A garden is our very own piece of the outside world, where we can take in the crisp air, lay in the sun, and sit under the moonlight. When your garden becomes a true extension of your home, it increases both the living space and the joy you can enjoy from your property. So many people love to sit outside at pubs, on holidays, and at events, despite not getting the full potential of their garden at home.
Upgrading your garden furniture doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Below, we look at 5 garden transforming hacks to elevate your outdoor experience. See how you can make the most of your outside space, and how BillyOh can help to create your vision.
Hack 1: Transforming Metal Garden Dining Sets
Metal garden furniture definitely has its advantages. It’s strong, durable, temperature-resistant, and doesn’t rot like wooden pieces. It does have some downsides though. Over time, metal is prone to rusting, especially in the damp British weather. It can sometimes be a little uncomfortable, and metal frames are not to everyone’s taste.
Thankfully, you can transform your metal garden furniture and drastically improve its longevity.
The Hack
Improve the lifespan and comfort of your metal garden furniture by first applying a weather-resistant coating. By adding stylish cushions, you can transform your metal chairs and benches into super comfortable pieces that reflect your personal style.
At BillyOh, our simple and stylish aluminium garden furniture is pre-treated with an anti-rust and anti-corrosive coating to protect your pieces from weather damage, year-round.
Step-by-step guide
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Cleaning
To rid your furniture of dirt, dust, and grime, it needs a good clean. Give your metal garden furniture a scrub with soap and water to prepare the surface for the next step.
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Apply a weather-resistant coating
Following the direction of your chosen product, apply a weather-resistant coating to increase the lifespan of your furniture by preventing rust and weather damage.
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Select outdoor cushions
Outdoor cushions in the right size for your furniture can turn uncomfortable metal chairs into all-year-round comfortable seating.
Do you really need outdoor-specific cushions? Yes. With the dust, weather, and heavy use outdoor furniture is exposed to, fabrics for interior cushions simply won’t do the job. Cushion material designed for the outdoors is much more weather-resistant and made with durability in mind.
By choosing cushions with colours and patterns that reflect your personal style, you can create design cohesion with the rest of your home or make your garden feel like a whole new space.
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Securing your cushions
Choose outdoor cushions that attach to your furniture to prevent them from blowing away in the wind or moving around too much while in use. With your newly updated, comfortable, stylish, and protected metal garden furniture, you can enjoy your outdoor space for years to come.
Hack 2: Rattan Sofa Set Upcycling
The beautifully woven look of new rattan garden furniture is the picture of elegance and relaxation in your garden. Unfortunately, after a time, rattan can begin to fray and lose its colour as it is exposed to the elements. The UV rays of the sun, even on cloudy days can cause the colours to become worn and patchy. Rain and moisture further damage the surface over time.
The Hack
The good news is, that you can restore the colour and reinforce the material of your rattan furniture to give it a new lease on life and make it last even longer.
Step-by-step guide
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Cleaning
Cleaning any surface before restoring it is vital, but the intricate design of rattan easily traps dirt and dust. A good clean with soap, water, and a brush is the first step to restoring your furniture back to its former glory.
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Restoring the colour
Next, apply a rattan colour-restoring product. This helps to even out faded patches, and bring the rich hues back into the woven pattern.
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Reinforce your rattan
Over time, due to weather, wear and tear, and sun exposure, the rattan material can become frayed and brittle. If not maintained, this causes breakage. Reinforce your rattan material by applying a polyurethane or acrylic finish to the furniture pieces after restoring their colour. This additional sealing will also help to keep your colour looking fresher for much longer.
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Drying time
Allowing your newly reinforced furniture to dry completely is vital for getting the results and longevity that you wish from your project. Ensure the furniture has adequate drying time away from any weather influences before using it again.
Hack 3: Multi-Functional Wooden Furniture
We can find ourselves hesitant to add more garden furniture to our outside space, fearing that it will build up, taking up too much space. When we design an outside space we love to spend time in, especially when we have a smaller area to work with, turning seemingly single-use wooden items into multipurpose pieces can make all the difference.
The Hack
Using creativity, many furniture items can be transformed into multifunctional pieces, saving space and providing more ways and reasons to use your garden more often.
Ways to create multifunctional garden pieces
When you start looking at your garden furniture and space from a different perspective, many creative possibilities can appear to you. Look for ways that items can serve more than one purpose. You can save a lot of space and money by working with what you already have and making the most of creative opportunities.
Some ideas for creating multifunctional pieces are:
- Convert a wooden bench into a picnic table by adding a removable tabletop.
- Use old pallets to create a garden bench with built-in planters
- Create shelves under benches to store firewood or other garden accessories
- Add a table with an in-built fire pit, for excellent 2-in-1 space saving
- Include bench seats that lift with interior storage for accessories
By transforming current furniture, or adding items that serve more than one purpose, even the smallest garden space can be turned into your personal outside oasis.
Hack 4: Seasonal Adaptability for All Furniture Types
No matter which material you choose for your garden furniture, weatherproofing will be necessary. Adapting to the seasons proactively before they arrive helps you to keep your furniture in good condition longer, and to truly enjoy your space in every season.
Moisture, ice, UV light, rain, and heat can all affect the appearance and structure of your furniture. Over time, fading, rusting, and cracking will appear, but there are some simple ways to prolong the life of your garden furniture.
The Hack
Protect garden furniture from seasonal wear and tear using covers and storage solutions.
Covers are a simple, quick, and extremely effective way to prolong the life of your garden furniture and help to enjoy your space year-round. By using a cover, you can not only protect your furniture from the elements, but you can use it more easily than if you stored it away in a shed.
The key to enjoying your outdoor space is making it delightful and accessible for as much of the year as possible. By using quality and easy-to-use covers for your furniture, it stays dry, in great condition, and ready to use at all times of the year.
How to choose the right covers
To protect your garden furniture and accessories with a cover, it is vital to choose one that performs to your expectations and beyond. Many products are available for simple coverage, but for true weather protection, quality covers are needed. Look for furniture covers that are:
- Made from durable materials
- The right size for your furniture to stop tearing or weather damage
- Breathable to prevent moisture buildup.
- Offering protection against the specific weather conditions in your area.
Investing in purchasing or building beautiful garden furniture and accessories is a project that improves your relationship with the outside, lets you enjoy your little slice of nature, and lets you create further living space for relaxing, having fun, and making memories. Whether you are creating a resort-style minimalist patio, or a rustic country-style garden, protecting what you have created is vital.
Conservatory furniture is a great option for comfortable garden furniture but needs to be protected from the elements. Stylish conservatory furniture is great multipurpose furniture for your conservatory, patio, or garden.
Hack 5: Creating a Garden Bar Unit
It’s a beautiful, sunny day, or a crisp autumnal evening and you are excited to be hosting friends in your garden. You have your table and chairs all ready – then spend the entire time walking back and forth into the house, fetching and carrying drinks. By the end of it, you didn’t get to spend much time outside socialising at all.
Making outside time feel natural and relaxed for yourself and your guests is often about implementing simple design hacks to make life easier. Setting yourself up for success pays off for hosting future events. `
The Hack
Build or install a simple but eye-catching bar unit in your garden, ready to use when you have guests. A garden bar provides the wow factor, while keeping you in the loop, protected from weather, and enjoying your event.
Step-by-step guide:
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Location
The most critical part of adding a new fixture to your garden is where to put it. As a bar area is somewhere you will likely find yourself standing a lot of the time when you have guests, an area that has shelter from an awning, tree shade, or space to place an umbrella would be the most convenient.
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Build a frame
By making a simple wooden or metal frame for your bar area, you can keep costs to a minimum and truly design a space that is the perfect size for your garden.
If your DIY skills don’t stretch to creating from scratch, at BillyOh we have you covered, with quality wooden garden bars to wow your guests, keep you part of the conversation, and out of the rain.
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Add a countertop & shelving
Placing a countertop on your outdoor bar area not only gives it a look of sophistication but also makes bartending and cleaning a breeze.
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Decorate
The best part of building something yourself or bringing in a new piece like a bar, is the ability to really make it yours. Staining your bar an elegant mahogany colour, painting the colours of your football team, or adding fairy lights for a resort style look, whatever your style, you can create a bar that wows.
When we invite people to spend time in our garden, or host an event for friends or family, there is no need to miss out on the fun or have people trample in and out of the house all day and night. Creative solutions like this can enhance everybody’s fun and save you a lot of time in the long run.
Conclusion
Creating your ideal outdoor space is a passion project with big payoffs. Spending sunny afternoons entertaining in your garden, or enjoying hot chocolate under the moonlight of a cold winter’s night, spending more time outdoors is good for us. No matter how big or small, our garden is our own little piece of nature. The hacks above are a great way to start exploring how to protect, design, and use your furniture for the maximum lifespan.
Whether we turn it into a tranquil resort-style patio, a rustic country-style garden where the BBQ never stops, or the best place to party with friends and family, we can express our personality and style with our outdoor space.
To create the perfect garden for you, BillyOh has you covered, with quality furniture, covers, bars, cabins, BBQ’s, and so much more.
