When the weather heats up, the idea of snuggling inside goes out the door. The focus shifts to creating a cozy haven outdoors–on a porch, deck, patio or terrace–just about anywhere you can plop a chair and a little something extra to provide some relaxing ambience.
Translating a feeling of comfort and style to an outdoor space is becoming easier. First, think of the space as you would a room in the house. The basic difference between furnishing an indoor room and an outdoor one comes down to practical considerations: How well will the furnishings stand up to weather?
Beyond that, the decisions to be made are similar to those that arise when furnishing an interior room. How much space is available? What furnishings and accessories suit your needs and desires? Make the spot a haven where you can escape, a place to be alone with your thoughts, to put up your feet and soak in the summer air. Make it a place where you can enjoy dining or the company of family and friends.
Consider style elements that will create an outdoor haven. A dash of color can add instant spark. Any tired furniture is a candidate for a paint job. An old bench might be transformed into a welcoming seat to enjoy a cold drink with a coat of cobalt blue. Just about everything stands out against this color–freshly picked tomatoes, a bunch of sunflowers. Indoors, the backdrop is walls or wall coverings. Outdoors, the colors of nature allow you to be a little more adventurous with hue.
Draw from your flower beds for color inspiration. Find a tablecloth and napkins in the same rich hues. Accent an outdoor table setting with a vase filled with the very flowers that suggested the palette.
Changing the look of outdoor furniture also is an easy way to make your outdoor haven stylish. The same tricks used indoors travel well outdoors–slipcovers or new upholstery can rejuvenate furniture. Update older redwood, teak or cast aluminum furniture with plump cushions for chaises and ottomans in attractive patterns and hues.
Just as a cloth dresses a table, simple, undistinguished folding chairs get a new attitude when cloaked in soft white slipcovers. The crisp, white covers look pristine when set against a brick wall laced with ivy and punctuated with lanterns set on brick floors edged in moss.
A single smashing piece of furniture, of course, goes a long way toward breathing life into a well-weathered outdoor space. The demand for stylish outdoor pieces has risen dramatically, and manufacturers are scrambling to meet it.
This year, for example, Ethan Allen introduced a collection of indoor/outdoor furniture for the first time in the company’s 65-year-history. The Home & Garden collection has four distinct looks. The most contemporary is Spa, which mixes warm-toned teak with silver aluminum. The lounge chair and ottoman are especially dramatic, connecting an ellipsis of flowing curves. The seat and back of each piece are composed of contoured teak slats supported by an aluminum framework.
Mixing materials is an indoor concept that is starting to make an impact outdoors. One of the most engaging pairings at Smith & Hawken is a slatted teak table teamed with galvanized steel chairs. All forms of silver metals–aluminum, steel, pewter, chrome–have been extremely popular in home furnishings in the past year, and it’s no surprise the look has gravitated outdoors.
The straight-lined Hamstead Table, which seats six comfortably, takes on a fresh contemporary look with arched-back galvanized chairs. The pieces are dipped in a zinc bath to make them rust-resistant, and the surface is textured. Holes in the seat drain rain, rubber feet protect floors and the chairs stack for convenience.
Integrating different textures is another decorating concept that works well outside. Wicker and rattan, of course, are traditional choices for introducing texture. A rough-hewn rocker finished in yellow teamed with an old table in marine blue reads like a welcome mat on a front porch. A metal pitcher filled with hydrangeas adds a loving touch. Rustic pieces–flea market and garage sale finds, with chipped or bleached-out paint–also are eye-catching and tactile additions. So are quilts or chenille pillows.
Fabrics, of course, add a softness that enhances ambience as well as color and pattern. What a difference a breezy blue stripe makes on a cushion and pillows cozying a wicker porch swing. Add a gingham pillow in saffron and white for punch. An old green bench and a red lantern add more color and texture.
Use fabrics in creative ways. Curtains, for example, are an unexpected and effective feature outdoors. Although umbrellas add color as they screen an area from the sun, curtains on a porch provide an atmosphere of romance and charm–the way a gauzy drape frames a four-poster bed. Waverly recently teamed with Sunbrella to create weather and fade-resistant fabrics that correspond to patterns already in both companies’ lines.
Other cozy touches, particularly useful when entertaining, are to bring out accessories that you wouldn’t dream of leaving outdoors, but provide comfort and elegance for a short amount of time. A patterned or sisal area rug sets off a grouping and defines space just as it does inside. Palecek’s British Colonial-inspired black mahogany plantation chair with wicker seat and a wicker ottoman on matching turned-wood feet takes on a sophisticated look when laid out on sisal at the edge of the garden.
Don’t forget about any walls in your outdoor sets. In some instances, the wall itself assumes a colorful or textural role. Try a rag-rubbed or sponged finish. Or hang something on the wall–a piece of art, a bell or a bird house.
When the sun goes down, there is no better way to usher in a romantic mood than with candles. Add pillar candles, hurricane lamps or votives to a tabletop. The table setting needn’t be fancy. A metal bucket filled with blooms or simple china or enamelware is sufficient. Set up seating against a wall by creating a bench with a board on level supports. Lined with a cushion and pillows, it makes an inviting banquette.
Some votives are designed with beaded or glass shades, giving them the look of small lamps, another appealing indoor accent that travels well. Think about candles around you as well. If you don’t have a ledge to line up a grouping of candles, consider glass vases with flat backs that can be hung on a wall. The 4-inch glass containers can be filled with water and blossoms or candles designed to float in water. They are available at Smith & Hawken.
Candlelight also can surround you on the edge of a patio or along a path. Available styles include green glass tulip-shaped votives, which hold tealight candles and are mounted on black metal stakes that stand 19 inches tall. They’re sold in sets of four by Winterthur.
You can bring style to just about any outdoor room. A gracefully curved cottage bench in teak sporting a cushion and homemade quilt teamed with a portable latticed table can make you feel right at home in the great outdoors.
WHERE TO BUY
These locations sell pieces mentioned in the accompanying story:
– Ethan Allen furnishings are carried locally at ATI Carriage House stores; for locations, call 800-228-9229.
– Smith & Hawken, 1780 N. Marcey St., Chicago, 312-266-1988, and 883 2nd St., Highland Park, 847-681-0380.
– Palecek, P.O. Box 225, Station A, Richmond, Calif. 94808; 800-274-7730.
– Waverly fabrics are carried at Vogue Fabrics, 718 Main St., Evanston, 847-475-1995.
– Winterthur, Catalog Division, P.O. Box 7018, 97 Commerce Way, Dover, Del. 19903; 800-767-0500.
