wall” to enclose the area, all of these considerations come into play.

A strong argument can be made, then, for having a fence serve as the “wall” around a pool, rather than a hedge or a lattice screen. A tightly constructed fence will do the best job of screening out prying eyes. And because it has no leaves or needles to shed, there’s nothing to slip on, nothing to clean up.

“Floors” in pool areas must be slip-resistant. “Ceilings” usually aren’t necessary: you’re going to get wet anyway, and sunbathing and swimming go hand-in-hand.

Outdoor Rooms: Meditation Areas

For meditation gardens, some of the concerns are the same, some different. Privacy is still very much an issue (since secluded settings are more relaxing than open settings), as is maintenance. But safety goes on a back burner. Here, reflection, not physical activity, takes center stage. Aesthetic considerations, consequently, will carry greater weight.

Most people find plants more relaxing than hardscape, so consider planting hedges to form the walls of such outdoor rooms. If you don’t want to wait for hedges to get tall enough to afford privacy, install lattice screens, instead. To satisfy your requirement for plants and provide further privacy, train vine plants to grow up the lattice. Climbing hydrangeas are perennial vines and an excellent choice for shady areas. You have more choices in the sun, including that ever-popular annual, the morning glory.

For a floor, consider a combination of natural materials. You want something interesting into which to gaze, something with distinct textures. For instance, a rustic flagstone patio, with scotch moss planted in the cracks between the stones — or creeping thyme, if you enjoy landscaping with fragrant plants.

In meditation gardens, a ceiling may come in quite handy. Here, you’ll have to choose between aesthetics and functionality. A vine-covered arbor may be more inspiring to gaze up at than a lawn umbrella, but the latter will keep you — and the books you may be reading — dry. If you’d like something more solid than an umbrella, consider installing a pergola and covering it with fiberglass.

But water shouldn’t be banned entirely from contemplative outdoor rooms. If there’s any place in our yards for accessories such as garden fountains and waterfalls, surely it’s here! There’s nothing like the soothing sound of bubbling water to put us into a reflective mood.

Outdoor Rooms: Play Areas

If you have kids who enjoy baseball, football, soccer, or just plain running around, set aside a special outdoor room just for them. You can’t beat a grass floor for these activities. While a ceiling won’t be necessary, walls are a must. You don’t want errant tosses rolling into the street or wiping out those flowers you just planted in another portion of the yard. A solid fence will probably best serve the role of wall here, something that will easily stop a ball. Hedges are less effective, because balls either get through them or get lodged within them. By having to repeatedly dislodge balls stuck in a hedge, kids may end up wrecking the hedge.

Given their individualized purpose, meditation gardens in particular are outdoor spaces that cry out for accessories. Curios and pieces of yard art can serve as focal points here. Any objects that have special meaning for you are potential accessories, as long as they can stand up to the elements.

More conventional lawn ornaments will generally be preferred as accessories in areas visible from the street when focal points are needed.

Outdoor patio furniture sets and similar accessories are utilized in many types of outdoor spaces, especially those designed for dining. For many people, the place for dining alfresco is either the patio or the deck. Fortunately, a wide variety of patio and deck accessories are now available to enhance the experience of dining outdoors.

Why limit the time you spend in your outdoor spaces to the summertime? Even for Northern climes, accessories are available that can extend your enjoyment of the yard into other times of the year. Outdoor fireplaces, electric heaters and gas heaters are accessories that will keep you warm through late fall and allow you to resume your pursuits in early spring. Outdoor lighting is another great “extender,” permitting you to enjoy your outdoor spaces under the stars.