It’s that time of year! The pollen has almost all settled, my oak tree catkins are all down (I hope!), and the pool is about to be open for daily use! I’ve got to get the outdoor furniture set and ready—it’s time to shine! As I’m oiling, cleaning, and unpacking my cushions from winter storage, I’ll give you a few tips for how to select outdoor furniture and cushion upholstery fabric!

Selecting Outdoor Furniture Materials

First let’s think through how much maintenance you want to do on your furniture. None? Once yearly? Daily? Haha! Here are some pros and cons for the different outdoor furniture materials.

As you can see in the above chart, different furniture materials offer different levels of maintenance. The easiest and most affordable chairs are typically synthetic resin, but they will fail you time and again when it comes to durability. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have metal and teak furniture options. These offer a longer furniture life, but do require some level of maintenance. And finally, there’s synthetic wicker outdoor furniture - a classic! While wicker pieces can sometimes be offered at a good price point, the ridges in the woven material make them harder to clean and maintain.

So, at the end of the day, you’ll need to pick your poison. We typically recommend metal-based outdoor furniture pieces for their durability and timeless look. But don’t worry, we can always add a little cushion to make it just as comfortable as some other options as well!

Selecting Outdoor Cushion Upholstery Fabric

Next we’ll want to consider the fabric! Dark fabrics show pollen and dust, light fabrics show mildew and dirt. There’s no winning!

However, regardless of which aesthetic you’re aiming for, or your tolerance to visible dirt or dust particles, you’ll want to choose an outdoor performance fabric. These will be made of synthetic fibers that are washable, bleach-able, and sun/fade-resistant. So, when pollen and rain are running wild in the spring, you can give your pieces a good wash to keep the cushion to looking fresh longer!

Selecting Outdoor Cushion Construction

Finally, we’ll want to know how our outdoor cushions plan to drain! Or do they?! The ideal outdoor cushion is made of a synthetic foam that won’t grow bacteria or mold! They should also have grommets or vents on the under-side or back-side for draining if they do get wet. We’ll also want to help them dry after a storm by giving them space in the sun to dry! Larger cushions for sofas, sectionals, or loungers should have this technology! If you want to save some dollars, dining cushions can get a pass on the anti-molding and drainage technology because they’re generally much smaller. But we still want to consider how long they’ll last if they don’t have any of this outdoor-proofing.

I’ve pulled together a few of our favorite outdoor furniture shapes for you to consider! You’ll see—it doesn’t have to LOOK like outdoor furniture to function beautifully outdoors!