Size Matters!

When you are planning the design of your backyard loggia, pavilion, patio covering or outdoor room you need to take into consideration what type of furniture you will be placing in this space, as well as, what is the size of the furniture. If you are lucky enough to start with a fresh canvas you can design this special area to fit your needs. However, most times you have no say in this important decision because the architect or landscape designer already specified how big this space will be. Even in the newest homes with lots of space and multiple areas these specially designed covered rooms do not seem to be accommodating.

    Recently, I visited three brand new homes each very unique in style with very different outdoor living environments. The one thing that struck me as similar was that none of the covered pavilions were large enough to fit either a simple rectangular table and chairs for eight people with any room to walk around the table, or a sofa, two club chairs and a coffee table in front of a built-in fireplace.
These rooms need to be designed with the furniture in mind. You certainly would not build a dining room on the interior of the home that would not fit a traditional size dining room table and chairs nor would you build a fireplace in a room that could not accommodate a sofa and chairs surrounding the area.  

    It is important that the casual furniture industry try to educate architects and landscape designers with regard to the average size of today’s outdoor furniture and the need to create big enough spaces to place this casual furniture in a pleasing, comfortable and usable arrangement. It may be necessary for these professionals to team up with casual furniture manufacturers or designers who can specify the dimensions and types of furniture that should be used in the outdoor rooms so that these costly mistakes do not continue. Too often what happens is that the homeowner purchases furniture that does not fit properly or was not designed for a particular size area. It would be beneficial to everyone involved if these things were considered in the planning stages.

    Perhaps we in the casual furniture industry should reach out to architects and landscape designers and invite them to learn more about the furniture that we manufacture.

    These are my outside views…what are yours? Marcia Blake