Giving Your Lanai a Look That’s Stylish and Durable

When it comes to choosing outdoor furniture for your patio or lanai, there are several choices available at Island Style Furnishings in Kaneohe.

There are synthetic woven products with aluminum frames, powder-coated aluminum furniture with fabric seats and glass-top tables, low-cost plastic deck furniture and solid wood patio pieces, namely teak furniture.

All these choices have advantages and disadvantages as well as differences in price. Most folks prefer the classic look and feel of solid wood outdoor furniture. There are many things to consider when choosing the right solid wood lanai furniture such as cost, wood type, hardware quality, finish, warranty and maintenance requirements.

Island Style Furnishings has teamed up with a company named Australis Leisure headquartered in Brisbane Australia, which designs and manufactures solid wood all-weather furniture. It has been producing merbau wood furniture to survive harsh conditions across Australia and the world for more than 30 years.

Island Style Furnishings has been tailoring this high-quality furniture to meet the specific and demanding conditions found here in Hawaii. Merbau wood (also known as kwila) is regarded as one of the most durable and stable timbers in the world. It grows in Northern Australia and across Southeast Asia. It is well known as the wood-of-choice for building docks, decks and flooring. Perfect for outdoor furniture, it is twice as hard as teak, which makes it resistant to abrasion, pitting or roughening. It is also significantly stronger and harder than oak, eucalyptus and meranti.

Prior to manufacturing, the merbau is kiln-dried to a moisture content of 12 percent. This stabilizes the structure of the timber so it doesn’t warp or crack. Merbau is naturally rot-resistant and insect-proof, and it is not subjected to toxic chemicals (treated). The secret is merbau’s reddish-brown tannin that is toxic to bugs. The furniture is constructed using mortise and tenon joints with cross doweling, which prevents the components from loosening over time.

Furniture is only as good as the hardware that holds it together. All the hardware is constructed from corrosion-resistant stainless steel as well as nickel-plated brass components.

Proper finishing is crucial to maintain the furniture’s beauty. A multi-step preparation process is used to ensure the best adhesion and penetration of the finish. Each piece is coated with three applications of Sikkens Cetol One™ which provides a protective, durable and beautiful finish without obscuring the grain. It is recognized by contractors around the world as being one of the best choices for preserving the natural beauty of outdoor wood.

Australis Leisure brand furniture uses timeless styles that will always look current no matter how old the furniture setting is. There is a full replacement warranty that extends five years from the date of purchase. This guarantee covers splitting, hardware failure and breakage. Because Island Style Furnishings is the exclusive distributor of Australis Leisure all-weather merbau furniture in Hawaii, the company can pass the savings onto its customers, which results in an excellent value for the price. Island Style Furnishings will be featuring some of its furniture at the Home and Garden show at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, April 26 to 28.

ISLAND STYLE FURNISHINGS
contact // 234-1129
address // 46-212 Kahuhipa St.
web // www.islandstylefurnishing.com • www.AustralisLeisure.com.au