Multi-Functional Furnishings: How To Use Your Favorite Pieces Inside or Outside Your Home

With today’s homes becoming more unique, modern and stylish, choosing the right furniture for your home has never been more important. The trend of multi-functional furnishings that can be used both inside and outside your home has become increasingly popular. This means your all-time favourite pieces can be used in a wide variety of areas both inside and outdoors, as long as you implement the right protection and techniques to ensure your furniture withstands its surrounding environment.

Whether you’re looking to bring your favourite outdoor furniture inside or vice versa, or simply just want tips on how to make the most out of your home furnishings, below you’ll discover everything you need to make all areas of your home furnished to perfection.

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Sealants

If you look around the inside and outdoor areas of your home at this very moment, it’s likely you’ll find at least one piece of wooden furniture. Durable and sophisticated, wooden furniture is hugely popular throughout our homes and is a key feature of many multi-functional pieces of furniture.

However, the harsh conditions of the outdoors can wreak havoc on wood, causing it to splinter and rot as well as fade. Treating your wooden furniture with protective sealants is essential before leaving it outside, and will guarantee longer-lasting furniture for all the family to enjoy.

The majority of homeware/hardware shops will stock inexpensive wood sealants you can easily apply to your furniture. But, to take some of the work off your hands, try purchasing teak furniture as this specific type of wood has been shown to provide excellent durability against outdoor elements, and requires much less maintenance than other wood types. For more inspiration, check out the quality products from Bridgman where you’ll discover a huge array of high-quality teak furniture.

Use outdoor-safe fabric

Generally, if furniture is manufactured to be kept indoors, outdoor-safe and durable fabrics are rarely used. Often, fabric is likely to fade or get damaged from outdoor conditions, particularly when exposed to the sun.

So, if you have a stunning dining set you want to bring outside, invest in some outdoor-safe cushions to place on seats and perhaps even a large waterproof cover that can be placed over the entire set during bad weather. If you just stick with the original fabric that hasn’t been optimised for outdoor use, it’s likely that your furniture will lose its original colour and won’t look as vibrant or luxurious.

Use outdoor furniture indoors to save money and reduce mess

So far we’ve primarily focused on bringing indoor furniture outside, but there’s also a huge array of benefits when using outdoor items to furnish the inside of your home.

Due to frequent harsh weather conditions experienced in the UK, especially in winter, outdoor furniture is often specifically designed to be durable and able to withstand a range of different environments. So, if you have a busy household with young children or simply like to host gatherings with your friends and family, outdoor furniture is a sure-fire way to make cleaning up any mess much easier.

Wooden or wicker furniture are great options to bring inside, as spillages or stains can be cleaned off in a matter of minutes as opposed to fabric where professional cleaning services may have to come into play.

In addition to heavily reducing mess and maintenance, outdoor furniture is significantly cheaper than indoor furniture. Generally speaking, the cost of an entire set of outdoor furniture fit for a living room (including chairs, tables and sofa-like seats) is likely to be less than what you’d pay for a soft fabric sofa. This means you’ll be able to furnish your entire home with stylish yet durable furniture for a fraction of what you’d pay for indoor furniture!

And if you’re worried that outdoor furniture won’t suit the décor of your home, the range of outdoor furniture available these days is outstanding. No matter what colour, style or material you’re looking for, you’re almost certain to find an outdoor counterpart that will look just as good as anything made for the indoors.

You’ve now learnt exactly how to multi-use your furniture, whilst saving money and mess at the same time! Indoor and outdoor furniture don’t have to be exclusive to one particular area of your home. If you utilise the above tips to reduce the chance of fading or damage, virtually any item of furniture can be taken outdoors with longevity at the forefront of its function.

Tia Rahman is an interior designer who has design and decor on her mind most of the time, gathering ideas no matter where she is. She shares her decor tips and ideas online with her writing.