A World of Style in Outdoor Living

   Elegant Outdoors adds finesse to al fresco lifestyles. Their spacious showrooms offer sofas with generous cushions, armchairs with ottomans, chaises for two, and bar stools galore – at all price points! Chairs swivel, swing, rock and recline. Designed with impeccable style and complete comfort in mind, it’s almost as though outdoor décor is synonymous with interior design.
   Patio furniture was once a staple of the backyard, the only appropriate place for unsightly pieces that became overcooked and weather worn in one season. As our backyards morphed into outdoor living areas, manufacturers took note with sturdier, more comfortable and better looking pieces. Elegant Outdoors, a Brown Jordan International showroom, also features well-respected manufacturers such as Lloyd Flanders, Summer Classics, Windham and Kessler.
   “The outdoors is one of the primary gathering areas in an upscale Florida home,” explains Denise Bertucci, manager of the Tampa and Osprey showrooms. “People used to select color-coordinated furniture and not put much thought into the process. Today, with architects designing homes with pool views seen from the front entrance, homeowners select exterior furnishings with an integrated design in mind.”
   Design is everything. Brown Jordan, established in 1945 in Pasadena, California, was originally known for custom wrought iron breakfast sets. This company has gone one step further than wicker with a patented process called resin weave, an embossed, extruded resin strip that emulates sea grass. Rather than molding itself to the frame in wicker’s familiar, curvaceous open weave, the woven material wraps around the frame as a snug enclosure. Many manufacturers have adopted similar techniques for straight-lined style.
   Pool pavilions are designed for living with outdoor kitchens, covered spaces with TVs and comfortable seating, dining furniture and even fireplaces. Elegant Outdoors works with homeowners as well as interior designers to make sure the transition from interior to outdoors is seamless.
   One of many offerings drawing attention at Elegant Outdoors is a Summer Classics resin wicker line of furnishings that emulates leather. Furnishings made of cast aluminum with a copper patina and tables with
custom surfaces in mosaic tile patterns are also popular.
   Casual home furnishings, the trade name for outdoor furniture is an appropriate description of a wide-ranging inventory that’s received a complete makeover since World War II. Back then, portable aluminum chairs with nylon webbing were welcome additions to a stationary repertoire. Sturdy Adirondack, natural wicker and dignified wrought iron pieces, mainstays of an earlier era, will always have their place. But even in the past 10 years, synthetic materials and innovative design have revolutionized the industry.
   Elegant Outdoors carries a stylish array of outdoor furnishings upholstered with solution-dyed Sunbrella fabrics that hold up to the sun. Cushions are made of large-pore foam, which allows water to drain quickly and permits fast drying.
   Many pieces are just plain fun. The award-winning Harmony bed from Brown Jordan appears to be a massive, round bed on wheels with an umbrella and table, but it is actually two chaises.
   For a traditional favorite that will soften the décor of any home, look to wicker. White wicker is no longer as popular as black or the more natural honey-toned or dark brown shades. Classic design and stain-resistant upholstery fabric lead some to purchase the wicker pieces for sun porches and guest quarters.
   “A curved armchair or chaise seen from the living room of a formal estate is all that’s needed to instill that calm feeling of the tropics,” advises Bertucci. “The furniture designs are gorgeous, and the fabric choices for upholstery are incredible.”
   Whether you fancy a cutting-edge teak bench or a comfortable, cushioned sofa, Elegant Outdoors’ showrooms will show you a world of fine furnishings that stand up to the elements with style.

ELEGANT OUTDOORS
1230 Tamiami Trail South, Osprey, FL
941 966-8702
www.naplespatio.com

7229 North Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, FL
813 930-6695

3375 Tamiami Trail North, Naples, FL
239 530-0097

Written by Casey McCabe