Outdoor Living - Outdoor Fabrics

If you follow this blog you will have read my first entry about outdoor living.  Now I want to focus on outdoor fabrics.  Barb Nyke, a colleague of mine presented some fabulous information.   I would like to share.some of what I learned at the conference.  I have many pages of information but will focus on the major issues.

We all have heard of Sunbrella, however that is not the only product available to be used successfully outdoors. Outdoor fabrics should be high performance and offer the following factors -
durable, water resistant, water repellent or waterproof, stain resistant, mildew resistant, colourfast: which means they will have UV resistant pigments.

We use outdoor fabrics in many ways - awnings, umbrellas, cushions, shade sails, flooring and marine.  One of the great factors is that nowadays this fabric is not stiff and can easily be used indoors.  In fact it is difficult to tell indoor from outdoor in many cases.

Fabric content can be  Polyester (good); Olefin (better) and Acrylic (best).  All three are appropriate with there being some differences.

The type of foam is very important.  If one used regular foam the water would sit on top and cause mold to form.  Using a marine grade allows for water to penetrate and drain out at the bottom, thus no mold.

There was a lot of technical information shared by Barb and I am just giving you an overview  so you have some basic knowledge when sourcing your outdoor furnishings.

Enjoy your summer when it gets here!

Buying Firewood from a Guest Blogger

I recently had a request from Danielle McAnn, of Australia who wanted to write an article for my blog about firewood from an aesthetic perspective.  Danielle is working with a company in Australia 'The Green Centre' which is supplier of wood harvested from sustainably managed forests which prevents the illegal collection of firewood on a commercial basis and improves the long-term sustainability of the Australian Firewood industry.  

Here in North America we have suppliers who are harvesting from the sustainably managed forests, one in British Columbia being Elkington Forest.  I found it encouraging to see that someone from Australia wanted to spread the word about their organization and commitment to our future so I thought I would share her post.

As written by Danielle McAnn.....

I imaging  buying firewood has never occurred to you as an aesthetic decision. Those lucky enough to have an open fireplace or an outdoor bonfire to furnish with wood probably don't think about firewood as an aesthetic decision. But firewood is more than the sensual qualities it produces, that is, the heat and the scent when burned, although those are certainly very important considerations. Firewood is intended to produce a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere in a room, and a huge part of this effect is the way that it looks. Every single thing in an interior will contribute to the way that the room looks, whether intentional or not, nothing is exempt from aesthetics. You can put all of your effort into hanging a picture in the perfect spot and in perfect light on a wall, but it won't make the room look nice unless the rest of the room is working with it. There is no such thing as a quick fix in an interior. You must have every element of the room in concert together, or nothing at. If you spend hours and hours doing your hair, but then wear a tracksuit out to dinner, you still won't look presentable. That is why you should pay attention to your firewood, and why it should be of good quality. Because if it's going to be stacked in your room, next to your fire place, it's going to contribute to the aesthetic of your room.

As a Decorator I could continue on this topic but I think I will be posting some information in a future blog about Wood Burning Fireplaces.