In these days, if anything is at premium, it is an outdoor open space because whatever they are making these days, they are not making land anymore! Count yourself lucky if you have a garden or even a patio at one corner of your home and try to decorate it so that it becomes as much part of your home as your living room is.

It is needless to mention that patio decoration is quite different from interior decoration. Each has to be looked from different perspective. However, you can carry on the décor of the adjacent room into the patio so that the room is extended into the patio or make an abrupt break so that people feel that they have come to a new place. If you opt for the later, you can centre your décor on a theme. Either way, you need to get patio furniture first. They come in different designs, sizes and makes. If you cannot decide, try wicker patio furniture sets. They would go with most of the themes and would look nice even if you decide to do away with one.

Here, I must add that contrary to popular belief natural wicker is not an outdoor material. They must be protected from sun, rain, dew etc. etc. If you want to buy natural wicker patio furniture, you will have to keep them mostly indoor and drag them out each time you want to sit out. Fortunately, most of the wicker patio furniture sets today are made from synthetic wicker and so you can leave them outside round the year without much botheration. Do not worry about the look; they look exactly like the natural wicker sets.

However, wicker patio furniture sets need cushions to make them comfortable to sit in and inviting to look at. Buy outdoor patio cushions, if the furniture does not come with them. Outdoor patio cushions are especially made for outdoor conditions and make sure of the following facts before you buy them:
-    The cushion cover should be fade-resistant, easy to clean and preferably a little waterproof.
-    The filling should be made from polyester, so that drying becomes easy after an accidental soak. 3” of poly foam, wrapped with 2oz of poly fill blanket improve the shape and softness.
-    Make sure the outdoor patio cushions have ties to secure them to your wicker patio furniture sets.
-    If you are buying replacement cushions, take the measurements properly so that the cushions do not look uncouth.

You can also buy some throw cushions and pillows as well. You can find lovely floor pillows, perfect for lazy summer afternoons. You can plop down and relax anywhere. Buy patio umbrellas to match. On the other hand, if you have already bought the patio umbrella, buy outdoor patio cushions to match the umbrella. Either way, the both of them should match each other so that the result is not only harmonious, but also is inviting.

The patio umbrellas come in variety of sizes, shapes and make. The size of the umbrella should depend on the size of the patio table or the number of chairs it is going to cover. A side post umbrella can accommodate more chairs than ordinary central pole umbrellas. However, side post umbrellas have their own disadvantages too. As they hold the weight from one side, they may be less stable, especially if they have any structural defect. However, very few have that.

If a patio umbrella saves you from the heat and the ultraviolet rays of the sun, you need something to save you from cold too. Sitting around the fire was always a popular mode, but with depletion of forest cover, it is not a choice anymore. Moreover, such a method is not at all compatible to modern lifestyle. Of course, pinion wood is grown in plantations in places like Arizona to be burnt in Chiminea, but usually people opt either for a gas patio heater or for one that runs on electricity.

Look at the BTU of the patio heater when you go shopping for one. That is the heating capacity of each heater. It all depends upon how much space you would like to heat up. The velocity of the wind also has an adverse effect on the heating capacity of the patio heater. Therefore, where you locate it also determines the BTU of the heater to some extend. Buy an infrared patio heater to avoid the heat loss due to wind because such heaters do not heat the air in between, but only the solid object that comes in its way. Think hard before you decide unless you like organizing garage sales now and then.