The cooler temperatures of autumn remind you to put your outdoor wooden furniture spaces for bed. Time to weed the garden one last time, pulling dead plants and burning them in the fire pit. Exchange your garden tools for snow shovels. And store your outdoor furniture.
Store In Place
Here in North Carolina, even in the mountains, we don’t need to keep our outdoor wooden furniture stored away all winter. Certainly, this action preserves and protects your furniture. But, there are glorious days when you’ll be glad you didn’t tuck them away in a storage unit. If you live in any place with a milder climate, outdoor furniture covers preserve your garden furniture without losing the ability to use it.
I can remember one Thanksgiving where I needed a break from my family and friends. Having spent most of the day surrounded by people, my introverted soul was overwhelmed by the onslaught. I grabbed a glass and a wine key and slipped through the back door onto the deck into a sunny but frigid day. Snagging a bottle of white wine from where we’d stashed it in a handy snow pile, I pulled the cork.
(Quick tip – If you try this technique of chilling your wine, make sure you remember to bring it inside overnight. Wine freezes if left in below-freezing temperatures. And no one wants to clean that up.)
I sat in a handy chair, allowing the sunlight to warm me while I made that glass of wine last as long as possible. Ready to rejoin the fray, I returned with my open bottle of wine and refilled all the glasses proffered.
So even on a snowy day, those deck chairs can come in handy.
Preserve Your Pieces
Furniture covers also help to preserve the natural color of your outdoor furniture. For example, we construct our Sunniva outdoor furniture using sustainably sourced Honduran mahogany. Left alone and exposed to the elements, this wood develops a beautiful silvery-gray patina even as it preserves its soft touch. While we adore this transformation, you may want to preserve the unique reddish color of the mahogany. Our oil finish helps with this preservation, but outdoor furniture covers add an extra layer of protection from the sunlight when not in use.
Pick Carefully
When selecting your outdoor furniture covers, consider which ones will most effectively protect your outdoor wooden furniture. Covers which are custom made for your furniture will, of course, offer the best protection. Finding ones that loop under the feet of your furniture will also help to keep them from slipping loose on windy days.
You’ll also want to strike a balance between waterproof and water-resistant. Many waterproof covers use a plastic lining to protect your furniture, but humidity can get trapped under the surface and cause mold to form. Water-resistant furniture covers will protect your furniture from most rainstorms while allowing enough air to travel through to prevent mold from getting a foothold.
Protecting your outdoor furniture with covers preserves it for its longest life.
P.S. If you need covers for your Sunniva outdoor collection, we do create custom water-resistant covers that secure under your furniture’s feet. Just give us a call at 828-398-9701 for more information or to order your covers.
