Living room looks, with a patio spirit

WHEN contemporary furniture designer Chris Lehrecke decided to turn his attention from living rooms to patios, terraces and decks, he had a single goal: “I want to make outdoor furniture that would look good for decades,” he says.

One look around showrooms these days, and it’s clear Lehrecke is hardly alone. Outdoor furniture now comes in a surprising array of stylish materials. If stained redwood seems a little humdrum, you can find pieces made of ipe, nyatoh or Brazilian peroba. Where you once had powder-coated steel, you now can sport patinated zinc. Bye-bye, fiberglass. Hello, synthetic wicker.

Lehrecke consulted Joseph Batchelor, who owns the J. Batchelor showroom near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a city where heat, wind, water and salt can wreak havoc on furniture. In the end, the designer went with white oak constructed with powder-coated aluminum dowels, stainless-steel hardware and marine-grade industrial rubber feet. The resulting Chris Lehrecke Outdoor Collection, which makes its West Coast premiere this week at the Ralph Pucci International showroom in West Hollywood, integrates Modernist angles and nautical curves in a harmonious marriage of materials (as in the white oak Adirondack chair and ottoman on Page 1).

“Hybrid design, like a metal chair frame with a synthetic wicker seat and back and wooden armrests, is the most exciting trend in the market,” says Ron Safran, owner of Victory Furniture, which has four locations across Southern California.

Open-air spaces demand sophisticated decor, adds designer Jamie Durie, co-author of “The Outdoor Room.”

“Furniture has to feel good to the body and look pleasing to the eye to induce the same sense of luxury and comfort as your living room inside,” he says. “It can make or break the look of your outdoor space, so be prepared to pay for quality pieces that have strength, durability and style.”

We asked Durie, Batchelor and Safran to discuss the burgeoning array of materials, assess the benefits and drawbacks of each and answer shoppers’ ultimate question: What should I know before I buy?

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Synthetics: faux wicker and more

SYNTHETIC all-weather wicker is everywhere these days. It’s affordable, light, low-maintenance and generally cool to the touch -- “a good way to go if you’re on a budget, but it tends to look a little temporary,” Joseph Batchelor says. Ron Safran is more enthusiastic. Synthetic wicker “is the greatest innovation in the market,” he says. “It’s super durable, looks like a natural fiber and is fade-resistant.” It is available at big-box stores, but be aware that some pieces employ steel frames susceptible to rust. More costly and long-lasting design by manufacturers such as Dedon, Henry Hall Designs and Janus et Cie tend to be hand-woven on nonrusting aluminum frames.

Fiberglass furniture can discolor and crack in the heat. Its appearance and endurance has been improved with resin coatings and, as in the case of the Ballard Designs catalog’s $299 faux bois bistro table, can be quite affordable.

The biggest advances, however, have been made in molded polymers. Some plastic furniture looks cheap and tacky, Jamie Durie says, but ever since designers such as Philippe Starck and Frank Gehry began using plastic to create interesting organic shapes, it has been fashionable. For portable, easy-clean, colorfast plastics, Durie suggests roto-molded polyethylene products, which do not fade in ultraviolet rays. “This new process makes it possible to obtain exceptional aesthetics qualities, including transparency, flexibility and satiny finishes that are soft to the touch,” he says.

Add cushy to that list of adjectives. The Primary Pouf sells for $330 from www.dwr.com. Set on a polypropylene base, a cube of all-weather colored foam provides a surface that’s soft enough for sitting but firm enough for use as an end table. Similarly, la-Fete: the Scene Outdoors, an L.A. outdoor furniture firm, uses large slabs of recyclable foam encased in nautical-grade vinyl to create minimalist, sculptural pieces.

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Wood: going beyond teak

“There’s something about wood furniture around a beautiful landscape or even a minimal pool that makes sense,” Joseph Batchelor says. “It is comfortable to the touch in the heat, and it looks substantial and permanent.”

Teak is the most popular wood for outdoor furniture.

“Its density and high oil content keep it from drying and splitting, and termites don’t like it,” Ron Safran says.

In the last few seasons, manufacturers have carved teak into more complex forms. The Curran catalog’s Palms Lounger uses pressure-molded teak slats to create an Eames-influenced chaise, and designer William Emmerson channels 1970s curvy California studio woodworking in his Ab Ovo teak collection for the L.A. showroom Emmerson Troop.

Alternative woods include Andean cherry and mahogany, which are almost always oiled or painted when used for outdoor furniture. Both need to be treated regularly; if not, the woods’ red hues will turn silver. Look for marine-quality or polyurethane finishes, which prevent sun and water damage.

Nyatoh is a less expensive wood from Asia that resembles cherry. It’s naturally susceptible to termites, but when treated with preservatives, it’s quite durable. Environmentalists, however, have complained that the harvesting of nyatoh has contributed to deforestation, and some major retailers have curbed its use or stopped selling it entirely.

Ipe is a strong, dense wood that’s increasingly popular because it can be sustainably harvested from forests in South America. If dried properly, the wood is resistant to splintering, insects, mold and fire, and it needs no sealing.

Pine furniture is usually inexpensive but lacks the heft of other woods. Its lightness makes it more susceptible to dings. It should be painted or stained and sealed to reduce the threat from rot and insects.

Designer Carlos Motta recycles Brazilian peroba into chic rustic pieces sold at the Espasso showroom in the Pacific Design Center. Peroba, a common framing timber, is just one example of reclaimed woods that are moving outdoors.

Jamie Durie advises consumers to look for products made with Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood. “These days we all have to be very responsible in order to eliminate timber products that are from illegal sources, which threaten the world’s forests,” he says.

Regardless of the variety of wood, Safran says, the best quality pieces are constructed with wooden dowels instead of metal screws.

Maintenance is another consideration. Unpainted, untreated woods will turn gray over time. Preserving teak’s honey color requires “regular cleaning, sealants and oil rubdowns,” Batchelor says, perhaps not the best choice unless you are the “obsessive car wash-and-wax type.”

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Metal: from aluminum to zinc

THE long-standing perception of aluminum furniture is that it’s lightweight, “made from hollow tubes and bar stock,” Ron Safran says. But aluminum made with a process called sand-casting allows for more intricate designs. Sand-casting has been around for almost 50 years, but its popularity has soared only recently.

Prized for its nonrusting finish, cast aluminum is a replacement for cheaper powder-coated steel as well as hand-wrought iron, which can require vigilant attention to avoid corrosion. Joseph Batchelor notes that aluminum doesn’t absorb as much heat as other metals and can be cleaned with a garden hose. One drawback: It will dull without an occasional buffing using a high-grade car wax. “The coating finish on aluminum can peel off if the surface is scratched or scraped,” he adds. “A quality product will come with a touch-up kit.”

Stainless steel, a relatively new component outdoors, is most often paired with wood accents to soften and warm up the look, Jamie Durie says. But the rustproof metal can easily cost 50% more than aluminum, Safran says. Brown Jordan’s Vu armchair is $1,700 with an upholstered cushion, but people are willing to pay a premium for the futuristic appearance of stainless, Safran says, even though it needs to be wiped down.

For those who want an Old World patina, there are two options: bronze and zinc. Bronze isn’t used much because it is expensive. It doesn’t rust but will take on a green patina. Furniture clad in zinc is usually less costly. Crate & Barrel, for example, sells a balustrade-base zinc outdoor dining table for $999. Zinc is softer than other metals, so it dings easier, but it won’t rust. The charcoal gray finish turns a bluish-gray.

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Stone and concrete: solid picks

“STONE is bulletproof -- and almost immovable,” Ron Safran says. “You really need to know where you want it placed; it’s not easily rearranged.”

Other considerations: Stone needs to be sealed properly to avoid staining, Jamie Durie says. Stone and cast concrete also conduct heat. “So many people are creating outdoor rooms with built-in concrete benches, that we often recommend teak slats on top to add visual warmth and comfort,” Joseph Batchelor says.

Batchelor also cites ecological considerations. Stone isn’t exactly a renewable resource, so rather than buy recently quarried material, he would prefer to use an old piece, he says, “although buying that ancient stone table that comes from Provence, France, is probably the most expensive way to go.”

Marble may be cool to the touch but cruel to the budget. Some lighter-weight, less expensive substitutes include cast or hand-wrought concrete, now available in more graceful forms.

Another option is reconstituted stone, which is ground-up rock mixed with adhesive. Reconstituted stone can last for decades and was the material of choice for furniture by Michael Taylor, the late California antiques collector and designer. Taylor’s designs include a set of tables shaped like the capitals of ancient columns and the Lion Head chair, which is equipped with castors.

His adobe-style Modernist Jennifer seating collection includes a sofa that weighs half a ton, and even the smallest of these pieces carry an equally hefty price tag. The Jennifer Junior armchair, designed in the late 1970s for the actress Jennifer Jones, costs $6,400.

david.keeps@latimes.com

Times staff writer Lisa Boone contributed to this report.