Patio and Outdoor Deck-orating Hacks

Don’t Wreck The Deck!

Decks and patios are a gorgeous gathering place during the Summer and early Fall months.

Make yours a place to enjoy with these three things in mind:

Weather forecast please!

If you have extreme weather conditions, they will affect your deck furniture. Wind can blow over lighter furniture regularly and hot conditions can cause wood to crack.

Don’t leave your furniture out all year round. In (Cokato and Hutchinson) Minnesota winters can be ROUGH! Make sure to bring your furniture into the garage or a storage area to keep it safe from water damage and wind. At the very least- cover your outdoor furniture in plastic to protect fabrics.

Remember Routine!

It’s important to have a cleaning routine to keep your outdoor furniture in good condition. Scheduling a regular cleaning will allow for furniture that looks good AND feels good too. After you get your outdoor upholstery professionally cleaned, there are two things to remember.

1. Ask your Chem-Dry technician to put you down in the schedule for your next cleaning. That way you don’t have to deal with the hassle of trying to schedule a regular cleaning.

2. Ask your Chem-Dry technician to apply a protectant seal to your furniture. Aka a barrier against dirt and debris. Protectant helps your cleaning last longer AND makes your furniture look better

Functional Feng Shui!

We’ve all gotten a little decorating happy and gone overboard. Amazon has some pretty neat things that all look enticing and pretty soon you’ve got a box shipped to your door with a bunch of random stuff for your deck or patio. Put on the breaks and try to think through what your deck needs.

What do you and your family use your deck for?

Barbeques? Then you’ll need a grill and lots of seating. Entertaining the kids? Kid sized lawn chairs and buckets with water games or toys might be more appropriate. Chatting with family? Once again, comfy seating. Maybe some beautiful potted plants or fun lighting to keep the area gorgeous and well lit as the sun sets.

When you pick items out for your deck you must consider what activities you will be doing there. Some things don’t make sense to have out all season long.

Next consider the function side of things. Lay out some masking tape on the deck floor to block out areas where you would put furniture or big items (tables, chairs, grill, etc.). Look at the area of walking space left behind- is it usable? A mismeasurement or a bad layout can cause your deck to looks smaller and feel uncomfortably crowded.

Deck-orating The Right Way

So long as your deck or patio looks and feels great, you will be all set. Once you have your furniture set in place, use it! Leave the cleaning to us at Brown's Chem-Dry so all you have to do is enjoy your deck space until the sun goes down.