Choosing Your Outdoor Furniture: What’s Best for the Northwest

My outdoor furniture is old and grungy; I’ve been salivating over the new spring collections on Rich’s showroom floor. 

But how to choose the perfect furnishings for my outdoor space? I spoke with Mark Gorr, vice president of sales and marketing at Tropitone, and he gave me some great tips.

Architecture of your home

Generally, a home’s architecture drives the furnishings someone puts in their backyard. People usually choose furniture that complements or accents their home’s style – and their yard’s design.

That’s starting to change, though, says Mark. People are becoming more willing to put furniture with a contemporary frame in the yard of a stucco home, for instance. And with the growing popularity of contemporary furnishings, we’re going to be seeing more and more of what Mark calls “transitional” furnishings.

Take the Windsor Sling collection (pictured above right).

“Windsor is a group that is a chameleon,” says Mark. “It has a transitional frame – depending on how you color the frame and the fabric application, it can look traditional or contemporary.”

You can create a custom environment in your yard by simply choosing a darker finish and fabric for a traditional look, or a lighter finish and fabric for a contemporary feel.

Maintenance

Many consumers gravitate toward cast aluminum  or synthetic tabletops (as opposed to glass) because they’re easier to clean. “They hide dust and dirt; all you have to do is hose them down,” says Mark.

Tropitone manufactures their own patio tabletops   domestically, and they produce over 150 eye-popping combos. Their tiled stone tops mimic natural hand-cut stone.

Their faux granite tabletops closely resemble natural granite table tops.

The Java table top has the look of woven wicker and Palazzo tops create the highly realistic appearance of ceramic tiles.

Hand-cast aluminum and patterned aluminum patio tables add elegance to any outdoor setting.

And if you like glass and acrylic, they’ve got those, too! (Of course, you can special order anything you like from Rich’s.)

Quality

All outdoor furniture Tropitone manufactures is commercial-grade quality, says Mark.  “We build our product to last a minimum of five years when used commercially” – say, poolside at a hotel/resort.

Outdoor furnishings don’t get as much use in private homes as they do in resorts, but the folks at Tropitone apply the same quality standards to all their furniture. “It’s very, very durable,” says Mark.

That’s exactly what I want: durable, low-maintenance outdoor furniture that I can customize to match the yard I’m landscaping.