Wicker vs. teak

What kind of furniture to put on the porch was a big decision for me. For years I had a set of dark brown wicker, two easy chairs and a sofa. They were very comfortable and I loved the cozy cottage-y feel of them. With a pile of pillows in shades of green and blue they were very inviting.

Over the years I found out they didn't age well. The extreme winter temperatures would take a large toll on the straws...they'd fray and break, the ends would pop out and look unsightly. I also found wicker is hard to keep clean from dust. It would gather in all the nooks and crannies and I'd hate that dusty unkempt look. Yes, you could "dust" it but it would only alleviate the problem part-way, you never got all the dust. The last thing that sorta bugged me was that the sofa wasn't quite long enough for me to stretch out on for long relaxing porch naps. I'm six foot tall...and I love a good nap. So after a few years I decided that I needed a whole new room of furniture.

I had my heart set on teak. I knew it was very sturdy and would last a lifetime, but it is very costly. I searched and searched for something affordable. My favorite designs were from Restoration Hardware but somehow I thought that solution was too easy. I asked my friend David who is a very fine interior decorator with exquisite taste to suggest a place to get good teak furniture. "Did you try Restoration Hardware?," he said. That was it. Sold. I picked out a very handsome set, again a sofa and two easy chairs, from their "Santa Monica" collection. Big comfy seat and back cushions in a dark sage green...and did I mention that the sofa is well over six feet long, perfect for my long legs to stretch out on for long lazy afternoons? Heaven.

The nice coda to the story: the month I got the set, there was a beautiful story of some guy's picturesque patio in California in the pages of Elle Decor. His furniture was the exact one I got from Restoration! Here's the picture:

I was right on trend!