Get Creative with Outdoor Indoor Furniture

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Outdoor living room

It’s May, so catalogs and furnishings stores are showing their outdoor stuff.  Think outside the box by imagining many of these items inside your house.  The fabrics resist water and stains, the lighting is geared for substantiality and ambiance, and the furniture is more kid-proof than anything meant for inside.  Here are some ideas for your outdoor indoor furniture.

Outdoor Indoor Furniture In the Living Room

This is a living room with a welcoming décor created with outdoor furnishings, featured on Houzz.com.  Note the hanging chair and outdoor sofas.

 

Houzz.com outdoor indoor furniture in a cabin

Choose outdoor throw pillows for their long-lasting fabrics. outdoor indoor throw pillows

Outdoor Indoor Furniture In the Dining Room

Find a rustic outdoor table without an umbrella hole in the middle, or cover the hole with a centerpiece. Hardy and different from your neighbors’.  Add benches or chairs painted in bright colors, black, or off-white.

 

outdoor indoor dining table   outdoor indoor dining table and bench seat

If you have wood floors and know a rug would look sensational under your dining set, but also know how grungy that rug could get, choose an outdoor rug for durability and water/stain resistance.  Be sure to get a rug large enough that it will accommodate the chairs pushed out from the table.

outdoor indoor rug

Outdoor Indoor Furniture In Kids’ Rooms

Hanging chairs, swinging benches and play equipment are all game as long as they fit the space and theme.  Get your inner child on and your young imagination going on this one, or consult with the younger generation.

 

outdoor indoor canvas swing   outdoor indoor swing for kids   outdoor indoor swing bench

Outdoor Indoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting is substantial and aimed more for romance than interior lighting.  I don’t know why that is, but it’s true.  Whenever you consider lighting for inside your home, give outdoor lighting a chance.

 

outdoor indoor lighting inside   outdoor indoor lamp post inside   outdoor indoor lamp post

Gale Boyd is the managing editor for ThirdHour.org. She is a Jewish convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has lived all over the world. She has raised 6 Third Culture Kids and is always homesick for somewhere.