Outdoor
The pieces shown here were requested by clients asking a simple question: can this be made for outdoors?
A chair kept outdoors is asked to do what an indoor chair never is: to be rained on, sat in while still damp, left through a season it was not consulted about, and to look, at the end of it, like something chosen rather than something endured. Nearly every piece in the collection can be built to that standard. Everything depends on one question, asked first — will the piece be covered?
Under cover, in a mild climate. A loggia, a deep porch, a generous overhang. Here the field is wide open. Any of our woods and finishes can be given an exterior finish, and the color you specify is the color that stays. English bridle leather holds up well in these conditions — several of the pieces shown here wear it, and have for years.
In full exposure. Weather narrows things, and honestly so. Unfinished teak, white oak, carbonized white oak, and wenge will all meet the elements on their own terms; we have used Iroko on occasion, and well. Strapping in UV-resistant faux leather, which takes the sun without going brittle. Teak in the open will silver over a season or two to a soft grey — clients hoping to hold the honeyed tone should know that no finish will do it outdoors, and that the grey, when it arrives, is the better outcome.
Woods. Unfinished plantation teak, unfinished white oak, wenge, and carbonized white oak — the last by yakisugi, the Japanese method of charring and brushing the surface, then finished with coats of exterior oil. The process preserves the wood and leaves a deep, tactile black.
Fabrics. Perennials solution-dyed acrylics, sixty-three indoor-outdoor patterns, or your own COM.
Hardware. Anodized aluminum, stainless steel in brushed or gunmetal, or powder-coated stainless. A Caribbean island, where salt hangs in the air year-round, calls for bronze — which will patina, and should.
Chairs are the natural place to begin, but benches and tables have gone outside before. We have weighted chairs against the wind, when the site demanded it. The bespoke conversation is always welcome.
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