For most of us living in the temperate zones of the northern and southern hemispheres, summer cannot come quickly enough. When summer does come, if it is not raining, we want to spend as much time as we can out of doors and as much time as we can in the garden, which is why so many of us have patio furniture.
There are a number of kinds of garden furniture and some are more comfortable than others, but the most hard-wearing and the most popular is patio furniture made from hardwood. Unfortunately, hardwood is exactly what it says it is – hard wood. It can be quite uncomfortable to sit on hardwood furniture for more than an hour.
The simplest way to get round this is to use outdoor throw cushions. These outdoor throw cushions can be just indoor throw cushions, if you remember to take them in each day, otherwise they will soon begin to rot after the first time you leave them out in the rain. It is easier said than done to take the cushions in each night.
Therefore, it is worth giving some consideration to making outdoor cushion covers for your outdoor cushions. These cushion covers need to be waterproof and the zip fastener should be protected too so that water cannot enter through there either.
This can be achieved by covering the zip with a flap, as used on regular bed pillows, and sealing it with Velcro. You could use poppers, but Velcro is simpler and better.
If you are purchasing new garden furniture, you might get throw cushions supplied with the package. If not, and you want to buy outdoor cushions at the same time, check them for waterproofness as mentioned above. The other thing to look out for is that the cushion covers match the style of the furniture and the sort of garden that you have.
The covers of the garden outdoor throw cushions can be patterned or plain, but do take into account the colours already in your garden. Is there a lot of colour from flowers or is green the predominant colour? And do not forget the colour of your garden furniture either.
You will also want to make certain that these cushion covers are washable, because they will get unbelievably dirty fairly frequently, if you leave them outside. They will be rained on, splashed on, cats and dogs will sit on them and they might even blow about the garden unless you tie them down, which is not a bad idea. You could sew short ties onto them to keep them on the furniture while you are not using them.
If the covers are washable, then make sure that the colours on the cushions are permanent and will not fade or run. Lastly, a lot of fabrics will tolerate a few months of sun, but some will not tolerate the freezing temperatures of winter, so remember to take them in for the winter months.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now involved with Marriott bedding. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Modern Throw Pillows For Sale.