Garden furniture Outdoor patio Furniture Choices
Patio furniture has come a long way from the green plastic resin chairs of old.
There is a world of choice in the market and many fine pieces of furniture.
We can separate the categories into five main types.
1) We have traditional wood furniture.
2) We have metal patio furniture.
3) Rattan or wicker furniture.
4) Plastic resin furniture.
5) Ceramic or concrete furniture.
I will be publishing articles on all the above in turn, first up wooden Garden Furniture.
1) Wooden Garden Patio Furniture
Wooden outdoor furniture has been widely used for years, either for dining sets or generally for garden furniture such as benches, hammocks and planters.
The wood used has primarily been hardwood although tanalised Pine is popular in the Swiss designs.
The best and of course most expensive is Teak which mainly comes from Indonesia.
Teak is graded, grade A is the highest quality.
Most people agree that Teak can be left untreated and will mellow to lovely silver grey over the years.
Most other grades of Teak will be supplied pre oiled, the furniture will last just as long if you treat regularly. The reason for the lower grade is that the wood will have defects in and grain anomalies, apart from that the lower grade Teak can sometimes not be kiln dried.
Other woods are used for garden furniture include Keruing, Acacia, Rose wood and Juniper.
Keruing is a good solid hardwood that will last up to 25 years. Great for outdoor dining furniture and bistros, a trend at the moment is to have a Keruing frame on a chair with textilene back and bottom for comfort.
You can also find steamers, loungers, picnic tables and benches in Keruing all in all it is a very hard wearing heavy set wood ideal for outdoor furniture.
Acacia is becoming popular as it is better value for money.
A MIR has developed a major range in Acacia. The only thing to watch for is that it is plantation Acacia, as there has been a problem with lower quality wood that has not been properly dried.
That aside you can buy an Acacia dining set, 4 chairs and a table for under £100, which is a bargain.
Rosewood is fantastic but only if you have deep pockets as dining sets can set you back £2/3000 a time.
Juniper is mostly used for the pole of wooden parasols but still is a good solid wood and will last years outside with proper maintenance. In the next article I will look at metal garden furniture and how it has developed into a vast array of styles.
Author: Julian Wood www.peakgardencentres.co.uk
Archive for May, 2009
Garden Furniture Outdoor Patio Furniture Choices
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Pantry Kitchen Cabinets- Revamping A Kitchen Using Pantry Cabinets
Saturday, May 30th, 2009I recently did a kitchen renovation job that we nicknamed the blues. The homeowners had a case of the blues, because their kitchen was stuck in the seventies. Furthermore, their kitchen was literally covered in blue. The tiles were blue, with white accent tiles sporadically placed, the cabinets were blue (yes you read that right) and the refrigerator was blue as well. The stove and dishwasher were white, but you get the idea of how blue things were. We decided a complete redesign would cure all of these blues.
We completely gutted the kitchen. Appliances, the blue kitchen cabinets, two large pantry kitchen cabinets, and we stripped the walls of the ugly tiles. After this was done we realized that one of the walls could be knocked out as well. It would be nice to open this wall, but the homeowners also wanted an option to keep part of that wall closed. This is where we turned to the pantry kitchen cabinets. It you’re not familiar with a pantry–a quick definition is as follows: a pantry kitchen cabinet or a kitchen pantry cabinet is a large closet type cupboard in your kitchen. There are a few different styles of height and width. It is eighty four to ninety six inches tall and about eighteen inches to two feet wide. These are the large cabinets that you see in the corners of kitchens. It is basically a food storage cupboard and the name comes from the old style -large, walk in pantries that were in most eighteenth and nineteenth century house designs.
So now that you are more familiar with a pantry kitchen cabinet, we now can go into how these kitchen cabinets helped turn this room into a feature in the house.
The homeowners were on a budget, so I suggested RTA cabinets. (Ready to assemble cabinets, which are pre-assembled cabinets). These cabinets saved the homeowner $3200 dollars (Three Thousand Two Hundred Dollars) over a quote they received from Lowe’s. The homeowners were actually familiar with the RTA style kitchen cabinets but were unsure if the RTA cabinets carried the pantry kitchen cabinets. After I informed the homeowners that RTA kitchen cabinets, not only make pantry kitchen cabinets, but the RTA cabinets are actually a better quality than retail stores like IKEA, Home Depot or Lowe’s.
So finally we got to the kitchen, installed RTA kitchen cabinets, painted the kitchen a nice white (no blue), added some accent tiles in a nice shade of brown, and then came to the wall that was removed. We added one pantry to this wall and then had an open space that the homeowners wanted to keep open but also have an option to close it off. This is where we decided to use a double pantry that acts like a false wall. When you opened the double pantry doors, it did not open into a cupboard, instead it opened into the other room. It was a great idea and it demonstrates how there are many uses for a pantry kitchen cabinet. So make sure you add a pantry cabinet to your kitchen and start thinking of the many ways it can be used.
Teak wood furniture
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Working with teak is a easy one and has natural oils which makes it a efficient one for exposed environment. Teak is one of the most commonly preferred woods and is a very popular for making furniture. Teak produced one older trees is hard and a durable one and resists the termite attacks. With all these advantages the teak is a suitable one for the making garden furniture’s.
Teak wood furniture ranges from sofa sets to tables, folding chairs, dining table and chairs, bar tables and chairs, etc. There are a number of teak wood outdoor furniture such as patio and garden furniture such as patio tables and side coffee tables, benches with carvings, backless benches, garden arm chairs, tea table sets, steamers and loungers, etc.
It is widely used in India for making windows columns beams, it can be widely seen in old houses. It is extensively used in making vintage furniture’s. Teak is especially noted for its capacity to withstand changes in the weather and season. Also, the Teak tree resin typically has an oil in it that is highly water resistant. This content alone can protect the Teak from decay, insects, and bacteria.
Teak wood furniture, although expensive is chosen by a large number of buyers as they want something that bring luxury and royalty for their homes. Sometimes they have a certain theme and teak only helps in coordinating with the theme.
We can personalize teak wood furniture’s according to our wish and creativity which adds porches to our place. Teak comes in variety of vibrant colors which adds additional look and beauty.