How to Choose the Right Furniture for Your Composite Deck

An outdoor deck isn’t just another way to get in and out of your home. Your deck is an extension of your living space – and sense of style. Choosing the right furniture for your composite deck can make your outdoor living area feel like a home away from home. One that just happens to be located in your own backyard. Here are some tips to help you choose furniture and outdoor accessories that will add functional style to your new composite deck space, season after season, year after year.

Choose furniture that matches the interior style of your home. Take a little time to look at the furnishings you’ve added to the rooms inside your home. Use this as a style guide for selecting outdoor furniture and accessories. From contemporary to country, urban to earthy, there are styles of outdoor furniture made to complement virtually every type of interior décor.

Just like your decking – choose furniture that’s easy to care for. You installed a new composite deck so that you could spend more time relaxing and less time working to keep it looking great. The same rule should be applied to the furniture and accessories you place on your deck.  From high-quality, rust-free aluminum to easy-to-clean composites, low maintenance outdoor furniture is a smart, affordable way to get the most enjoyment out of your deck. Another plus of composite furniture, such as Adirondack Chairs, is that they are also less likely to damage the composite decking underneath them.

Use an outdoor rug to frame the space and make it feel cozy. It may seem counter intuitive at first, but complementing your beautiful new Brazilian Cherry, Garapa Gray or Golden Teak composite deck with a high quality outdoor area rug can really help tie together the look of an outdoor living space. There are a wide variety of outdoor carpets made from either natural fiber materials or synthetic blends made from recycled plastics to choose from. 

In general, natural fiber rugs tend to be more comfortable underfoot, but are more susceptible to fading, mold and mildew growth. The best way to choose the right outdoor carpet for your deck is to take some time and ‘test-drive’ a few synthetic and natural fiber selections to see which feel right. Keep in mind that a rubber-backed rug can help prevent sliding, and consider staying away from rough fabric-backed rugs that could potentially mar the surface of the deck. Then, weigh out the pros and cons of each option. Styles, colors and patterns abound, so you’re sure to find the one that fits your taste.

Choose high quality indoor/outdoor pillows and seat cushions. Tables and chairs add functionality to your outdoor living area. Pillows and cushions add an element of both style and comfort that makes you want to spend even more time outside. Just like outdoor furniture, manufacturing and material advances over the last several years have created an abundance of great, durable products. Most synthetic, polyester-based seat cushion and pillow fabric coverings are resistant to sun, mildew, heat and moisture making them extremely durable and easy to clean.

It’s important to point out that while outdoor cushions are resistant to the elements, they are not impervious to the long-term effects of sun, snow and rain. When not in use, store these items indoors or protect them with a UV resistant waterproof cover to prevent damage.

Use protective covers on furniture bases to prevent scratching. As the saying goes, it’s often the little things that matter most. Even the best furniture for a composite deck can sometimes cause unexpected damage if their bases have sharp, jagged edges. Homeowners can avoid causing unsightly scratches on their decking by adding inexpensive protective padding to the bottom of all outdoor furniture.

Outdoor furniture foot pads are typically made from dense, heavy duty fabrics such as felt or various types of plastics. A multitude of styles, from slides, caps, cups, inserts or felt-pads insure that homeowners can easily find the size and shape to match any type of outdoor furniture or accessory. Products are either attached via adhesives or screwed to the legs of outdoor furniture, allowing it to glide over the surface of decking without marring.  

While the high quality, strong, polypro composite decking from Duralife™ features a coextruded, capped surface to protect it from everyday wear, adding furniture foot pads is a simple and inexpensive way to further insure the surface remains scratch-free.

Store furniture indoors during winter. Unless you are fortunate enough to live in a climate that allows you to enjoy outdoor living all year round, there will come a time when you will need to store your outdoor furniture. While most wood composites, metal and vinyl mesh materials are designed to withstand moderate weather conditions with ease, freezing temps and harsh winter winds, snow and ice can take its toll on even the most well-made products.

When the time comes to move yourself indoors, it’s a good idea to do the same for your outdoor living furniture, too. Simply storing furniture in a storage shed or garage, away from moisture, can dramatically improve the longevity of these items. Plus, when the weather warms back up again, everything will be clean, dry and ready to go.

Get samples of DuraLife composite decking. Select up to 4 complimentary composite decking samples in any combination of collection, profile and color. Order your samples now! 

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This article is made possible by DuraLife.DuraLife’s unique polypropylene and hardwood composite decking materials simply outperform all other wood and composite decking products.More solid and safe under foot, DuraLife decking is backed by a 25-year warranty. It is stain and fade resistant, mold and mildew resistant, and is available in the colors and deck railing options you want. Get Samples, try our Composite Deck & Railing Visualizer, or contact DuraLife now to learn more.