Archive for September, 2007

Should I Stain My Outdoor Wood Furniture?

It’s a tough call what you should do with your wood patio furniture. Often, the only way to determine what you want is to just go ahead with something you think you’ll like and try it. However, certain types of wood furniture offer certain options that can be considered more easily with that particular material than with others. Consider the idea of staining your furniture. What are the possibilities with that?

First, you need to think about the type of wood furniture that you have in your yard. If you have something like oak or pine, it probably already has a finish, and if you wish to stain it a different color, you will need to start by sanding off what is already present. What you may want to look for is unfinished wood furniture upon which you are starting from scratch so that you can save a step or two in the process.

While you can find these materials “naked”, as they are usually called, the more common woods that are left as such are cedar and teak. These two types of wood secrete their own oils that make them weather resistant so that most solid wood furniture meant for outdoor use is left without varnish, oil, or any other sort of finish. While it is not necessary to treat either type of wood, many may want to change the shade of the wood without causing the intricate graining to disappear beneath a coat of paint. Therefore, they choose to stain such pieces.

If you choose to stain your cedar outdoor furniture, be sure to sand it with fine sandpaper first, not stripping it of an entire layer but simply smoothing out the surface and making sure you are starting out evenly. Choose a color that you can easily notice on the first stroke so that you can determine quickly how many coats you’ll need (cedar may soak up a good deal of the first coat, leaving little impression).

With teak wood furniture, you’ll want to treat it with the same care, though it is a harder and more solid wood and will not absorb quite as much of the stain, leaving you less work on the back end to complete the project. Regardless of which wood you choose, you’ll want to use a sealant over the stain to preserve the integrity of the substance and the color over the wood furniture you’ve treated.

Depending on your purpose, staining can be too time consuming to consider when not necessary, though for those who have the ideal patio design in mind, it’s well worth the time, effort, and expense to do so. Determine what you want from your furniture, how important the particular shade is, and how much time you are willing to spend to get it there, and you’ll have an answer as to whether or not you should stain your outdoor furniture.

Should I Paint That Old Teak Outdoor Table?

If you’re thinking about painting an old teak outdoor table, it must be pretty far gone in terms of appearance. Teak wood is long lasting and of beautiful grain and coloring, and to want to cover it up is a sign that the table’s seen better days. While teak furniture can be painted, there are several steps to the process to make sure that it comes out as nice as you’d like, and you should examine the amount of work involved before committing to the project.

Note that, because its oils make it naturally weather resistant, most teak is in the form of unfinished wood furniture. That means that there is no oil or varnish treatment to temper the natural elements of the wood. Prior to putting a coat of paint on most wood furniture, you would have finished and primed it. In the case of teak, you still have to prime it with a substance that will make sure to neutralize the affects of the oils on the paint you intend to use. The best source of primer for such a purpose is Kilz.

However, before even that can be applied, there is the process of sanding to consider, especially on an old worn table like the teak outdoor furniture you are planning to work with. There can be all manner of imperfections after years of neglect that can make painting it straight out a fruitless task that ends in chipped and peeling paint, such as splinters, warping, bubbles, and even dirt and dust that have ingrained themselves into the surface. You need coarse sandpaper and several hours to make sure that you remove every last old visible particle to reveal the new, untouched, undamaged wood beneath. Now you have a piece of teak patio furniture that can be primed and painted.

However, now that you’ve revealed the beauty of what was beneath years of grime and rough treatment, you may want to reconsider painting the table and match it up with other teak wood patio furniture you can purchase. You can already see that the table lasted longer than other types of wood patio tables, so you know the material is worth consideration.

If you do decide to paint the table after all, be sure to buy enough paint for at least two layers, if not three. Even with a coat of Kilz, the wood can absorb a lot of paint, and that means you’ll go through several coats before you see the finished result as you would like it, without splotches or transparent spots. When you are done, your teak table will most likely be unrecognizable in terms of material and only noticeable in shape. When you’ve finished, you should seal the paint well, since weathering can cause it to come off easily and unevenly.

Should I Paint That Old Cedar Patio Chair?

How long have you had that cedar chair out on the patio? Have you taken care of it so that it is in at least fair condition? If so, you may be thinking about restoring it and working it in with your new patio furniture, simply because you love the piece and can’t stand to see it go. If it’s been loved and kept in good condition, it shouldn’t be too difficult to restore. Think, though, if it’s worth the trouble before you begin the restoration.

How warped is your cedar chair? Does it look like it’s been bent and torn during decades of use? If it is not recognizable as the chair you purchased, you should just let it go – it’s lived a good, long life and needs to meet its end. However, if you can still recognize your patio chairs for what they once were, and there is a minimal amount of bowing, splintering, or chipping of the wood, you can most likely move forward with the task.

Assuming that the point is to work the old chair in with new cedar patio furniture, your first step is to make the chair obviously cedar once again. This involves some serious sanding, and how much simply depends on the age of the chair. You want to keep going until at least the top layer is removed, using coarse sandpaper to make the job easier and quicker. If there is still dirty, distorted wood, you need to keep sanding. When you are through, the color should closely resemble (although a perfect match may be impossible) the color of the new cedar furniture.

At this point, you’ll want to compare its style to the other patio chairs you’ve purchased. Does it fit in as is, or could you modify the style to make it fit in? If modifications are needed and you are not a carpenter, find a friend who can help you, and work on the shape of the back or wherever the discrepancy is and make it work.

Be aware that, if all the other seating is Adirondack cedar chairs and this older chair is not, it’s going to stick out and needs to be brought in as a special centerpiece or focus to avoid throwing the rest of the design off balance. You want to avoid questions about why there is one chair different from the rest of the patio set you have out; it should be obvious, or it should go away.

Once you’ve determined that you can fit it in with the crowd, you can determine whether or not you should paint it. Most people like cedar for its natural color. However, if there are now imperfections in your old chair you wish to cover or it doesn’t seem to fit in with your other wood patio furniture, you can paint it any color you like to turn it into a conversation piece.

Should I Paint My Outdoor Wood Furniture?

Deciding how to treat the furniture on your patio is sometimes a difficult dilemma. It seems like your patio furniture should be a simple thing, but depending on the material you’ve chosen for your décor, it can become quite complex. You’ve decided this time that you’d like to make the wood furniture that you have on your patio a different color but are concerned with what the outcome of painting it will be. How can you decide whether or not this is a good idea?

First, consider what kind of wood you have and how it’s been treated. If you have cedar furniture, it is probably not treated at all because cedar is weather resistant through its own production of oils. Cedar is a great wood to leave untreated, but if you decide to paint it, you should prepare carefully. Start with a base of Kilz because the oils in the log cedar furniture will cause the paint to pool and run in spots. Throwing the Kilz on first gives you a layer between the wood and the paint to work with that won’t chip and run.

Teak patio furniture will have similar assets, also creating its own protective oils that will need to be tempered with a coat of Kilz, should you decide to paint it. However, this highly prized imported wood looks terrific by itself, and you may want to consider staining it instead of paining, if you must change the coloration to suit your fancy.

Other unfinished wood furniture will be different. You will probably want to seal it prior to painting it, since a lack of doing so can leave the wood exposed to the elements. When wet or affected by weather, oak and similar softer woods will bow, bend, chip, and splinter, losing its natural beauty and aging quickly. A coat of varnish or oil prior to painting can be helpful.

Anytime you decide to paint your outdoor wood furniture, you should be sure to sand it first with medium grade sand paper to rough up the surface, since a perfectly smooth surface never takes well to a coat of paint and can cause the paint to chip easily. Be aware that some woods, including aspen log furniture, will soak up the paint, and you may have to apply several coats. Also, after finishing the job, you’ll want to seal the coat of paint as well because dirt, dust, and other particles can become stuck in the paint and start to wear it off or chip it, and weather can eat away at it. The sun can also cause color to fade.

When it comes to outdoor furniture, wood is a popular choice these days, and you’ll probably end up with some yourself. If you get tired of it, it’s okay to paint, as long as you consider the consequences of rushing through the job or doing it poorly.

Should I Consider Wrought Iron Patio Furniture?

With so many different materials from which lawn furniture is now fashioned, how do you know what style and type of furniture is right for you? One of the more common types of patio décor these days is wrought iron, but is this really the best material for your particular needs? It depends on what you want to design and how you want to present your space.

There is no right or wrong answer to the question; patio furniture can come in all shapes, sizes, styles, materials, and designs imaginable, and wrought iron is just another medium for the artwork that will be placed outside for others to view. In deciding whether or not to use wrought iron in your setting, there are three areas you want to consider: where is the furniture going, what style are you thinking of designing with, and what other options do you have for comparison?

First, where is the furniture going to be placed? Are you purchasing garden furniture? If so, wrought iron works nicely for such a setting, not blending in as wood does but still looking natural and minimalistic in the surroundings, unlike wicker or vinyl. If it’s outdoor deck furniture you are considering, wrought iron may work for you, or you may want something flashier to show off on such a well-developed structure. This is entirely up to you.

Next, think about your theme or style. If you are thinking of going with the look of rustic furniture, wrought iron is probably the wrong material, since out in the woods and mountains, where rustic is the natural style, you won’t find a lot of wrought iron. Instead, this type of design calls for something more natural, like unfinished wood furniture. Again, it is entirely your call, but the material should suit the style. Therefore, by the same ideal, a contemporary casual look may be constructed of wrought iron, with other materials perhaps provided as accent pieces.

Of course, you should consider all the options for materials used in outdoor furniture. For example, outdoor teak furniture has become extremely popular lately due to its durability, malleability, and weather resistant properties. However, the wood is mainly imported into the United States, making it a bit costly for most consumers, who are not willing to shell out that kind of money on exterior furniture. At the same time, cedar furniture offers many similar properties and is readily available domestically, making these patio sets a lot less expensive than their imported counterparts. Still, while mostly weather resistant, wood still requires some upkeep.

With all of this in mind, you can better make a determination as to whether or not wrought iron is the right choice for your décor. It should always be a consideration but not necessarily the final answer.

Home and Garden Décor

Home and garden décor can be described as many things. Many people choose to decorate their homes and surrounding gardens in many different ways and it really comes down to personal preference. Personally, I like a well decorated garden, full of outdoor furniture, but nothing that detracts too much from the natural beauty of the garden, full of home and garden decor, but not so much that the design is too busy. The centerpiece of my garden is an ornate pond that is about fifteen feet around, and about five feet deep. Feeding the pond is a trickling waterfall that funnels about five feet down a rock wall that I designed to look like ancient ruins, and inside the pond are a happy family of Koi goldfish that swim about lazily, unless it is time to be fed, at which time they franticly swim around looking for food pellets.
It is obvious to me that the most important piece of home and garden decor to me is this pond. Surrounding the pond is a garden of spider lilies, irises, and other seasonal flowers. The pond is lit up at night by lights that I have hidden around in the surrounding plants, and a few underwater lights that accent the waterfall. Between the house and the pond, there is a natural stone patio that is made out of the same type of stone as the waterfall, to add cohesion to the home and garden decor that I have chosen for my garden. On the patio are all my teak furniture chairs and potted plants that must be brought inside in the winter so they will not be damaged by the extreme cold found in this part of the country in that season. This brings up a good point.
You should be careful when selecting the types of flora that you use in your home and garden decor, because some temperature extremes of hot and cold may be too harsh for some types of home and garden decor. Situated on the natural stone patio, is a simple set of elegant black lacquered patio furniture built in an Asian style, which values function over form, giving the overall feel of my home and garden decor an Asian feel.

Patio Sets

Patio sets can include as many or as few pieces of furniture as you would like. A patio set can be defined as a couple of high backed Adirondack chairs, if you like. The chairs themselves would feature large armrests, big enough to set food of drink on, which would eliminate the need for a table altogether. There wouldn’t have to be a table included anyway, for it to be a patio set, as long as there are at the very least two pieces of furniture.
How about this complete set of patio furniture? It is lovingly crafted out of teak and includes not only a lovely table and four chairs but also two loungers and a small side table. This patio set is certainly much nicer than the first one, but that doesn’t mean that the first patio set isn’t as well. It just has fewer pieces included in it. So you see, the term patio set can refer to any assortment of patio furniture.
My personal patio set is a large, bulky set up made of cast aluminum; it is steady enough to accommodate even the heaviest patron, while light enough to be moved easily. Because it is cast aluminum, I have no reason to fear the elements, because aluminum is very resistant to most types of precipitation, including rain and snow. My patio set has four chairs that have slats across the back, and a slightly slanted seat with slats in that as well, so water runs right through the slats. The table itself is about four feet high and round. The table and chairs are all coated with a bright red plastic coating. The patio set also includes two loungers that are also cast aluminum with a rubberized coating. The two loungers in the patio set are adjustable, so you can set them up at ninety degrees, or lay them down completely. Between the two loungers is a table that matches them, and makes a convenient place to set your drink if you are sitting in one of the two loungers. This is a basic outdoor furniture set that is perfect for my needs.

Patio Sets

Patio sets can include as many or as few pieces of furniture as you would like. A patio set can be defined as a couple of high backed Adirondack chairs, if you like. The chairs themselves would feature large armrests, big enough to set food of drink on, which would eliminate the need for a table altogether. There wouldn’t have to be a table included anyway, for it to be a patio set, as long as there are at the very least two pieces of furniture.
How about this complete set of patio furniture? It is lovingly crafted out of teak and includes not only a lovely table and four chairs but also two loungers and a small side table. This patio set is certainly much nicer than the first one, but that doesn’t mean that the first patio set isn’t as well. It just has fewer pieces included in it. So you see, the term patio set can refer to any assortment of patio furniture.
My personal patio set is a large, bulky set up made of cast aluminum; it is steady enough to accommodate even the heaviest patron, while light enough to be moved easily. Because it is cast aluminum, I have no reason to fear the elements, because aluminum is very resistant to most types of precipitation, including rain and snow. My patio set has four chairs that have slats across the back, and a slightly slanted seat with slats in that as well, so water runs right through the slats. The table itself is about four feet high and round. The table and chairs are all coated with a bright red plastic coating. The patio set also includes two loungers that are also cast aluminum with a rubberized coating. The two loungers in the patio set are adjustable, so you can set them up at ninety degrees, or lay them down completely. Between the two loungers is a table that matches them, and makes a convenient place to set your drink if you are sitting in one of the two loungers. This is a basic outdoor furniture set that is perfect for my needs.

Solid Wood Furniture

Solid wood furniture is my favorite kind. The rugged durability and dense nature of solid wood furniture makes it the first choice of many potential wood furniture shoppers. Imagine the pride you will feel, when your solid wood furniture is passed down generation to generation, through the ages, carrying with it your legacy. Solid wood furniture has the distinct quality of being strong enough to withstand the test of time, and even if it is dinged up pretty bad, it can be refinished, or sent to a furniture repair specialist to be restored to its former glory.
Another pro of solid wood furniture is the high price antiques are fetching these days. After a few generations, the solid wood furniture that you had the foresight to purchase new, knowing that it would last many years, will be an antique, and thusly, possibly worth a good bit of money. My parents bought me a set of teak wood furniture when I was an infant, and much too young to use is. It was made by the company “bass furniture” and features an art deco design that has not gone out of style since. The headboard is composed of three squares of wood, which are held together by four visible horizontal slats. The squares themselves are divided into four smaller squares that are composed of alternating grains of wood. The set of solid wood furniture comes with two night stand that repeat the motif, and have two shelves on the inside that are hidden by two swinging doors that are kept closed my a magnet.
Also included in the solid wood furniture set is a large teak furniture dresser, about twelve feet across, which is divided into three sections of three drawers apiece. The middle three drawers are hidden by swinging doors of the same type that are present on the night stands. The top of the dresser is adorned by a giant mirror that runs the length of the entire dresser. Throughout my life I have moved place to place, for business, or just for personal preference. As a result, my solid wood furniture has received quite a beating. I treasure my solid wood furniture, however, and I plan one day to have it restored.

Cedar Outdoor Furniture

Cedar Outdoor Furniture is a good choice for the patio. This particular set of cedar outdoor furniture is shaded by a grove of pecan trees, which is good, because cedar outdoor furniture, unless properly treated, cedar outdoor furniture is prone to warp. This set is lovingly crafted out of white cedar, with an intricate inlay of western red cedar. The legs are protected by a brass leg guards, which is good, because the grass here in the pecan orchard has grown up all around the legs, and it’s only a matter of time before the yardman has to come through with the weed-whacker, and cut them down for the children’s birthday party.
A black dog sits under the cedar outdoor furniture, dozing peacefully, dreaming of his younger days of chasing rabbits and other small game through the hills and valleys. The chairs of the cedar outdoor furniture are deep and comfortable. They are Adirondack chairs, featuring contoured seats and wide armrests, as well as seats that are slanted backwards for relaxed comfort. There are rings on the armrests where drinks have been left too long and caused moisture to leave permanent reminders of days gone by.
You can see on one of the chairs of the cedar patio furniture that someone has carved a message years ago; D.F. loves B.H., with a large heart around the two of their initials. It is a constant reminder of youthful love and childlike devotion. One can only wonder what became of their love affair, and when it took place, because this particular set of cedar outdoor furniture is over one hundred years old. D.F. probably sat in these very chairs and looked out over the fledgling pecan grove, which would later grow into the mighty grove that stands here today. It just goes to show that there can be a lot of memories made in the back yard setting. Why not have a set that can endure all those years and still look good in the end?