Outdoor Trends

Creating a functional outdoor living space is the hottest trend. Outdoor living trends are moving away from the usual to creating a lavish retreat in your own backyard. We hope these outdoor furnishing ideas help inspire you to creat your own outdoor paradise.

2020 Pantone Color of the Year - Classic Blue

A timeless and enduring blue hue, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser like clarity, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue re-centers our thoughts. A reflective blue tone, Classic Blue fosters resilience. Learn more here!

Evolutionary Psychology Tackles Physical/Mental Benefits of Fire | Patio & Hearth Products Report

TUSCALOOSA, AL – The warm glow and crackling sounds of fire can lower blood pressure, a response that University of Alabama researchers attribute to early humans’ primal reliance on flames for a variety of needs.

An abstract on PubMed states: “For early humans, fire likely extended the day, provided heat, helped with hunting, warded off predators and insects, illuminated dark places, and facilitated cooking.”

A formal study backs up the claims, with results indicating consistent blood pressure decreases in “fire-with-sound” conditions. “Findings confirm that hearth and campfires induce relaxation as part of a multisensory, absorptive, and social experience,” wrote Department of Antropology researchers from U of A.

The cozy data has been widely disseminated in the consumer press via outlets such as The Huffington Post, with post blogger Carolyn Gregoire declaring: “Our enjoyment of gazing at fire may be rooted in evolution, as the act of gathering around a fire dates back to prehistoric times…Campfires also may have provided social nexus and relaxation effects that could have enhanced prosocial behavior. According to this hypothesis, calmer, more tolerant people would have benefited in the social milieu via fireside interactions relative to individuals less susceptible to relaxation response.”