5 Common Mistakes We Make When Choosing Outdoor Furniture
There are many items to choose from when building and decorating a dream patio or deck, but unlike indoor decoration which is pretty straightforward — a living room needs a couch, a dining room needs a table and chairs — the versatility of outdoor spaces can lead to some mistakes.
At 5-Minute Crafts we will show you the most common ones so you can avoid them when getting outdoor furniture.
1. Forgetting about storage
Outdoor spaces can get messy since they’re subject to rain, alternating temperatures, and wind. When planning your outdoor space, there’s no need to avoid soft furnishings like pillows or tablecloths, but be sure to have a place to store them when the weather gets bad.
2. Using indoor furniture
Don’t use indoor furniture outdoors, even if you’re trying to match your indoor decoration style to the outdoor one. It can also happen that you buy a new couch and decide to place the old one outside, but it just wasn’t built for that. Indoor cushions should also not be used outdoors, they get wet fast and can even get moldy, don’t forget it’s an outdoor space even if some indoor pieces would look perfect there.
3. Arranging it wrong
There should always be a plan when furnishing an outdoor space, think about what will be the goal of that space, it can be an extension of the dining room or a place for parties and barbeques, either way, it’s important to think ahead and consider how your indoor space will flow into the outdoors and how all the furniture you want to buy will be laid out.
4. Forgetting to tie it all together
The pieces you get for your outdoor space should be tied together in some way, just getting lots of random furniture won’t look good when put together — consider the materials you’re picking — like wood or metal, for example, their design — is it modern or antique, and their colors.
Color can lead to mistakes, there can be too much of it, not enough, or the colors can clash with each other. A problem with outdoor furniture is that it usually comes in neutral colors, which will look bland if they’re not accessorized with color accents with pillows, for example.
5. Not enough plants
Plants can really liven up an outdoor space. If, after everything is in place, it still feels empty, take a look at the plants, if there are none, you should add some. When adding plants, consider the environment they’re going to be in because if you get the wrong plants for your climate, they can end up dying and losing their beauty. A good option is adding something with a pleasant smell that will populate the outdoors, like an angel’s trumpet or a plumeria.
Bonus: A few tips to help you choose your furniture wisely.
- Make a list of everything you need to buy according to the purpose of the outdoor space.
- Get easy maintenance pieces made of metal, wicker, or cedar — materials that don’t require much more than a good cleaning.
- Add an outdoor rug. A great weather-resistant rug can go a long way in adding color and comfort to an outdoor space.
- Consider and match your colors. Use brighter colors in accent pieces like pillows and get furniture that matches well with its surroundings and even your indoor furniture.