The Rattan Egg Chair We Wish We Had Measured For
The delivery driver said it before any of us did, standing in the doorway with the box on a trolley going “you know that’s not actually going to fit through…
The Folding Patio Table That Looked Simple and Wasn’t
The argument was about whether a folding patio table counts as “furniture” or just “a thing you own that happens to have legs.” One person settled it by dragging out…
The Folding Patio Lounger We’d Skip Next Time
The comparison that keeps coming up is the green sling one from a few summers back against the newer gray textilene version currently annoying somebody on the back patio, and…
The Glass Patio Table We Keep Talking About
The glass patio table comes up in the office more than any other single object we own between us, which is strange for something that just sits outside and holds…
Our Long Running Ceramic Planter Argument
A delivery driver once stood in the doorway holding a box marked FRAGILE in three languages and said, completely unprompted, “you lot really do love your pots, don’t you,” and…
Do You Actually Need a Cantilever Patio Umbrella?
Look back through what this account has said about cantilever parasols over the years and you can watch the opinion move, slowly, like a shadow following the sun it’s meant…
Fire Pit Under an Awning: Heat Goes Straight Up
My sister Marnie walked onto my back porch two winters ago, took one look at the little steel fire bowl I’d hauled up from the yard sale on Wheaton Street,…
A Pergola Over a Fire Pit: Pretty and Pushing Your Luck
I bought a solid roof pergola for my patio in April, before I’d even ordered the fire pit, because I saw a photo of one online and decided the two…
An Open Fire Pit in the Backyard: Who Decides?
Okay so backyard fire pits have this reputation of being the easiest, most “just go outside and do it” purchase in the whole outdoor category. You see one on someone’s…
Outdoor Cushions Living Outdoors: Is the Label Telling the Truth?
Outdoor cushions have a reputation, and it’s not a good one. Everyone I know treats the word “outdoor” on a cushion tag the way you’d treat a stranger’s promise to…