by Kathleen Hallin
Kathleen Hallin

It’s easy to create the perfect patio if you do your research

If you are anything like me, you may have trouble deciding how to design your patio. First, you may want to keep in mind the square footage because people have a tendency to over clutter their outdoor living spaces with huge tables, flowerpots, and water features, making it difficult to navigate. It’s best to under do, rather than overdo your patio design. Here a few ideas on places and styles that warrant my “good taste rating.”

Oshmans in San Rafael, located on Anderson, has three styles that are good-looking and ever so reasonable. The Venetian collection has a soft finish and bold colored pillows with terracotta and green stripes, which retails for $549 for the set. The Bermuda collection has four pieces and retails for $449 and is my favorite. The Santa Rosa is another great look, and retails for $350. All of these styles have matching umbrellas that have inexpensive written all over them. My advice is, if you choose one of these styles, buy a better quality of umbrella to spruce up the overall look. The market umbrellas are my favorite, with the wooden poles and ribs. You can find those everywhere. 

The Gardenside Ltd., which is located at 999Anderson in San Rafael, is another great find. The quality of the teak furniture, the prices and the service gets a high rating in my book. The Sausalito lounge chairs, the Capri chaise and the Clifton folding chairs are my favorite designs. These are good investment pieces that you may always add too later and they don’t all have to be identical. Some assembly is required and it takes two weeks to receive the product.

The English Garden is located at 128 Mitchel Blvd. in San Rafael and has a beautiful garden showroom. Even if you don’t like this type of furniture, the garden is inspirational for those of you who need landscaping ideas. This classic English furniture is solid aluminum, has a soft black finish that is perfection to the touch and is made in the U.S.A. This is a factory outlet. That means the prices are great, and I couldn’t buy them at wholesale for less.

The best buy for quality Adirondack chairs is at Jackson Hardware in San Rafael. They come in natural wood, white and red. They retail at $119 but assembly is required. Also in the best buy category, Target’s Mooreana 4-piece set and the Equetoro collection. Both of these are around $500 for four or five pieces. These styles have a smooth finish in a rich brown and are best coordinated with other features such as the open fireplace or accent pillows.

If price isn’t a concern, try shopping at Restoration Hardware in Corte Madera. In their entrance they have featured an Antibas Lounge collection. This could be the best looking patio furniture I have ever seen, but you don’t want to know the price. This brings to mind Pottery Barn, not as expensive, but every bit as sophisticated. They have what I am going to order this summer for our home – the Potero Occasional. Four club chairs from Pottery Barn, a fire pit from Costco and the research is over. Sometime you just have to exhaust all your options before you write the big check.

Happy decorating!

www.khallindesign.com