Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

I hope I’m not pigeon holing our readers too much… but as I spent much of my weekend glued to the weather channel, it seems that the majority of our fine nation was dumped on with snow recently. Here in Pittsburgh, we’re still in a state of snow emergency… with the national guard and over a hundred out-of-state workers trying to dig us out.

But, enough about us… I’m sure you’re much more concerned about your gardens and lawns than the city with six superbowl rings (congratulations Saints)

So, when looking out your windows how, exactly, will you deal with all of that snow and ice covering your garden and landscaping?

Determine Snow-Type: Natural coverings of snow, from falling and drifting, are actually not damaging your flowers and vegetables. In fact, it serves as an insulating layer, and slow melting will provide a lot of much-needed moisture to winter’s dry vegetation. The problem comes when snow plows, snow blowers, and even shuffles pile dense and heavy snow that are slow to melt and too heavy for most trees or shrubs. If your snow removal is within your control, do your best to keep it away from any kind of growth.

Evaluate Trees and Shrubs: Even natural snow in large amounts can be too much for tender branches. To avoid damage to your tress or shrubs, take steps to protect the branches from drooping, bending, or even snapping. Leave you shovel on the driveway and pick up a broom, car brush, or just your gloves to gently sweep the snow from the branches. Remember, a broken branch is like a broken bone, so be careful! Don’t ever shake the plant as the brittle and stressed branches may snap. And, brush in an upward motion to avoid using force to further bend or break a branch. You’ll find best results if you do this before too many inches of snow accumulate… the more often you clean off your trees, the better off you’ll be. A word to the wise: these are great steps to take with snow… but ice is a different story. If the branches are already covered or incased in ice, no matter what you do, any sort of interference will cause more damage. Just let them be to melt naturally.

Protect Structures and Furniture: Though the snow piling up on the arms of your adirondack chairs or atop your accent table look comical and help to really define exactly how much snow has fallen… it’s best to remove the accumulation as quickly as possible. If you can do so safely, sweep snow from the roofs of gazebos, cabanas, and sunrooms. So much weight isn’t good for even heavy structures. If you have any arbors or lattice, you would be surprised at the immense weight piles of snow can boast, and should protect these more delicate garden enhancements. Sweeping the snow from your patio groups, dining sets, and picnic tables should be much less work and require less attention to safety measures… so don’t avoid cleaning them off. While the most durable of woods may not show damage from days under snow piles and ice…such heavy levels of moisture aren’t good for any material. Protect your outdoor furniture so it will serve you best in the spring!

After braving what many newscasters have called, “snow-magedden,” make sure to hang all wet and snowy clothes to dry fully without collecting mildew or mold from being stuffed back into closets or drawers, and make a hot cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. No matter how intelligent our weather-predictors get, you know (perhaps from years of trying to manipulate your garden to produce prize-winning flowers) that nature will always win over human strength. Shovel as you can and don’t let yourself be overworked. In fact, make sure to pull your family and snow-friendly pets out from under their beds’ blankets to make snow angels, snow men, and maybe even adventurous snow tunnels. Protect your lawn from the snow… but don’t forget to enjoy it as well!

now that’s a way to warm up!

See you Outside!

Hazel

Tags: accent tables, adirondack chairs, Arbors, Cabanas, dining sets, garden enhancements, Gazebos, lattics, patio groups, picnic tables, snow removal, Sunrooms

1. Create an Entry Way

Even if your whole yard or property isn’t fenced in, it’s good to create a sense of transition from the outside world, to the whimsical home of your garden.  Guests will be put immediately at ease knowing that they are entering a place of tranquility and hospitality.  Most people spend a lot of time decorating their front doors to give their visitors the same feeling, so make sure to do it with your garden as well.  A good way to create an entry way is through the use of arbors or gates.

Choose a flat top or arch top arbor to fit your personality and vine it with colorful and eye-catching plants.  This wide array of climbing color will immediately spark your guests’ interest, inviting them in to see what else your home carries.

A gate can be another way to transition visitors from the outside world to your garden.  If your yard is fenced in for privacy or pets, an arbor with an attached gate will allow you to keep your garden and lawn enclosed, while giving you plenty of space to vine plants and flowers.  Remember that no small touch in your garden will go without notice, and though we should not judge books by their covers, your entry way will set the tone for the entire journey through your yard.  A rusting metal gate will not welcome people in like a friendly gated arbor.

2. Plant Gardens that Work Together

Your entry way will be more interesting if you use a variety of plants; shrubs, vines, and perennials can be plotted to work together if done with a bit of forethought.  Your guests will be surveying the entry way throughout their walk, so make sure they are never bored by breaks in vegetation or jolted by sudden changes in plant life.

Variety is the spice of life, so don’t stick to one color pallet or one type of flower.  Shrubs, like the Winter Gold Winterberry, that produce colorful berries will make sure that your garden is still vibrant with interesting hues long after the flowers have faded.

If you thought you only had plants to work with, think again!  Use fragrant plants to attract wild life, such as butterflies and hummingbirds, to animate your garden and produce endless hours of entertainment.  Planting Shasta Daisies, Cosmos, and Delphiniums will be sure to invite colorful wild life.  And, to entice all sorts of birds, using an out of the ordinary bird feeder will add more curiosity to your space, while inviting the birds to come and play as well.

Make sure your entry way garden is exciting and varied to keep your visitors’ interest, but don’t allow any large breaks or sudden changes to draw the eye to one specific spot that would pull them out of the entire scene.

3. Have a Place to Gather

Having a welcoming entry way garden will put your guests into a calming mindset, eager to enjoy your tranquil space.  The cruelest trick would be to catch their every interest, then force them inside and away from all the natural beauty.  Having a porch swing, patio group, or garden bench will give you and your friends a bright spot to gather for coffee, tea, and conversation.  Folding Adirondack chairs will allow you to move your party anywhere in the garden, while heavier dining sets and deep seating will form an outdoor living room where guests will feel free to lounge and feel at home. But don’t forget, it’s not always just about your guests!  A well placed hammock or swing bed will give you the perfect spot to relax and enjoy all your hard work (without any outside interruptions!)

See You Outside! (in your entry way garden!)

Hazel

Tags: adirondack chairs, Arbors, birdfeeders, deep eating, dining sets, entryways, garden bench, gates, hammock, patio group, porch swings, swing bed

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yes – I was counting the ways in which our outdoor furniture is extraordinarily gracious and obliging; and this, naturally, includes our garden structures, outdoor décor, home accents, and accessories.  As I pointed out, this is not just a fair-weather stance, as much of it is designed to stand up to the even the harshest elements of winter; and a lot of it is stylish enough for indoor use.    

 Moreover, during the holiday season, we all need the cooperation of everyone and everything around us; and that’s another way in which our furniture will help.  Besides the outdoor dining tables, porch swings, bar and bistro sets, hammock chairs, kids’ picnic tables, and settees that you can proudly use inside to accommodate guests at your holiday parties, there are many items that lend themselves to your outdoor displays.      

 Among the leaders in this category are arbors, trellises, and pergolas.  I’m not sure, but I may have mentioned these before; but even if I have, they deserve more press.  After all, they’ve been garden favorites for centuries, which means that they have endured the test of time, and passed it with flying colors.  In fact, they’re famous for flying colors, which are usually those of the gorgeous flowers that climb and envelop them.

 Of course, at this time of the year, the colors may be emanating from Christmas lights, which look equally stunning on planters, planter trellises, and planter benches with lattice backs.  You can also get very creative in decorating our wheel barrow planters. 

 Another way to light things up brilliantly is by using our solar-powered post caps, which come in Tiffany-style, clear, and solid-colored glass.  On fences, gazebo railings, and garden bridges, they’ll enhance your holiday displays, and make your yard absolutely spectacular all year long.  

 Indeed, our outdoor furniture can assist with many of the details of your Christmas decorations.  Speaking of details, there’s one other thing, of which I was reminded while watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special (don’t bother snickering, because I know you still watch it, too!).  Although your dog isn’t as sophisticated as Snoopy, he or she still deserves to share in the holiday fun; so don’t forget to decorate the dog house! 

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: arbor, bridge, dining sets, gazebo, Outdoor Furniture, pergola, Pergolas, picnic tables, Planters, porch swing, trellis

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

While browsing a magazine about outdoor living, I came upon a picture of a beautifully prepared outdoor dining set.  Although it seemed strange that this outside table was set with real china, instead of paper plates, the thing that really struck me was that they were using the good old blue-and-white plates of yesteryear. 

So, I did some research and found that the popularity of blue-and-white ceramic pottery goes back more than three centuries, to the time when Chinese porcelain first arrived in Europe.  Among its earliest admirers was Queen Mary II, in the late 1600’s.  She must have started some kind of trend, because the demand for it became so great that, by the 18th century, blue-and-white china pieces were being shipped to England by the millions.

Even though the craze began with Chinese pieces, it was English potters who were able to mass produce similar items, using a printing technique that was developed around the middle of the 18th century, wherein designs could be transferred, instead of hand-painted, onto the pottery.  This method was so much faster that factories could quickly churn out thousands of blue-and-white “transferware” plates, mugs, tea services, and dinnerware.  

Of course, the blue-and-white tableware became a huge favorite in the United States as well; and, because it’s still popular today, it’s hard to believe that it was actually in its prime between 1815 and 1835. 

Although there were tons of different designs, the Blue Willow pattern, which was introduced in the early 1900’s and sold at stores such as Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and Woolworth’s, was a best-seller.  In fact, the use of this inexpensive tableware became so widespread in restaurants during the Depression, that it led to the term, “blue plate special.”

So, that’s how those familiar blue-and-white plates came to be.  These days, however, there are a lot more color choices available – not just for the plates, but for tables as well.  In fact, if you go to AllPicnicTables.com, you’ll find one of the largest selections of outdoor dining sets and picnic tables available anywhere, in a full spectrum of spectacular colors.              

And what of those transferware plates that were so affordable way back when?  They can now be found in antique stores, running anywhere from $50 for a teacup or saucer of a lighter blue, to $2,000 and above, for larger items, such as pitchers and platters, that have nicer patterns and more intense blues.  That’s one special blue plate!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: dining set, dining sets, picnic table, picnic tables