Outdoor furniture, furniture for park, garden and patio

Outdoor furniture is the furniture that is used to fill the outdoor rooms. As the indoor room, the outdoor space such as: garden, patio, park, beach, or gazebo also need furniture. The outdoor furniture usually are used for place for sitting and relax while enjoy the natural atmosphere at the outside room. Furniture for outdoor uses requires different specifications than the furniture for indoor uses. The outdoor furniture must be strong and durable enough to withstand the outdoor weather such as: rain, wind, night cold and sunlight. The outdoor furniture should be made from strong substrates and be finished with special material.

 outdoor chair with outdoor finish

The outdoor furniture is usually made from solid wood from hardwood such as: teak, acacia, merbau, oak, pecan, etc. The other substrates for outdoor furniture are: synthetic rattan, aluminum, stainless steel or iron with a special finishing. Hardware used should also be made of material that has high resistant to the outdoor weather such as: brass, copper, aluminum or stainless steel.
The special finishing material is required for the outdoor furniture, although there are much outdoor furniture are used in the unfinished conditions. The exterior finish material is needed if we want to finish the outdoor furniture. Some of the exterior finishing materials are: spar varnish, outdoor oil, outdoor polyester, outdoor polyurethane, outdoor water based or outdoor latex paint. We can determine the outdoor finish material by read the specification and the technical data sheet of the finishing material. The exterior finishing materials usually have higher prices and have less color choices then the indoor finishing material.
The models of outdoor furniture are usually simpler and less varied than the indoor furniture. The limited choice of the substrates and finishing has make the model is less varied. The special model with special veneer pattern at m.d.f. or particle board that many used for indoor furniture cannot be used because it is not strong enough for outdoor uses. The model with complex and heavy carving also is not too suitable with the natural environment in outdoor rooms. 

outdoor furniture made of synthetic rattan

How to care the outdoor furniture.

The outdoor furniture has less lifetime than the indoor furniture. The sunlight, rain and wind will make outdoor furniture to be quickly worn out, discoloration and making the wood, iron or other substrates become quickly obsolete. However, if we can do proper maintenance then we can make the furniture will be last longer. 

Here are some tips for caring the outdoor furniture.

•   Avoid furniture the direct sunlight at the hot day.

The sunlight is the factor that damages the furniture quickly. The ultra violet rays from the sunlight will make the colors fade and the wood, metal or plastic quickly decayed. It may impossible to avoid outdoor furniture from the sunlight, but at least we can minimize the hot sunlight directly go to the furniture. Place the furniture under the tent, umbrella, roof or trees. The shade places are also more pleasant as a place for relax and rest instead off the open sky space with hot and direct sunlight.

• Coat the furniture with proper finishing material.

The proper finishing layer will protect the substrate from the sun, water and wind to make furniture more durable. As long as the finishing layer is still well attached to the surface it still relies to give enough protection to the underneath substrates. But after a certain period of time, the finishing layer could become worn, faded and damaged. And when it comes, we should re finish the furniture. The refinishing process can be done in the simple way by re coat the furniture with the new finish material (could be the same types or not). Many finishing suppliers recommend to do re finishing every certain period of time (6 months or 1 year) to keep the finishing color and looked. We can choose the finishing material that can be applied by brush or rag to make the refinishing can be done easily. There are some exterior finishing materials such as: spar varnish, oil or water based paint finish that can be applied by brush or cloth.