Choosing outdoor furniture for your home

We will first look at the various materials available, for a more rural rustic look many people choose wood, teak has long been the best choice as it is a hard wood and very durable to the outdoor elements, other outdoor woods include Tali wood, Eucalyptus and acacia wood these are all good woods and can be added with outdoor cushion for maximum comfort, the thing with all woods over time and especially if they are out in the open air and getting sunlight all day the wood colour will fade as the oil or varnish succumbs to the strong sunlight,

So a yearly maintenance would be necessary to prolong the life of the wood furniture, the wood would be needed sanded down with a few high grades of sand paper then the final sanding with a really fine sand paper 400 grams recommended pre oil or varnish, it is up to you what wood oil, varnish or wood stain you prefer to use but please take into account of the original wood colour as you could find that you could alter the original wood colour and it could turn out lighter but more likely darker in colour.

If you are looking for something with less maintenance and something that can stay out all year round in your outdoor space, then Powder coated aluminium furniture is one of our recommended favourites,

 Basically Powder coated aluminium is a beautiful and durable material for outdoor furniture. It is lightweight, corrosion resistant and very good looking. Powder coating is a polyester based coating that uses uniformly sized micro-beads of polyester, electrostatically charged to adhere to base materials. The finish has a nice solid painted feel, aluminium is usually the choice metal for the coating with its strong, versatile to shape and a more lightweight metal than other metals and also less rust properties. Also the finish can be in a wide variety of colour finishes.

Usually the aluminium furniture is accompanied with cushions whether it is an outdoor sofa set, a sun bed or chair etc, also now many aluminium chairs and sun beds are made with a textile material instead of a thick cushion, this is usually produced and sold for a slightly lower cost than a thick cushion but do not expect the furniture to last as long as a solid aluminium powder coated  base and thick cushion which is always more durable and worth the extra cost in our opinion.

Other items of furniture made from powder coated material include dining tables or side tables with can be either 100% aluminium only (Popular with smaller side tables) or larger dining tables which usually incorporate, glass, with coloured glass the popular glass of choice, Also wood top finish (usually teak) but now there is a more popular modern wood called Polywood which is a low-maintenance, durable, eco-friendly alternative to hardwood. Made from tough plastic and designed to look like wood, it is heavy-duty, and long lasting. Polywood lumber is primarily made from High-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is a thermoplastic polymer made from petroleum. Polywood products are manufactured from HDEP, UV-inhibiting pigments, and a few other additives. Aluminium powder coated furniture is a low maintenance option simply wipe down to clean but you may have to take the cushions in if you get caught in downpours of rain if they are open to the elements or you could simply buy water proof furniture covers for the items of furniture and cover when they are not in use this will keep them dry and clean especially when out of season.

Other material considerations are plastics, there are various types of plastics used in our everyday lives, some more durable than others, some plastics with all day sun can go brittle break easy and the colour fades, We sell many items from Vondom they have many items Made of polyethylene resin by rotational moulding.100% Recyclable. Items suitable for indoor and outdoor use and available in different finishes. They have even started a campaign called Vondom Revolution which is a campaign to clean up the local Mediterranean sea from plastics which are mainly old fishing lines and old plastics collected they now make a range of plastics from these materials at no extra cost for the more eco conscious people. Vondom now also incorporates more fabric, wood and metal items into their more recent modern collections, they have many modern minimal designs and many colour options available as well as made to measure outdoor fabric options ready and made to order from us here at White Cactus, Contact us for the latest pdf catalogues if you would like to order directly from us to your home.

Next we have rattan now there are various types of rattan but we will keep to two main rattans available, natural rattan which is very fashionable at the moment, as people are incorporating more natural materials into their homestead, but for outdoor use natural rattan in our experience only has a life span of a few years unless it is outside but under a terrace or sun shade then they will last a lot longer, as open to the outdoor elements especially a strong sun then this will wear on the natural fibres, Another more modern and popular rattan weave is synthetic rattan which can come in many colours and thickness to create a modern style, this style can be very good outside as it is lightweight and versatile as usually the weave is weaved around aluminium powdered frames to create various shapes  and styles of furniture, in our experience this furniture is good but better and longer lasting if it is on a covered terrace, balcony or sun shade  which allows the furniture to last a lot longer, Rattan weave furniture has the advantage of been softer to sit on a lighter to move around but usually a lot of rattan sun beds and chairs etc are accompanied by cushions for extra comfort.

Also new over the last 10 years and getting more increasingly popular is rope or fabric weave furniture, this can be with either a wooden frame or aluminium powder coated frame this style was originally popular with high end hotels but now has been seen more often in home settings, the rope weave style gives a nice quality finish and can look great in most settings, for prolonged life we suggest to use this style on a covered terrace area.

For a more relaxed homestead setting outdoor fabric bean bags can be a great choice for outdoor lounging, we have them available in traditional bean bag style but also beanbag sun beds available also in a variety of colours all made with outdoor fabrics.

Other materials not as popular but also used are painted iron furniture which is usually used for tables and chairs, and also cement top furniture is making a bit of a comeback recently

Any of the above types of furniture can be ordered directly from us, please ask us for details or if you require more information we will be happy to assist you.