All Outdoor Patio Furniture

Nearly everything, including the way we dress and decorate, the tools and equipment we use, the food we eat, the places we go, and even the way we live, changes with the seasons.    Consequently, many of our possessions are stored in garages, sheds, attics, and cedar chests, for the better part of the year.

Right now, for example, patio furniture, grills, picnic tables and baskets, shorts, tank tops, lawn games, and mowers, are being used or worn every day.  Two months from now, however, we’ll be packing them up, and getting out our warm clothes, rakes, and fall decorations.

Even those who live in regions where the weather barely changes throughout the year, have to adjust to the seasons.  The only difference is that they don’t have quite as many things to put into storage; and that’s good.  After all, it’s sad when something that has been indispensable for months, suddenly becomes a worthless object that’s merely taking up space.

So, it’s always nice to find ways to be able to use things beyond their traditional seasons.  For instance, many people who live in cold climates enclose their porches, patios, and gazebos, so that they can enjoy their porch furniture year-round.  Millions of people have also decided that their Christmas lights, rather than being buried in boxes, should be strung around their arbors, trellises, and pergolas, to add permanent sparkle to their outdoor décor.

Picnic baskets, too, can be functional all year long; yet, people usually put them away at the end of summer.  That’s a shame, because they sometimes get dirty or damaged, or even gnawed by rodents, during the winter (the baskets, that is, not the people – or so one hopes).  Furthermore, like the other types, picnic baskets are attractive, and available in different designs and colors; and they can serve a number of purposes.

Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to keep them hidden away, especially if you have more than one picnic basket, as many people do.  Keep one on your porch or deck, near your favorite lounge chair, and use it to hold magazines, board games, knitting supplies, binoculars and bird books, or anything else that you want to have handy.

In your pool house, you can fill picnic baskets with towels, tanning lotion, bug spray, hairspray (just don’t get those two mixed up!), or other health and beauty products, for guests to use.  Larger baskets can hold extra blankets or outdoor throw pillows, for those chilly nights when you’re lying in your hammock or swingbed, gazing at the stars.  At backyard parties, put them on your outdoor buffet table, to hold napkins and utensils.

Of course, you can always use picnic baskets in your kitchen.  Fill them with snack foods, such as cookies, crackers, nuts, protein bars, and even cereal, rice, and beans (as long as they’re sealed in plastic bags).  You can also keep napkins and tablecloths in them.

In the summer, drape some cloth napkins in pretty patterns, such as gingham, around the edges of the picnic basket, and put a bouquet of dried flowers on top.  Use russet-colored napkins and, perhaps, dried leaves or Indian corn, in the fall.  At Christmastime, use red and green napkins, along with any of the multitude of seasonal decorations.  When spring comes around, try flowered or pastel napkins, and some colorful flowers.

Truly, if you let your creativity flow, you’ll think of a hundred uses for picnic baskets.  If you can save just one of them from the jaws of a rodent, it will be worth it.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: Arbors, cedar chests, Gazebos, grills, hammock, outdoor buffet table, outdoor decor, patio furniture, Pergolas, picnic tables, Pool house, porch furniture, Sheds, swing bed, trellises

As I pore over books and magazines, looking for holiday decorating ideas, all I see, naturally, are the picture-perfect houses and rooms that everyone wants, but few of us have. I’m sure you get the same feelings from these photographs; it’s just like the one you get when you see clothing models. You think, “Wow! That’s such a great outfit! But will it look that way on me? Heck, no!” Aahhh!!!! Why must they torture us like that?

(A-hem!) Anyway, one advantage that we have now is that holiday decorations can cover up many imperfections. Oh, and remember, as is the case with our personal appearances, we’re likely to be the worst critics of how our homes look (it’s those durned magazines that make us think that way!).

So, what’s the trick to making your home look spectacular when your guests come a-callin’? Well, it’s a lot like pulling off a fantastic illusion by using smoke and mirrors, except that you’ll be using candles and mirrors; and, of course, Christmas lights, ornaments, and other glistening decorations. Word to the wise, they’re your best allies, to dazzle, disguise, and distract the eyes.

Along with the strings of lights that you’re sure to have decorating your rooms and your tree, use candles, placed on mirrors, to create a veritable festival of lights in your home. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, because you can use plain mirrors that you already have hanging around the house, mirrored vanity trays with gilded edges, or even polished silver platters. Set them on end tables, accent tables, cedar chests, buffets, bars, and other wood furniture.

Dim the main lamps, and the overheads, and let the reflective glow conjure a festive, old-fashioned, and very merry, atmosphere. Oil lamps with colored-glass bases, and vases filled with shiny ornaments or clear, multi-colored, decorative stones, will also help to make everything sparkle.

Whether your home is already magazine-worthy, or has that comfortable, lived-in look, these few, inexpensive touches will make it absolutely radiant, and instantly brighten everyone’s spirits.

By the way, another bonus that you’ll get from this will be the undying appreciation of your guests. After all, the candlelight can hide many of their flaws, too.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: accent tables, bars, buffets, cedar chests, end tables, wood furniture

As I was saying, I enjoy trying to find out how our many holiday traditions got started; but each one has so many conflicting versions, that it can be difficult to pinpoint its exact origin.  Still, they’re all pretty entertaining.

 Kissing under the mistletoe, for example, is a strange one.  As one story goes, in ancient Scandinavia, it was a plant of peace; so, if enemies happened to meet under it in the forest, they would put down their arms and observe a truce until the next day.

 Somehow, over time, that led to kissing beneath it.  The thing is that, according to legend, men supposedly had license to kiss women who were standing under it.  BUT (and, as you can see, that’s a big but), afterward, they would pluck a berry from the mistletoe, and when the berries were gone, it was, well, all kissed-out, I guess, and the privilege existed no more.  

 However, like every tradition, it apparently kept on changing, and the berry-plucking eventually ceased.  Of course, although it’s no mystery why men would want to do away with the part that would deprive them of their rights to further kisses, I don’t know whether it was a blatant disregard of convention that caused the modification, or the simple fact that most mistletoe found in homes today is plastic. 

 See?  That’s the even-funnier thing about trying to solve an ancient puzzle; the more pieces you find, the more puzzling it becomes.  In the first place, I can’t imagine what possible good a one-day truce would do anybody, except that, maybe, it gave one party the chance to run away (and live to fight another day!) under cover of darkness.  Otherwise, it seems to be a hollow gesture – kind of like a meaningless kiss.  

 At CedarStore.com, we prefer more solid traditions; and that’s why most of our wood furniture is still hand-crafted in true, Old World style.  This includes our beautiful oak and cherry jewelry chests, jewelry boxes, armoires, silverware boxes, and cedar chests, which make great gifts, not only for Christmas, but for any occasion.  In fact, by giving one, you may start a whole new tradition, as it may end up being passed down for generations. 

 All in all, I’d say that’s much more enduring and meaningful than an insincere kiss under a plastic plant!

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: armoires, cedar chests, cherry, jewelry boxes, jewelry chests, oak, silverware boxes, wood furniture

Sure, we’re all about outdoor furniture and outdoor living.  However, millions of people have enclosed their porches, patios, gazebos, and decks, in order to bring the outdoors inside.  At the same time, millions more have brought the indoors outside, by turning their yards into virtual outdoor living rooms; and many people have done both.

 More than simply blurring the line between the indoors and the outdoors, this trend has, in many cases, made it all but indistinguishable.  Even so, we haven’t lost sight of it; and that’s why we make furniture that can easily walk that line (hey, it’s got legs, right?).  In fact, it’s so cooperative and agreeable that it can even make your life simpler.  It fits into all of your plans and schemes (uh, design plans and color schemes, that is), and a lot of it is elegant enough to be used in any room in the house.     

 Also willing to work year-round, our patio furniture will come inside and lend a hand – or, in this case, an arm, a leg, or a seat – during this hectic holiday season.  Even when your house is overflowing with guests, they won’t feel slighted – in the slightest – if you seat them at our cherry patio dining set, teak party collection, oak bar set, or any of our polywood, red cedar, or aluminum outdoor dining tables.  They’ll also enjoy relaxing on our gorgeous synthetic wicker chairs, sofas, or loveseats, which feature thick, comfortable furniture cushions.  We also have many pieces, such as our Red Cedar Teagan Table, and our Shea Buffet, that are perfect for holding food, beverages, and hors d’oeuvres. 

 Our products also ease holiday stress by making great gifts.  Besides our wood, metal, and synthetic porch furniture, we have a fantastic selection of accessories, outdoor décor, and home accents, including cedar chests, silverware boxes, jewelry chests, quilt racks, and much more.

Furthermore, if you don’t find what you’re looking for on our site, just call one of our design consultants and ask about having something customized.  You’ll find that they’re every bit as cooperative, agreeable, and obliging as our furniture; but with much better personalities, of course.

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: cedar chest, cedar chests, dining sets, jewelry boxes, Outdoor Furniture, patio chairs, patio furniture, porch furniture, quilt rack

CedarStore.com is a great place to do your holiday shopping; and we have an immense selection of gifts for people of all ages. 

 For example, there’s the stunning assortment of storage chests in our ‘Home Accents’ section.  Our classic cedar chests, finished to resplendence with a double coat of lacquer, will give any room a warm, inviting glow, as will our gorgeous cherry and oak chests, which are available in several rich wood stains.  To make them even more welcoming, you can turn them into comfortable seats, with our soft, attractive chest cushions, which are made from durable, washable olefin, and offered in several colors and patterns.  

 In addition, we feature solid oak steamer trunks, reminiscent of those that were used during the heyday of steamship travel, that are accented with brass-plated hardware and genuine leather straps, and come with locks and keys.  You’ll also find vintage maple chests that are finished in your choice of four colors of distressed paint, for an authentically antique look, along with white pine chests embellished with  hand-painted designs.

 Besides our storage chests, we have breath-taking, hand-crafted cherry and oak silverware chests, jewelry boxes, and armoires, lined with burgundy or green felt, and offered in six radiant wood tones.

 There’s also a ton of fantastic gifts for children in our ‘Kid’s Korner’ section.  There, you’ll find a huge array of durable scooters and tricycles, constructed with powder-coated steel frames, and available in several bright colors, as well as ultra-sturdy wagons with weight capacities of up to 1,100 pounds. 

 Beyond the toys, we feature a wonderful line of children’s outdoor furniture, which includes kids’ patio chairs, folding chairs, picnic tables, and folding picnic tables.

 If you want to bring the family together, try some of our fun, challenging outdoor games, such as croquet and quoits.  If you’ve never tried quoits before, it’s a game that’s just like horseshoes – well, almost.  But that counts, right?

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: cedar chests, chests, children's outdoor furniture, jewelry boxes, outdoor games, silverware chests

Okay.  Halloween is over.  The ghosts have gone back to their graveyards, the vampires have returned to their coffins, the witches have left town on their brooms, and the Great Pumpkin has, once again, left Linus Van Pelt alone and freezing in his oh-so-sincere pumpkin patch, wondering where he went wrong. 

Now comes the scariest part of the year – the holidays.  Yep.  We’re facing two full months of Christmas commercials (I saw my first one before Halloween) and decorations.  In fact, the malls are already fully decked out, and Thanksgiving is still three weeks away!  Worse yet, many houses will be ready for Christmas by the middle of the month.  That’s a shame, too, because fall decorations are gorgeous; so, even though the Halloween stuff has to go, leave the cornstalks, haystacks, and strings of orange lights on your gazebos, fences, trellises, arbors, and pergolas, until after Thanksgiving.

When it comes to getting gifts, however, there are times when it makes sense to shop early.  Usually, these are cases in which you want to get someone something extra-special, which has to be ordered in advance, like, say, one of our stunning cedar chests.  That will definitely make a spectacular gift; but if you want to be sure to have it there for Christmas, now would be a good time to order, as it takes four to six weeks for delivery.  Of course, it will be well worth the wait.   

At CedarStore.com, in our ‘Home Accents’ section, we have the most magnificent selection of cedar, oak, and cherry chests, along with some dazzling steamer trunks, which can be finished in several lustrous shades of stain, and double coated with lacquer.  Available in all styles and price ranges, they will not only be among the most outstanding gifts you could ever give, but they will surely be the most cherished and enduring as well.   

Besides our cedar chests, we also offer breath-taking jewelry boxes, jewelry chests, armoires, toy chests, and silverware boxes, many of which ship in two weeks or less, and all of which will be shipped free.            

So, you can either throw yourself into the fray to get an ordinary present, or sit leisurely at your computer and choose an extraordinary gift that’s bound to become a treasured heirloom.  Hmm – it sounds like the case for a cedar chest is open and shut.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: cedar chest, cedar chests, cherry chest, hope chest, oak chest

It seems as though Christmas comes earlier every year.  It’s not just because retail stores start pushing it in August, either; after all, everyone knows that they have always been one solstice or equinox ahead of the earth’s rotation.

I think it’s because the rest of the world is starting to go along with the idea.  Just look at their outdoor décor; not only do some people not even wait until after Thanksgiving to deck their homes out for Christmas anymore, but even Halloween gets at least a month’s head-start.  I’ve been seeing scarecrows in porch chairs, pumpkin-headed creatures on loveseats, ghosts hanging from arbors, and spider webs on trellises, practically since the school year began (and, no, I’m not hallucinating)!

Decorating issues aside, there are those who have always gotten a jump on the rest of us when it comes to holiday shopping.  This is an entirely different matter, as these people are not fanatics; they’re just very annoying to certain individuals who traditionally don’t start until, say, Christmas Eve (I only know this because I have a “friend” who does it).        

Furthermore, it can be a good idea, especially if you’re ordering something that has to be shipped, and may take awhile to arrive.  In fact, it can be a really smart move, because, in this hectic, hurried world, where more people every year simply pass out gift cards (which, in many cases, they pick up at grocery and drug stores), getting someone an actual present – and one that has to be shipped, no less – is a great way to show that you cared enough to shop for something specifically for that person.

If this sounds like a good thing, in theory, but you really don’t have a lot of time to shop, you’ll be glad to know that you can get some spectacular gifts right here at CedarStore.com.  I’m not talking about knick-knacks, either; I mean gorgeous cedar chests, oak chests, cherry chests, steamer trunks, jewelry boxes, silverware boxes, and armoires, available with many different staining options.

No matter which one you choose, you’ll be giving a gift that can be opened again and again, for years to come.  That definitely beats a piece of plastic!

Yours Outdoors (or, in this case, indoors!)

Kathy

Tags: cedar chest, cedar chests, chest, chests, hope chest, hope chests

Every day, we’re faced with tons of choices.  Whether we’re shopping for cars, outdoor furniture, financial services, potting soil, or ice cream (or the toppings that we put on it), we’re offered enough options to give us intense headaches (before we even eat the ice cream!).

It’s funny, though, that with all of these selections, and the fortunes that advertisers spend to make us aware of them, we frequently choose the safe and comfortable favorites that we’ve always known and loved.  Even more interesting is that some of the most prized, sought after, and fought over materials on the planet have held their status for centuries, without a bit of advertising; and not one of them is manmade.      

For example, gold crowns the precious metals.  Among gemstones, the diamond sparkles.  When it comes to food, a certain kind of meat seems to always be what’s for dinner.  In clothing, people may cotton to one particular fabric over the rest; and, in the world of wood, indeed, it seems that cedar supersedes.    

There are so many things that wouldn’t be the same without cedar.  For instance, although storage chests can be made of many kinds of wood, a cedar chest is the most treasured.  Western Red Cedar has always been one of the most popular woods for making porch furniture, picnic tables, and arbors, because of its many desirable properties. 

For one thing, its extreme durability has made it a favorite among architects and woodworkers since ancient times, as evidenced by its presence in structures that are thousands of years old, including the Pyramids (yes, THE Pyramids).  Native Americans used Western Red Cedar to build canoes and totems – many of which are still standing today.  So, I guess it’s no mystery why many of our grandmothers still have the same, comfortable old porch swings and rocking chairs that they had when we were kids – or even before we were born. 

Another thing that makes cedar so attractive to builders is that it’s very easy to work with, giving itself up to saw, nail, and plane.  It produces generous, lightweight lengths of lumber with a fine, porous, tight, straight grain of unvarying texture, which gives it dimensional stability, so it will lie flat, and resist warping, twisting, and checking. 

Cedar also possesses an innate ability to resist decay, a defense system provided by its naturally occurring supply of thujic acid; and it has one of the most well-known and loved fragrances found in nature.  More than simply pleasing to the senses, this aroma can repel moths and other insects, as well as overtake unwelcome odors, which is why so many closets, storage units, and shoe racks are made from cedar.       

There’s no doubt that cedar has legions of admirers all over the world; but its most enthusiastic fan base is right here at CedarStore.com.  Of course, I’m sure that you’ve guessed that by now!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: cedar, cedar chests, Outdoor Furniture