Furnishing the great outdoors
Today's homeowners are not content with living indoors, even with Chicago's fickle weather. They want to extend their living space outdoors and comfortably socialize with their friends on plush furniture, placed around a fire pit, a pond or just in a conversation grouping.
It wasn't that long ago that all anyone had outside was an outdoor patio table with an umbrella in the middle and four or six chairs around it, along with a grill. The materials varied from tempered glass tables with aluminum frames and coordinating chairs, to plastic, wood or wrought iron sets. But they were primarily dining sets. If you wanted to socialize after dinner, you sat in those same chairs and socialized around the dining table.
But this is changing rapidly, said Anne Hildreth, a designer for Steinhafels furniture store in Vernon Hills, which carries both indoor and outdoor furniture.
Homeowners today think of their patio or deck - and, actually, their entire yard - as an extension of their indoor living spaces, she said. They want to furnish them with furniture that looks as if it could be used indoors, too.
"Each year it seems like our assortment of outdoor furniture grows. We offer many types of comfortable furniture groupings that are perfect for relaxing and lounging because our customers say they want to lounge and converse outside, not just sit and have dinner," Hildreth said.
The deep-seating chairs, couches and love seats are also popular with people who want to relax outdoors with just with a cocktail or a book.
In fact, many homeowners are buying furnishings for multiple seating areas throughout their yard, using multiple materials and themes, such as an Adirondack chair seating area in the yard (to watch the sun set?) while having a plush-cushioned wicker seating area next to an iron dining set on the deck. Mixing and matching is "in."
"And our customers are carrying their indoor tastes outdoors, choosing plush individual seating and sectional couches. As far as colors go, many are choosing wrought iron or outdoor wicker in the beechwood finish, which is kind of grayish, and cobalt blue cushions have been particularly popular."
Other colors are brought into the scene with multicolor throw pillows or large, cantilevered, free-standing umbrellas, she added. Such umbrellas sit off to the side of a seating area, can rotate 360 degrees and generally cover much more "real estate" than the old-style table umbrellas which, incidentally, are still popular with many.
"You don't want to 'date' your patio any more than you want to 'date' your indoor furniture, so I advise people to keep it neutral using grays, taupes, whites and blues and then to make it fun with accent pieces like the pillows, an umbrella and outdoor weather-resistant polypropylene rugs, which protect your feet from hot decks and patios," Hildreth said.
Homeowners generally want to make their outdoor spaces fun and exciting, she continued, but are staying away from hot yellows and oranges because there is already lots of sun outside and they don't need more of those "hot" colors.
The plush outdoor seating is durable, easy to clean and easy to maintain and cushions are made to be both water- and mildew-resistant. But Hildreth still advises homeowners to bring the cushions indoors or to get covers for the furniture if they want to prolong their life.
When it comes to dining tables and coffee tables, homeowners often choose those enhanced by small, propane-fueled fire pits filled with glass beads or lava rocks. Owners find that the colorful glow enhances a gathering's ambience and provides entertainment and points of conversation. Most of these tables come with covers for the fire pit areas so that the entire table top can be used for food when needed.