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Wicker Oudoor Furniture Wicker Oudoor Furniture
Hans Dekker

What can possibly be more gloriously breathtaking than the early morning sky of the sunrise, or the colorful heavens surrounding the setting sun? Imagine yourself seated in the coziest nook of your patio basking in the evening’s last rays from your place in a favorite outdoor wicker furniture piece. Just the thought seems to wash away the tenseness of a long day.

Outdoor wicker furniture has a “personality” all of its own. Its comfortable charm can retain its individuality in simplicity or dressed up. Simple wicker settings carry an aura of old-fashioned homey ease that many find nostalgic. It carries the user back to a time when life was simple and there always seemed to be time to sit on the porch to enjoy the newspaper or chat with passing neighbors.

Add some richly colored cushions to your outdoor wicker furniture and create an entirely different setting. Gone are the comforts of home look. In its place is a Victorian look that carries you even further back in time. Prim and proper were in vogue during that era, and indeed your new outdoor setting fits the definition. Of course you’ll need a few flower boxes nearby, and everything should be neatly in its place to totally complete the setting.

Do you think we could modernize this outdoor wicker furniture that seems to evoke memories of days gone by? Well, let’s give it a try. We’ll start with cushions sparsely scattered with medium to large flowers. Of course we want the wicker painted white, and then we’ll add a big fern plant or some zebra grass right behind the chair in the corner. Hmmm, our tables need glass tops. How are we doing? Yes, it is looking good, eh?

Wicker is extremely versatile. Regardless of the theme your outdoor furniture needs to convey, wicker can fit the bill. Make a few changes of cushions or color, and presto! You’ve got what you’re looking for.

Hans Dekker is the owner and one of the authors of Patio Furniture Ideas. We offer tips, tricks, reviews and ideas about patio living.

Decorating Ideas to make your Living Room more Livable Decorating Ideas to make your Living Room more Livable
Lisa French

Above all else, the furniture in the living-room should make it livable. It should be grouped so that it offers centers of interest, convenience and comfort. Look for upholstered seating with homespun-type fabric, or toss a pieced quilt over plain fabric or leather. An old rocker is a great addition.

By the time you are ready to choose the furniture for the living room, the walls and floor coverings should be in place so that the choice of furniture will be merely the selection of the best out of several possibilities. Of course, the quality, shape and color of furniture varies, and the quantity will as well.

Can one imagine a more livable living-room than one with a large, soft sofa in front of a fireplace, behind it a long table filled with books, while holding a lamp at either end. Or else, at the end of the sofa, a small table for the reading lamp and on either side a pair of comfortable chairs?

The main essentials are a comfortable sofa, a table large enough to hold books, magazines and lamps, and at least two comfortable, upholstered chairs and a smaller table.

While at the other end or side of the room, a pair of book-cases, cabinets or a credence. These balance the fireplace, since they are placed against the wall and have a corresponding shelf, cornice or mantel line.

In developing the original simple formula there may be added a chaise, a good-size table, another large chair, and another small table

Remember that it is always better to leave a space empty than to have it occupied by a badly placed piece of furniture. Good furniture needs space to be seen to its advantage.

If there is a large array of furniture in the living-room, keep the carpet, and furniture upholstery all to one tone.

Mantel accessories may be applied to the other shelves and the tables in the room. Keep them free from dust-collecting, trivial things, while creating a sense of order and cleanliness.

Balance is maintained by using objects in pairs a pair of vases, candlesticks, bowls, or jars. Placed at either end of the mantel, they should be higher than the intervening objects, to form a sweeping curve. Also they help to frame in the over-mantel picture or mirror.

In fitting furniture to its architectural background there are 3 things to consider

contour and proportion;
design and decorative detail;
color of wood.

The first two points are obviously necessary; it is in the last that the furnishing of many rooms fails. Oak and mahogany do not mix amicably; one does not set off the other because there is not sufficient contrast, nor are they closely enough allied to harmonize. On the other hand, black ebony and yellowish burr walnut, such as is used in inlaying seaweed pattern in oak, are examples of harmony gained.

Lisa French
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