How to choose outdoor furniture wisely: check before buying

You’ve already made so many stupid purchases that you don’t want to make any more. Outdoor furniture is not a basic necessity item, so it often ends up on the list of imprudent purchases. But if you get it right and manage to choose outdoor furniture, life on your balcony or terrace will be much more welcoming, more pleasant and will not give you any worries about maintenance. What to pay attention to when choosing, I have prepared such a short reminder. And to make it more interesting, the following error reminder:

1. Lacks style

There are many light constructions with glass on the balcony and you bought a huge wooden chair? The interior is industrial style and the table on the terrace is wooden with carvings? Could you define a country house as a cozy cabin and have you decided to choose outdoor furniture with glass surfaces?

Inconsistency in style is a common mistake. Outdoor furniture should be an integral part of your environment. Think about what style prevails in the interior, what the house looks like. It is possible that you already have some suggestions that will tell you which style of furniture to choose.

There are so many: I spent the last half hour in the e-shop ba.eu, where I saw many outdoor furniture of various styles. Such a search is faster than in a real store, because it is easier to find what visually fits and discard what does not fit.

Here’s my way of choosing outdoor furniture wisely. I usually take a photo of the place I’m designing and then the computer can simultaneously open a photo of my terrace along with a photo of the furniture from the online store. If you are not lazy, print them both, cut out the furniture and place them on the photo of your terrace or balcony. You will appreciate the image better and playing this way is a fun way to test if you have the right style.

We’ll do something similar in our new courseswhich will take place starting this spring. If the design of a balcony, terrace or roof garden is a relevant topic for you, subscribe to the newsletter, to receive our advice and news on courses.

Continuing on the style, don’t forget the exterior lights. They can be the most important detail that will make the balcony or terrace unique. Wrinkled and reminiscent of a holiday in Provence, or perhaps industrial with rusty metal parts? Choose a lamp with character, let it be the accent of your style.

2. Lost with sizes

Don’t buy «exposed» furniture. Also measure the space where you will place the outdoor furniture and estimate the dimensions of the new furniture.

If this task does not seem simple and easy, it is normal, after all, not everyone has spatial thinking and creates three-dimensional drawings every day. How to facilitate the evaluation of measurements:

1. You can look for interior planning apps where you can arrange the furniture of your choice and see how much space it takes up. Important: you must have the skills to work with such gadgets, and you will need very accurate measurements, because you will have to start with them. So you may spend a lot more time than you think with this task;
2. You can use the old pencil and paper method. But, you know, simple and reliable. Draw the terrace or balcony and draw the new furniture on it or cut out the paper to move it. This way you will be able to choose outdoor furniture more carefully.

Leave extra space behind chairs so there is room to pull the chair back when you are seated. If you are planning an open terrace, this is especially important, because if you move away from the table, you could fall off the terrace with the whole chair.

A further piece of advice, perhaps the most important, concerns dimensions: the smaller the space, the more important the piece of furniture that transforms or performs multiple functions. These are beds with wheels, folding tables, containers, which together act as a bench.

It is convenient when the chairs are light and grouped together: you can easily move them to another place or put them in one place to store them when you don’t need them.

And now, in winter, the size of outdoor furniture is even more important if you bring it indoors. Maybe 1% of people have a spacious garage, warehouse or other place to store their furniture for the winter. And usually there is no such place or it is very small, so you need to think about it when choosing furniture.

3. Future care underestimated

It goes without saying that everyone, when purchasing outdoor furniture, will think about how to take care of it so that it lasts for a long time. But why is this still the most common mistake? Well, because we are dazzled by the beauty of the furniture, we tell ourselves that we will take care of it, but usually we have more interesting things to do in life, and that’s why we don’t do it later. Did I make it to the top ten? Therefore, not in theory, but in reality, think about how important aesthetics are to you, how important functionality is and draw your own conclusions before purchasing.

Briefly about the main materials of outdoor furniture:

• Wooden outdoor furniture: from time to time it is necessary to impregnate or cover it with oils (maintenance may vary depending on the type of wood); if the wooden furniture is painted, it will crack after a while, so it will be necessary to renew it; disadvantage: it is better not to store in the sun and rain; advantage: naturalness;
• Wicker outdoor furniture: The same goes for wooden furniture: pay attention to the exact type of wood it is made of, the care depends on this; advantage: easy;
• Metal furniture: it may be necessary to lubricate or coat it with special oils, but in principle the furniture lasts a long time; deficiency – serious; aluminum furniture is lighter;
• Plastic outdoor furniture: just keep it clean: maintenance is extremely simple; disadvantage: they can be fragile in the cold; another advantage: light.

Part of your choice will depend on whether you have a place to store your furniture during the winter. There are no problems on the glass balcony, because you can store your outdoor furniture there without fear. I would not leave outdoor furniture on the open terrace, because any material ages faster due to active sun, precipitation and temperature changes. The solution is to bring the furniture indoors for the winter. If you don’t have a place to store your furniture during the winter, but you have at least a small shed, you can stack your furniture on top of each other and keep it covered during the winter.

My last tip: if you want easier maintenance and want to spend less, buy a furniture set. The whole set costs less than the table, chairs or armchairs separately. Furthermore, the maintenance will be the same for all items, since they will all be made with the same material. You arrive at the same time and arrange all the furniture in one way. And in most cases, they come together compactly if you decide to store or cover them all for the winter.