Group 6 2 minutes Read

backyard furniture

Lauren Zerbey

Work has been crazy lately so we decided to take a break and give ourselves a Sunday Funday. Turns out, a Zerbey Funday includes watching a little Arrested Development and going outdoor furniture shopping.

With our focus on the backyard this summer, we thought it might be time for a furniture upgrade. Our current table and chairs were purchased from IKEA five years ago. They’ve served us well but we didn’t take great care of them, leaving them out during the rainy season more than once (oops). The wood (acacia) is now dull and splintered and although it would be possible to sand and refinish, it would be a lot of work. We’ve also been wanting a larger table, one that can seat 6-8.

montague-dining-table

So, we bought this table from Crate&Barrel. (Thanks to a Memorial Day sale and our trade discount, we saved a good bit of money too.) It’s a dark gray powder-coated aluminum and seems very well made and durable. We plan on owning it for a long time. (We also bought a cover!)

As for dining chairs, we’re stumped. Ideally, we’d like something that is inexpensive and stackable. We’ve also talked about doing a bench on one or both of the long sides. Although we generally like to stick to neutral colors on big pieces, this could be an opportunity for some color.

Below, a collection of options:

outdoorchairs

1. IKEA Roxo chair, $20. I like the color and the price. I don’t know how comfortable it would be but our local IKEA is out of stock anyway and since it’s a seasonal item they likely won’t get any more. (Note to self: buy Christmas stuff in October and summer stuff in March.)

2. Room&Board Aruba chair, $119.00. We tested this one out in person and it’s fairly comfortable. It’s just not that fun and also more than we’d like to spend if we’re talking about getting multiples.

3. IKEA Reidar chair, $49.99. I’d actually be ok with this chair, but I’m not sure Kyle’s on board. (Does anyone have this chair? Is it comfortable enough?)

4. CB2 Lucinda chair, $69.95. I like this one too but we don’t have a CB2 store in Seattle so I’m hesitant to buy without trying it out first.

I feel like Kyle and I have scoured the interwebs, but maybe there’s another option we’re missing? I think we’d be ok with buying 4 chairs in conjunction with buying (building?) a bench or two. Our stopgap solution for the interim might be just to use our existing four chairs. Boring.

So, although we were not successful in purchasing new dining chairs, we did find some of the lounging style…

vista-adirondack-chair

vista-adirondack-chair2

Adirondacks have been on our list for years. For a while Kyle wanted to design and build our own modern versions, but we found these FSC-certified teak chairs at Crate&Barrel and decided to just go for it. We actually started our Sunday Funday going to DWR and Room&Board, thinking we’d choose the no-maintenance adirondacks from Loll. Surprisingly though, they weren’t nearly as comfortable as the C&B ones.

Happy with our purchases, we decided to head home. But on our way back to the car I spied mini Adirondacks in front of Pottery Barn Kids. Moments later, this happened:

883330b2c64d11e28b6c22000a1f8db8_7

(Kyle bought her the new shades about 10 minutes earlier.) I voted for the white chair but Kyle insisted on pink. Plus the matching umbrella. (Also pink.) Then Avery started clapping and I caved. Not only were they on sale but I also got to finally use the Pottery Barn gift card that we received as a wedding gift nearly 8 years ago!

FUNDAY WIN FOR EVERYONE!

This weekend Kyle and our neighbor are building a new fence and landscaping is slated to start next week. Summmmmatimmmme!