outdoor-living-design.com

Wicker patio furniture is popular among home owners and patio makers as it offers comfort and style, as well as cost saving. Bear in mind that there are many varieties of wicker material used to create wicker furniture with each variety having its own strengths and weaknesses. These varieties of material compromise rattan, reed, cane, bamboo as well as synthetic wicker. Knowing what type of material to have for your furniture is good as it will save you cost and time into looking for patio furniture.

One can gain important understanding of the nature of material used to make outdoor patio furniture with a little information on various elements which go into these materials. Rattan is one such element which is an essential ingredient of the recipe to make wicker furniture. It is often used for its strength and ease of use which helps it avoid splitting. Rattan is used after proper processing for making chairs, seats, ottomans and a wide variety of seating which lasts long enough with little maintenance. Rattan is usually grown in tropical countries and is connected to the family of palm trees.

Apart from rattan, cane is also another wicker variety that is highly used for furniture. The cane is similar to the rattan in terms of strength and durability, with the cane having a naturally glossy finish that makes it impossible to paint or varnish. This natural gloss provides cane wicker furniture with a nice touch as it doesn’t look to overdone and can give your patio a sort of cooling feeling coupled with some plants and bamboo shoots to give it that oriental touch. For those who like a more natural setting for your outdoor patio furniture, then furniture made from cane is a good choice since it has a natural, unfinished look that can be exceptionally appealing in the proper setting. Though that, cane is advised to be used for indoor purposes only as the inability to varnish it greatly increases its vulnerability to the natural elements.

You can also use reed as a very useful material for making wicker furniture which is stylish and requires but little maintenance. The additional advantage with it is that it can be painted or varnished unlike cane and is softer than most of the other wicker materials. It is usually used for making storage trunks, baskets and a variety of other articles for personal or commercial use. Although it can be protected from moisture with the help of varnishing it is better used indoors because its softness reduces its durability.

Commonly mistaken for rattan is the bamboo. The bamboo is an altogether different plant and not commonly found to be used for wicker patio furniture. This is because bamboo is harder to weave into patterns to form and accessory or furniture. Though that, the use of bamboo is found in furniture items that aren’t required to bear excess weight, such as cabinets, footstools, and desks. Outdoor cushions are used with bamboo furniture to make it look more attractive. Bamboo is one of the toughest plants in the world and it is highly durable. Bamboo is easily treated to make it highly resistant to natural elements. In recent times, bamboo has become a sought after material in home furnishings and accessories because it is and eco-friendly material that helps converse our natural resources from rain forests and other endangered plant species.

If you don’t have an issue with using artificial material in making wicker furniture, synthetic wicker could be your choice for making furniture. It is formed artificially in the likeness of rattan, cane, reed and bamboo with the weaknesses reduced and advantages enhanced to some extent. It is very much durable and offers longer life than other natural wicker materials. It can easily be used outdoors and is far more resistant to natural elements as compared to other wicker materials.

When choosing your wicker patio furniture, make sure to find out whether furniture you are interested in are made from rattan, cane, reed, bamboo, or synthetics. The differences might be important in choosing pieces suitable for indoor or outdoor use, and can save you money and time in the long run. Wicker furniture is easy to decorate as well. Since most of it come in hues of brown, you can jazz up your wicker furniture with some colored fabric and outdoor cushions.

Kenny Leichester is a foremost expert in the interior design industry specializing in the outdoor or patio settings using outdoor patio furniture, patio umbrellas, patio cushion, patio heaters, patio lighting and so on to create exquisitely beautiful layout. His work on outdoor heating and so on are widely distributed and is a regular contributor to PatioShoppers.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Home and Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.