Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

As November first necessitates the removal of all kinds of ghouls, goblins, and ghostly Halloween décor, it can be a daunting task to add cheer to November’s gray skies.  Plus, those in the north are storing their patio furniture for the winter, leaving lots of outdoor decorating schemes feeling empty. Many people feel torn; not wanting to jump the gun on Thanksgiving decorations and not at all ready for the red and green of late December.

But, November advents the season of family.  Both Thanksgiving and the multitude of religious holidays happening in December all fall together: friends and families are opening their hearts and homes to provide comforting warmth from the cold.  But, how do you translate that to your front porch?

Easy. Pineapples. Seriously? Yup!

Pineapples are an historic symbol of hospitality. Given as a gift to Christopher Columbus by the native people of Central America, the pineapple served as a sweet treat often presented to royals as a special gift.  When sea-travelers returned home from their voyages, they would often impale pineapples unfit for eating on their porch railings.  This advertised that the man of the house was home and eager to receive friends as visitors.

Today, placing pineapples around your home still gives the same welcoming feeling.  The bright sweetness of a fresh and bright pineapple is perfect against the November chill.  Placed in front door wreaths, the hardy variety will give punches of color.

As those in cooler climates finally retire their outdoor furniture for the season, adding pineapple outdoor décor will create a seamless transition. One way to do this permanently is through post caps. Pineapple post caps are traditional while still maintaining distinct personality.  While post cap lights provide illumination, putting two pineapple post caps on either side of an entrance will give Colonial styling and welcoming feelings for guests.

Have Fun!

Hazel

Tags: outdoor decor, Outdoor Furniture, patio furniture, pinapple post caps, post cap lights, post caps

We’re quickly approaching the darkest time of the season.  After all, the Winter Solstice, or the darkest day of the year, is only two months away. Coming home to a dark landscape or waking up to a gloomy porch can be disheartening.  But, adding outdoor lamps can brighten up the area outside your home.

The options for outdoor lighting don’t need to be concentrated in fancy outdoor chandeliers and porch lamps.  Using post cap lights and other landscape lighting will laminate walkways, as well as your senses.  Outdoor lighting can be inserted into the ground along a walk way, installed along a garden bridge, or along the railings of your porch, gazebo, or pergola.  Outdoor lighting that attaches to the side of the house is also available. Not requiring posts or walkways, it allows anyone to illuminate the outside of their home.

A lot of outdoor lighting is also solar-powered.  Doing your part for the environment and your wallet, you can add cheerful lighting without using any electricity.  Many of these options also turn on automatically once it gets dark, so you won’t need to worry about setting it.

Not only does outdoor lighting make your mornings and evenings a little less dreary, it also adds valuable curb appeal.  Especially if you’re planning to open your front door to trick or treaters, having outdoor lighting to help guide them will keep little ones safer and the whole evening more fun!

Autumn is the perfect time to consider outdoor lighting for your home.  Whether it is for your own views, the joys of passersby, or the ghosts and goblins trotting up your walkway, outdoor lighting is an affordable way to add cheerful curb appeal to your home and garden.

Have Fun!

Hazel

Tags: garden bridge, gazebo, landscape lighting, outdoor chandeliers, outdoor lamps, outdoor lighting, pergola, porch lamps, post cap lights

There’s no doubt that the things that you can find in your own backyard and garden, on a nature walk, or during a visit to a farmers’ market, can be used to make some spectacular outdoor décor.  After all, that’s what they are, anyway; you’re just gathering, arranging, and exhibiting them in strategic places, in and around your home.

At the same time, like most people who are dressing up their homes for fall, you will probably use artificial embellishments as well; and that’s understandable.  In fact, it’s necessary in some situations, such as those in which an item that you wish to use won’t hold up in a long-term display.  Luckily, however, a good number of autumn’s natural elements are quite hardy.

Pumpkins, as we’ve established, can often last through the entire season; that is, as long as they’re left intact.  I mean, once they’re carved, even the most menacing-looking, sharp-toothed, jack-o-lanterns will, after about a week, begin to resemble old men who have misplaced their dentures.  Twigs, berries, corn stalks, hay bales, Indian corn, pinecones, gourds, and acorns, are also extremely durable; but, alas, the multi-colored leaves, which are autumn’s proudest emblems, are also the most fleeting.

Therefore, we must take pleasure in them while they last.  Aside from hiking in the woods, or driving through the country, we can, of course, enjoy them from our porch swings, hammocks, and patio chairs.  Unfortunately, with the sun going down earlier every day, by the time we’re finished with work, and other obligations, it’s nearly dark.

Here, again, store-bought decorations can come to the rescue.  For example, we can string miniature, twinkling bulbs through our vine-covered arbors, pergolas, and trellises.  This will afford a twofold advantage, as it will prolong the time that we have for viewing the foliage, while allowing us to see it, literally, in a completely different light.  Indeed, as lovely as those crimson, bronze, and golden leaves are during the day, they’re absolutely dazzling after dusk, when highlighted by a soft, orange-white glow.

Actually, once you adorn your garden structures with lights, you may even start looking forward to the early sunsets.  Not only does this enhance the beauty of your landscape, but it automatically creates a festive atmosphere.  This is especially exciting when you’re hosting an outdoor dinner party, where delighted guests can enter through an arbor that’s sparkling with lights.

To make things even more striking, you can illuminate the path with walkway lights, put post cap lights on fences, and wrap strings of lights around trees, shrubs, and planters.  You should also have lots of candles, along with outdoor lamps and lanterns, on picnic tables and outdoor accent tables, in the main party area.

Now, if you have a gazebo, it will be, at least, a stunning focal point; but, if it’s large enough, you may be using it as the center of the gathering.  Whatever the case, if it’s decked out with lights, and other fall decorations, the effect will be downright spell-binding.

So, if people start asking how you managed to conjure such a magical evening, you can just tell them that you have your own, personal Gazebo Wizard.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: Arbors, garden structures, gazebo, Hammocks, outdoor accent tables, outdoor decor, outdoor lamps, patio chairs, Pergolas, Planters, porch swings, post cap lights, trellises