Indoor or Outdoor Furnishings? Can You Tell the Difference?

Hi Everyone,

This post about outdoor furnishings is an update of a post from TEN years ago. So, of course, it’s horribly out-of-date. Plus, after 10 years of practice, haha, I think I can do a better job with the writing.

 

The old post was entitled, Can You Believe This is Outdoor Furniture?

 

There’s a reason I haven’t updated it in ten years, although there’s a sister post written five years ago, at the beginning of the Pandemic, when I was in Northampton, MA. I updated that one too. If you have the time, I recommend it for the information, nostalgia, and beauty. It’s a fun post.

 

What’s the reason you haven’t updated it more recently, Laurel?

 

Well, aside from the renovation, the primary reason is lack of interest for many of you. However, please hear me out.

It’s a lot like basements. I will most likely never do a basement post. Why? I’ve just excluded everyone in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, and a bunch of other states. Then, I’ve excluded everyone who lives in an apartment building. In addition, not everyone has a basement; of those who do, only a tiny percentage are interested in making it a living space. So, maybe 5% of you are interested if I’m being generous.

 

And, it’s probably only about 10%-20% of you that are interested in outdoor furnishings, for strictly outdoor use.

 

However, outdoor furnishings have come a long way, and many compelling reasons exist to use outdoor furnishings indoors.

1. It’s as durable as can be. After all, if it’s meant to have nature dump whatever on it, it can withstand just about anything.
2. There are now thousands of wonderful-looking pieces, and super comfortable, too.
3.  Not all, but outdoor furnishings often cost less than those going strictly indoors.

 

But there’s more.

A trend I’ve noticed for the last 20 years or so is that many people with decks, patios, and porches, especially rear porches, are turning them into either 3-season rooms or full-on all-season sunrooms.

 

Above is from 2003.  This was a deck off the kitchen turned into a sunroom.

I had those sconces custom-made. Back then, it wasn’t easy to find something like this. Now, just go to Visual Comfort.

 

Above and below were lovely clients in Larchmont, NY, who turned a porch into a small sunroom. This, if I recall, was more of a 3-season room.

 

Yes, that’s the same settee from TCS Designs, a trade source.

 

They only recently discontinued the Reese side table from Serena & Lily. And I believe that stool is still available. Oh wait. I don’t know where that one is from. The one from Serena & Lily is similar but not quite the same. Oh, it’s 40% off right now!

This sunroom was so tiny that it was all we had room for, for a coffee table. Although I think there were two of them.

Yes, there’s the other one. I believe the floor lamp was already theirs.

This is a little out of order; the sunroom below was done in 2009.

This, too, was a former porch turned into a year-round sunroom. The bottom shelf on the coffee table looks curved because of lens distortion. It was perfectly flat. There are ways to fix that, but at the time, I didn’t know how.

 

Below is the dining area in the sunroom.

 

I had the table custom-made, but alas, they went out of business. The chairs were from Palecek with custom upholstery.

Below is from the same house but done about 18 months earlier.

They loved that table so much, I designed another one for their kitchen area.

Yes, that’s Suzanne Kasler’s quatrefoil floor lamp, and a lovely drum pendant, both from Visual Comfort. You can find them, here.
And maybe you’re noticing, many of the items I put in my widgets, are pieces I’ve used for myself or specked for clients.

We had a lot of hanging lights in close proximity to each other and so they had to play nicely together.

These were the pendants over the island. So, we had a drum thing going on, which allowed the dining room chandelier to stand on its own.

Oh, before I forget. Super important.

 

Visual Comfort has put their entire line of wonderful lamps, sconces, chandeliers, etc., on sale!
Yes, and they only do this once a year, for one week. That’s all. So, if you’ve had your eye on something, this is a great time to take advantage of the sale, which includes free shipping. The sale is ending on the 27th.

Please check out 90 of my favorite pieces on the Hot Lighting Page.

 

And even if you don’t have a room of this type, all of those hot climate or coastal areas, it’s wonderful to mix outdoor furnishings inside for a casual, put-your-feet-up vibe.

Even so, in addition to the sunrooms you saw above, I have always added elements of outdoor furnishings to most interiors, for myself and others.

 

The most common pieces I’ve used are

 

• outdoor rugs
• Bistro chairs (great for kitchens)

 

From my New York client’s kitchen.

• garden stools

 

I don’t think I’ve taken a photo yet with these next to my sofa, but I will soon. They always catch my eye, and I love them so much! They are in the new outdoor furnishings widget that you can see here.

• Along with the bistro chairs, I love using a bit of wicker indoors as you can see below.

 

 

Above is our old New York townhouse dining area.

 

I lived here for over 21 years. Those wicker chairs are from Palecek. They were so comfy, and I loved how easy they were to move around.

And, yes, that’s “Laurel’s Rolodex.” ;]

 

Finally, another wonderful home furnishings item that’s taken off in only the last couple of years is cordless lamps and sconces, which can also go outdoors. (But double-check that)

 

That should be a separate post! I did a cordless lamp post a long time ago, but it is way outdated now, too. It’s from February 2017.

 

However, check out these incredible rechargeable lamps from Terrain.

 

Still, I totally understand the inherent aversion to outdoor furniture that some of us have.

 

It’s a bit like maternity clothes. These days, an expectant woman can dress fashionably, but back in my day, it was slim pickings. Outdoor furniture is much like that.

Oh, I know all too well. After all, I’m a child of the sixties. And that decade was spent in Evansville, Indiana. (Cale and I spent 36 hours there just over three years ago.)

 

Below is the ranch house I spent most of my formative years living in at 4001 Bellemeade Ave.

 

I’m sure you can see from this how I came to love classic proportions and design.

 

Laurel, are you serious?

 

Oh, you couldn’t see the sarcasm dripping off your screen? No, it didn’t come from this home, but from many other places I spent time in.

However, we had the most lovely backyard with a spacious patio. As my mom was an avid gardener, it was surrounded by flower beds and large shade trees.

On the patio, in the summer, lived a couple of chaise lounges, much like the one below, which were always slightly rusted.

 

Haha! Remember? And we had the chair version too. I remember that they were so flimsy that if they weren’t opened just right, your arse would come crashing into the concrete. Ouch. But we didn’t know any better.

 

We’ve come a long way since the sixties.

 

Someone decided that teak is a good material for outdoor furniture and more attractive than the plastic/aluminum stuff. And some outdoor furniture is made of iron or an iron-type look. Then someone way back in 1961 (!) invented Sunbrella, a solution-dyed fabric made from polypropylene that could go OUTSIDE. The early Sunbrella usually had very beach-type, very neon-bright colors. Now, Sunbrella comes in many sophisticated palettes and colors.

 

In 2025, our outdoor furnishings have evolved so much that it’s often difficult to tell whether the furniture is indoor or outdoor.

 

The only requirement for outdoor furniture is that if a monsoon lands on it, it will be okay in a day or so. I think it’s a cool idea to have an outdoor living room if one has the space for it. Still, it’s outside.

And unless one is lucky enough to have a lot of help, there will still be more upkeep than in an indoor room. I think for many people, including myself, that is the biggest problem of having a lot of nice furniture outside.

If you live in a climate with a lot of wind and rain, the furniture will get dirty. So, I think the outdoor rooms are better suited to areas with some coverage.

 

And now, I’m proudly presenting the all-new outdoor furnishings widget.

 

I plan to add more, but for now, there’s a lot here.

 

You can also see it on the Outdoor furnishings and gifts page.

If you head over there, you’ll also find a fantastic gift guide for Father’s Day. And there are also gifts for women, gardeners, chefs, if you’re looking for a gift for a grad, birthday, anniversary, teacher, host… It’s funny. But, I find it so helpful to have guides like these because when the time comes to get someone something, I usually draw a blank.

Okay, that’s all for tonight. I am working on some interesting posts I’ll be sharing soon.

xo,

 

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