You expect a lot from a quality piece of outdoor furniture. It has to withstand the elements, including rain and endless hours of sun exposure. It must resist mold, insects, and fading. It has to be stylish enough to complement the surrounding scenery or bold enough to defy it. And it must be comfortable and inviting.
To all this, designers are adding one more expectation for the outdoor furniture they create: It has to be green. Many of the top new designs are made from recycled materials or from completely natural materials that are biodegradable and easily replaced. These collections urge you to claim the outdoors as a living space that’s suitable for lounging or entertaining or both.
Stepping Out
After 20 years of furnishing indoor spaces, Fendi Casa has moved outside with its new Fendi Outdoor brand. The company produces three collections, all of which include furniture stylish enough to grace any indoor living space. The Capri collection features a modular couch with an attached table. These pieces have stark lines, bold upholstery patterns, and shiny stainless steel frames. The Newport pieces are oversized and are perfect for expansive patio areas. The Nikki Beach pieces include a semicircular couch with its own sunshade.
Well-Rounded
Designers seem intent on creating outdoor furnishings that look good enough to belong in your living room. Jardin de Ville has done just this with its BG1 Silver collection. The company has discarded the usual boxy chair designs and replaced them with rounded seat backs and silvery frames that appear sleek and modern. The collection includes low-lying tables that can make a patio seem like an intimate lounge area. The chair cushions have removable covers that are easy to wash, and you can choose your own fabric for those cushions.
Recycled Relaxer
No pool area is complete without a chaise. The best chaises are not only comfortable, they are durable and attractive and need practically no maintenance. Designer Terry Hunziker has come up with a chaise that has all of these traits. His elegant version in the Great Lakes series by Sutherland Furniture has a long, narrow pad framed by wide beams. Each piece in this collection is made of a product called Ecoplex, a composite made from 97 percent recycled plastic, which is stretched across an aluminum frame. The Ecoplex is easily washed with soap and water and is resistant to fading from extended exposure to sunlight. The aluminum frames come in a number of powder-coated finishes, including bronze, sand dollar, and chalk.
Sanctuary Set
Long known for its hanging chairs and hammocks, the Outback Chair Co. has recently created a patio set that sits firmly on the ground. The Sanctuary Set comes in two styles. One includes a chair with a matching ottoman and a glass-topped table. The other consists of a sofa with two matching ottomans and two glass-topped tables. The frames are made of stainless steel, and the chair, sofa, and ottoman frames are topped with handwoven wicker that is durable, comfortable, and beautiful.
Star Pavilions
A home’s outdoor dining or lounge area can feel just as elegant, just as exclusive as the dining pavilions of any five-star resort, with the right design and the right structure overhead. Jardin de Ville has designed and furnished the outdoor dining and lounge areas of top hotels and resorts around the world, and the company also has created two pavilions scaled perfectly for private homes. The Abri fixed-roof structure consists of four aluminum corner supports, a pitched roof made of awning fabric, and curtains that can be opaque for complete privacy, semiopaque to provide shade, transparent to keep the elements out, or made of a netting to keep bugs at bay. The structures also can be equipped with heating and lighting systems. The Cabrio model comes with a retractable roof, so that you can stargaze while dining.
Rock Stars
Owners of chairs and lounge sets from Stone 2 Furniture might have a lot of explaining to do to their puzzled guests. It’s immediately obvious that each chair is unique, the perfect complement to a custom home. Artist Dwayne Cranford makes each frame from steel that has been salvaged from farmyards and junkyards, or he fashions it from aluminum. And instead of seats and seat cushions and armrests, he attaches slabs of stone to these frames. The upside is that they are maintenance-free, impervious to weather, and never, ever blow away. The potential downside is that to the uninitiated they don’t seem all that welcoming. “A lot of people ask if these chairs are comfortable,” says Jill Cranford, Dwayne’s wife and the co-owner of Stone 2 Furniture. “They are very comfortable. The secret is in the angles, and we get the angles just right.” The other secret is to position the chairs where they can absorb direct sunlight during the afternoon, so that when your guests settle in for an evening cocktail, the seat and back will be as warm and therapeutic as a heating pad.
Shades of Green
The world’s fastest-growing building material is bamboo, which can grow almost as quickly as grass. Mature bamboo reeds are as attractive as any wood product, and they are stronger than many other types of lumber. So why isn’t bamboo used more often as a building material? This is a question asked by the founders of Standard Bamboo. “We wanted to create a green alternative for people looking for an outdoor shelter,” says company cofounder James Stout. The company’s solution was to create the Karma Shade, a graceful-looking structure made from bamboo imported from South America and covered with natural-fiber canvas. The fittings are made of steel and the finishes from brass. The Karma Shade looks natural in a poolside poolside setting and can shade a dining or lounge area. If you’re looking to fit a bamboo structure over a larger space or one that is unusually shaped, the company can produce a custom design. The basic building material for these structures is never in short supply.