Outdoor furniture isn’t just useful for large gatherings – but also presents you with an opportunity to relax in your outdoor space after a long night. When it comes to winter, however, your outdoor furniture may start to get a bit more than it bargained for – especially if it’s not undercover. Luckily for you, our experts aren’t just knowledgeable when it comes to exposed aggregate driveways and that’s why for today’s blog, we’re going to be looking at outdoor furniture in winter, what to consider and how to take care of it.
What sort of furniture should you be considering for winter?
At the end of the day, you should choose whatever you like and think would be most comfortable. However, some options are a little harder to maintain if your outdoor living area isn’t covered. For example, any type of seat or couch with cushions or soft fabric is going to be a pain when it gets wet.
Whilst there are specific outdoor cushions that are designed to brave the elements and wet weather, these must be dried off as soon as possible. This can sometimes be an issue when there are consecutive rainy days. Metal framed furnishings are great as they can be easily dried with a towel if you’d like to sit on them straight away.
Timber such as cedar or teak is also pretty durable and easy to maintain – as well as wicker pieces. Between these types of materials, you’ll be pretty hard-pressed not to find some furniture that suits your outdoor area. If you don’t have a firepit, then keep a large blanket that you can use specifically for relaxing outdoors.
In terms of placement, outdoor furnishings are always better placed on concrete such as exposed aggregate surfaces. This is to avoid the unevenness of grass. This can become even worse when rain gets involved as the seats and other furnishings may start to sink into the grass at certain points since the rain makes it softer.
Preventing the furniture from getting wet
One of the biggest pitfalls of having outdoor furniture during winter is that it will get wet. This is obviously more-so for outdoor areas that aren’t covered, but sometimes even covered areas can fall victim to angled rain that’s been influenced by the wind. If your furniture isn’t covered – and there’s enough covered space, then you could always move it to a covered area when you know it’s going to rain.
If this isn’t an option for you, then why not consider a temporary umbrella that can be erected to cover your furnishings. You may have to spend a bit extra, but you’ll probably end up using it during the summer as well to shade you from the sun. As a bonus, you’ll be able to enjoy your outdoor furniture even when it’s raining.
A cheaper alternative to protecting your furniture from rain would be to use plastic coverings and simply placing them over your furniture. This would probably be the easiest and most efficient method as you can just leave them on when you’re not using them and take them off when you are.
Dealing with wet furniture
Some people may not have the time to look into the prevention techniques and might just want to know what to do after the fact. Well, as we mentioned above, if you’d like to sit on the furniture straight away – treated timber and metal furnishings can just be wiped down with a towel (the timber may still be a bit damp, but the bulk of the water will be gone).
When it comes to cushions, however, they’ll need a few hours to dry – preferably in sunlight. It is for this reason that we highly recommend you just store the cushions inside, or undercover as constantly wet cushions can encourage mould growth.
Have you been thinking about exposed aggregate driveways lately?
We don’t blame you! If you’re considering upgrading your outdoor furniture, then why not give your front yard a new treat as well and enquire about an exposed aggregate driveway. Here at A Better Driveway, we specialise in exposed aggregate driveways and paths (so you can lay down a great base for your backyard and driveway – taking care of two tasks at once) and will guarantee a premium job with a fast turnaround.
If you’d like to know more about our exposed aggregate driveways or paths, then please get in touch with us by filling out the contact form on our website or by calling 0412 537 776.