Monthly Archives: February 2016

2016 Outdoor Furniture Styles to Fall in Love With

Summer is almost here, and that means you will soon be lounging by the pool with a cold iced tea or pulling out your apron to barbecue some of your famous ribs.

New Year’s celebrations have long passed and that means summer is on its way. Get your living space ready with one these beautiful 2016 outdoor furniture styles you’re sure to fall in love with.

Natural Elegance

Keeping it natural allows your outdoor furniture to blend in with the world around you, and connecting with nature is a huge trend in 2016. Try this wicker look to keep the natural elements alive in your outdoor space.

Wicker is a great addition to any patio because the woven design won’t diminish its surroundings. However, that doesn’t mean wicker can’t be elegant. A dark, espresso color will keep your outdoor space stylish and classy. Pick a neutral color palette to accompany your wicker set so the style stays consistent with your lush surroundings.

We love this Deco 9-Piece Dining Set. Its sleek frame brings a classy touch to any outdoor space, while the wicker and wood tabletop will flow well with your backyard environment.

Traditional and Bold

Sometimes it’s fun to stray from the natural by adding a bold color to your outdoor space. If you’re looking for something more petite to fill your outdoor lounge, why not think about choosing a minimal furniture design with a bold hue to complement your space.

With summer fast approaching, it’s hard not to get lost in bright, citrus colors that abound in many backyard setups. But, those that really stand out in 2016 are the bold, yet more demure colors. Choose dark, deep accents over the flashy “look-at-me” colors to give your patio a unique, on-trend touch.

This Astoria 6-Piece Lounge Set is the perfect addition for anyone looking to keep their space traditional, while the navy cushions add that touch of modern we love. The set offers sleek curves and a light frame that doesn’t overpower the surrounding elements.

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Modern and Natural

Do you love both modern and natural? It can be hard to choose between the two different styles, but 2016 is all about finding a balance between the two.

Mixing the two styles doesn’t have to be eclectic. Instead of mixing random pieces together, choose pieces that combine textures. This offers a unique style without introducing competing patterns.

For outdoor spaces, consider mixing wicker and aluminum. This combination creates a contemporary look for any patio. The Vistano 7-Piece Lounge Set engenders both a modern and timeless feel. The combination of the aluminum frame with clean modern lines works with wicker, which adds that elegant, natural look. The cushions are kept a soft cream so the interesting frame can stand out on its own.

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Conclusion

Natural, demurely bold, and eclectic textures: these are the 2016 outdoor trends that you will see time and time again featured in the pages of your favorite magazines and on the patios of your friends.

Is your outdoor furniture on-trend or outdated? If your furniture is a few years old, it may be time to upgrade. Find all of the styles you want made with lasting, quality materials at RST Brands.

Subtle Simplicity: How to Bring Minimalism to Your Outdoor Design

Minimalism has always existed as a design theory, but it’s really taken over in the 21st century, with brands like Apple and rising niche products embracing the simplistic style.

Regardless of its current popularity, minimalism is more than a passing fad. Minimalist design is gender neutral and provides a clean marriage between male and female styles as the genders mix and mingle more in the modern age. It also highlights art and creativity, which are rising priorities as millennials climb up the socioeconomic ladder.

To help you embrace this rising trend with your indoor and outdoor furniture, alike, we’ve compiled a list of best practices in minimalist design. Keep in mind, you might have to fight some of your natural inclinations to over-crowd or multi-color your space while your eye adjusts to the simple design. But stick to these basic principles and you’ll have an outdoor patio worth Pinteresting about in no time.

7 Commandments of Outdoor Minimalist Design

1. Define Your Color Palette

Minimalist design isn’t about getting rid of color and replacing it with empty, white spaces. Color actually plays a very important role in minimal design.

Before you start redecorating, define your color palette. A minimal space will have a lot of neutral colors, and an accent color that defines the space. Obviously, you can have more than one color in your minimal space, but keep all colors from the same family.

Choose tonal variations of your main accent color that add visual variety to the space, but keep your use of color tight. To do this, forget the notion that accent colors are reserved for small decor pieces like pillows and vases and use color for larger items like the sofa, with neutral colors taking over those accent pieces.

2. Replace Color with Texture

Introducing a rigid color palette to your space means you need to establish variety in other ways to keep it from looking like a boring showroom. In minimalist design, this is often done through textures.

Although your colors are few, you can add variety with velvets, corduroy, and fur. These textures come in singular colors so your design stays simple, but the various textiles draw the eye from piece to piece, keeping the design interesting without over-burdening it.

3. Eliminate Ornate Detail

Unlike shabby chic design where colliding chaotic details create an odd calmness, ornate details just equal chaos in a minimalist design. Be careful with vintage pieces featuring intricate patterns in your minimal space.

Instead, opt for simple lines and shapes. This doesn’t mean your design needs to be rigid and boxy, but the eye should be able to easily move from object to object without getting too caught up in tiny details.

4. Less Is More

We don’t mean to be cliche, but this adage is especially true in a minimalist space. To keep your outdoor space from being busied by knick-knacks, make a rule that you need to remove an element every time a new one is introduced.

If you get a new rug, eliminate some throw pillows. If you add a piece of art, replace those three flower pots with one. A minimal space needs to breathe, so don’t over-design it, no matter how cute that old vase is.

5. Embrace Art and Plants

It might feel silly at first to bring art outside and add plants when there is a lush backyard just beyond the deck, but these two design elements are essential to balancing the minimal space in your backyard design.

Eradicating color and detailed patterns gets rid of pieces that are probably bringing personality to your current space. Replace them with art that has personal meaning and introduce curated plants around the patio.

These pieces add a whimsical element to stale, minimal designs and re-introduce those personal touches that really make the space your own.

6. Consider Lighting

Minimal spaces really shine in bright, natural light. If you need to, trim the branches that block the sun over your patio and do what you can to open up the space as much as possible.

To keep your patio from looking busy, get rid of small Christmas lights and replace them with large, vintage bulbs to illuminate the area. When it comes to outdoor lighting and minimal design, bigger is often better.

7. Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

The true key to unlocking an outdoor minimalist design is consistency. Bring design elements from inside your home to your outdoor decor in an obvious way.

Instead of limiting your design vision to the patio, think bigger. Apply minimalist principles and decor to the whole backyard or your entire home. When you find a signature tick that really suits your style, it will be easy to pull it into all aspects of your home design.

Conclusion

Have fun experimenting with this hip design style. Once you’ve mastered the basics, embrace minimalist design because of all the benefits it offers: gender neutral, clean, and happy spaces.

What motivates you to try minimalist design?