Head outdoors: new upscale furniture brings indoor styling to the backyard patio.

Outdoor living--by the pool and on the patio, veranda or deck--continues to draw Americans out of their homes and into the open air.

The tables, chairs and chaise lounges that serve their needs have to fulfill two requirements these days, say furniture manufacturers. They have to not only be able to resist the effects of sun and rain, but they also need to match the style and quality of the home's interior furnishings.

"Consumers have tackled the kitchen renovations, the luxury master suite, bathrooms, and now it is time to have an outdoor environment that expresses their personal style," says Gary McCray, vice president of marketing for Conover, N.C.-based Laneventure. "The backyard is indeed the next room to create and have fun with," he says.

High-end Century Furniture prefers to call its offerings "leisure furniture." The company expanded its presence in the field in a big way last fall, introducing two new collections at the October International Home Furnishings Show in High Point, NC. One collection, Andalusia, had also won Best of Show at September's Casual Furniture & Accessories market in Chicago, as well as a 2003 Pinnacle Award from the ASFD.

"It's far too limiting to label these new collections 'outdoor furniture' for two reasons," says Randy Wells, head of Century Leisure. "One, these collections are evolved in terms of design and execution over typical casual furniture. And two, the designs are elegant enough to enhance indoor living spaces. Designers like Oscar de la Renta use upscale leisure furniture throughout their homes."

Market Still Growing

The market for outdoor furniture swelled dramatically the last half of the '90s, and though it's leveled off, it continues to grow at the rate of 2 to 3 percent a year, says Laneventure's McCray.

His company, which added outdoor furniture to its product line in 1989, responded to the growing market two years ago by diversifying from wicker into aluminum and wood, McCray says. At the Fall High Point Market, Laneventure introduced a licensed Ernest Hemingway Collection for the outdoors in teak, natural and synthetic wicker and aluminum.

The Hemingway Collection of chairs, sofas, tables and consoles includes pieces made from balau. Long used in shipbuilding, balau, like teak, weathers well. One small writing table and chair of balau mimic items that the author carried with him on his jaunts in Kenya. With the Hemingway introduction, "We received a great reaction from stores, including furniture stores wanting to move into outdoor," says McCray.

Also at the Fall Market, Laneventure showed an extended version of its Palm Beach Collection by Mimi and Brooke--now for the outdoors.

Century Furniture's October introductions expanded on a leisure-furniture presence established earlier with the Oscar de la Renta Home indoor/outdoor collection of woven, synthetic material. In addition to the award-winning, cast aluminum Andalusia collection, Century also introduced Archipelago in teak.

Archipelago includes a love seat, lounge chair, chaise and side table in British and Dutch Colonial styling with details like plantation-shutter backs, rosettes and reeded legs. The slatted construction lets rain drain through. Cushion covers of washable fabric resist fading and also are constructed with an opening for water drainage.

Andalusia also includes a chaise sold with or without canopy, a lounge chair and both round and rectangular dining tables. In both collections, the granite in the tabletops is filled to keep moisture from collecting in tiny crevices, and the construction leaves a small space between the top and frame for water to drain through.

Not content to just give consumers outdoor seating and tables, Laneventure also is selling grills, fireplaces and outdoor kitchens made front synthetic brick that, through sectionalization, can be customized.

These non-furniture structures form a category that McCray calls "outdoor living," one of six categories in the company's weather-resistant WeatherMaster line. The other categories are aluminum, natural wicker specially treated for porch use, synthetic wicker for all-weather use, wood and mixtures of the other materials. The aluminum, vinyl (synthetic wicker) and teak can be used in full exposure, McCray says. "In natural wicker, we use a unique painting process to seal the natural rattan raw material."

Acrylic covered cushions have a patented, quick-dry construction with thermally bonded fiber and a drain.

More to Come

Laneventure and Century both indicate they are outdoors to stay. Century has said it looks forward to future collaborations with casual-furniture design veteran Richard Frinier, who created both Andalusia and Archipelago.

In September, Laneventure plans to introduce a wrought iron collection at the Casual Furniture & Accessories Show. Named "At Home in Tuscany," it is inspired by author Frances Mayes' novel "Under the Tuscan Sun."

As leisure furniture continues to get more sophisticated, furniture-market buyers may have trouble distinguishing which designs are meant for indoors and which go outdoors.

It happened at Century's High Point showroom last fall. One interior decorator was busily ordering Archipelago for indoors. Century sales representative Kimberly Wilson asked her, "Do you realize that's outdoor furniture?"

"Well, I don't care," the woman responded. "I'm putting it in my breakfast room."