Go Vintage for Quality Outdoor Furniture
Finding decent, well-priced outdoor furniture is no easy task. It seems like anything I covet is well above my budget, and anything I can afford looks cheap and uninspired.
Luckily, I'm taken care of for now. When my family and I moved into our current residence, our realtor Nate Cole gave us an outdoor dining set as a house-warming present. We liked it so much that we got two matching loungers, four extra chairs, two side tables, and a rocker.
That may sound over the top, but we use all the furniture on a daily basis and the price was quite reasonable. How did we do it? Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Go vintage.
Nate found a beat up Brown Jordan table and chairs set at a local garage sale. Knowing it would perfectly complement our mid-century house, he had the set powder coated and outfitted with new vinyl straps in a lovely sage green. Then we scoured Xcape on Retro Row in Long Beach for companion pieces and gave them the same makeover treatment.
Refinishing vintage pieces is a great alternative to buying new. To begin with, you can buy the pieces from different sources at different times and not have to worry if they go together. Because you will be applying new colors, finishes, and fabrics, you can think of your amassed collection as a blank slate. Just look at the possibilities.
Second, you know that if the furniture has survived this long, it must be of decent quality. I can testify that our furniture has withstood wine spills, jumping children, and constant rearranging, among other abuses. As long as you find pieces with the basic structure intact, you should be fine. The rest is cosmetic.
Finally, the experience of vintage shopping far exceeds that of conventional. So go out and have some fun looking for outdoor furniture you can enjoy this summer.
