Purchasing furniture for your outdoor space can dramatically expand your living area. Instead of being confined to the space inside your home, you can take advantage of all of your outdoor space, as well. This can not only give you the room that you need to spread out but can also make summertime living a lot more enjoyable. Nothing beats lounging in the sun on comfortable, beautiful furniture.

If you are ready to start decorating your outdoor space, check out these helpful tips for choosing the best outdoor furniture:

1. Think about the overall aesthetic you are going for.

Finding furniture that matches your design style is the best way to create a space that you love. Spend some time looking through gardening magazines to get an idea of which styles you prefer.

You can also browse through photos online. Sites like Pinterest are particularly beneficial when it comes to discovering beautiful photos of outdoor spaces. Bookmark your favorites so that you can use them as inspiration when planning your outdoor area.

Don’t think too much about this process. Instead, just save all of the photos that you love. After you have gathered quite a few photos, look back through them to see if there are any recurring themes. For instance, if you bookmarked a lot of photos that have natural wood furniture, that style of furniture would probably be a good choice for your outdoor space.

2. Come up with a layout for the space.

Planning the overall layout of the space makes it easier to determine which furniture pieces you need. To make the planning process easier, try using a sheet of graph paper.

Begin by drawing an outline of the overall space where the furniture will be placed. Make sure to mark any existing structures on the graph paper. For instance, if you are planning a layout for a patio, mark the location of the patio door so that you don’t place any furniture directly in front of it.

Next, think about how you could best use the space. Experiment with positioning different pieces of furniture in different areas to see which layouts provide the best flow and the most functionality. You can sketch the furniture pieces in roughly using a pencil. That way, you can erase them and move them to different locations to see which options work the best. Use the squares on the graph paper to keep everything to scale.

For an easier option, you may also want to try using a software program. There are a number of programs and apps on the market that are designed to make planning a furniture layout for a space a lot easier.

Once you come up with an overall layout, you should have a much better idea of which furniture pieces you need to purchase.

3. Start shopping for furniture.

Now that you have the planning process out of the way, you can begin looking for furniture for your outdoor space. As you shop, think about your material choices.

Some materials are more durable than others. For instance, fabric has a tendency to fade in the sunlight and can become moldy or worn when exposed to the weather. Plastic, on the other hand, is usually much more weather resistant, meaning that you can leave it out even during periods of stormy weather.

Consider upkeep and maintenance, as well. How much time will you have to spend caring for the furniture? Going with low-maintenance pieces is usually the best option. That way, you won’t have to invest a lot of time to keep your outdoor space looking its best. The last thing that you want is to have to spend your entire summer caring for your furniture rather than enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather.

If you want to choose the best outdoor furniture, you need to think about your personal style as well as the layout of the space. You should also take into account the durability of the materials as well as the level of upkeep and maintenance that they require. Thinking through all of these factors before making a purchase will help you choose furniture pieces that are ideally suited to your lifestyle and that will work well in your space.