Our neighbors recently finished a deck on their home. They have a patio door in their dining area. They started the deck there and wrapped in around the side of the house. The space by the patio door faces east and the space around the corner is on the north side of their home. This allows for a nice combination of sun and shade. My neighbor asked me to help her shop for patio furniture for the new deck.

My neighbor wanted to have at least two lounge chairs for the sunny side of the deck. She and her husband as well as her granddaughters enjoy soaking up the morning sun. The side deck, being on the north side, is in the shade most of the day. This will allow for comfortable temperatures to sit out on hot days. She thought she wanted to have a table and chairs for this area. Her husband did not want to help pick out the patio furniture. His only request was that the patio furniture be well made and as easy as possible to store for the winter months.

My neighbor and I went to a local landscaping and home products store. They had beautiful things; however they specialized in garden benches, fountains and other garden accessories, rather than patio furniture. Our next stop was a national discount store. They had a wide selection of patio furniture to choose from. Several of the items had two year warranties on them. We found a glass topped rectangular table that came with six chairs. The chairs had removable pads. This was a nice feature to help preserve the fabric from the harsh sun as well as rain. We also found an outdoor deacon bench to place on the deck. This would be a place to store the chair cushions when they were not in use and also provided for additional seating on the deck. The last purchase for patio furniture that we needed to find was the lounge chairs.

When we started our shopping trip for the patio furniture I thought that the lounges would be the easiest thing to find. There were several folding chairs; however my neighbor wanted something that was more comfortable and also sturdy. We found lounges that were made of wood and had multiple reclining positions. They had cloth pads for comfort. My neighbor bought two chairs.

The patio furniture looks very nice on the new deck. The neighbors spend a great deal of time on the deck enjoying both the heat and the shade.