Category Archives: Outdoor Entertaining

Spruce Up Your Pool Side this Season with Resin Furniture…Seriously

Pool furniture takes a real beating over the course of a swimming season. Wet towels, wet bodies, standing water, residue from sun tanning products, and harsh weather take a toll on standard variety furniture. Because of this, cheap, flimsy furniture for your pool is not the ideal choice. The kind of furniture you can obtain from your local big box department store or home improvement warehouse is usually fairly affordable, but it is also usually made poorly, not particularly comfortable or attractive, and lasts only two or three seasons before needing to be replaced. More and more, homeowners are choosing to upgrade to a better quality of pool furniture to take advantage of its long life, good looks, and real comfort.

One of the most desirable materials used to make high quality pool furniture today is resin, and two of the most popular types of resin furniture are molded resin and resin wicker. The molded resin furniture referred to here is not the same as you would find in the local discount store. Top quality molded resin furniture, unlike the cheaper variety, is constructed of a special mineral-reinforced polypropylene resin. This superior synthetic material absorbs the sun’s heat and resists fading, cracking, and yellowing. It is also not affected by weather conditions because it expands and contracts with the temperature.

Roma Pool Furniture Set

Likewise, the resin found in high quality resin wicker pool furniture is just as durable and weather resistant. The only real difference between molded resin furniture and resin wicker furniture is appearance. Molded resin furniture brings a more casual look and feel to the pool side. It is most often white with smooth surfaces and clean, simple lines, and it can be used comfortably with or without outdoor seat and back cushions. Resin wicker, on the other hand, brings a more sumptuously formal look and feel to the pool area. Available colors include rich and dramatic browns and blacks, but one can easily find white resin wicker furniture as well. Seat cushions made with beautiful and weather proof fabrics are the norm with resin wicker furniture.

Cosabella Poolside Club Chair Collection

In general, high quality molded resin and resin wicker pool furniture have many advantages over pool furniture made from other materials. They are both good-looking, durable, able to withstand all kinds of pool side abuses, and easy to clean and maintain. It’s hard to deny the value of high-quality furniture for your pool when compared to its cheaper, flimsier, and significantly shorter-lived competition.

Warm Weather Gifts for Year Round Fun

Not everyone lives in a climate that requires closing the backyard swimming pool at some point in the year.  In fact, many of our southern friends are probably reading this blog poolside while soaking in the warm rays of the sun.  Before you step away from the computer to top off your iced tea or fruity beverage, consider adding a couple of sure-to-please pool gifts to your holiday giving plans this year.  Your pool-loving family and friends will get the pleasure of enjoying them right away, and you’ll be done with your shopping all the sooner.

Here are just a few ideas that always bring big smiles and even bigger fun:

1.  Remote controlled water soaker

Remote Control Water Soaker

2.  Floating basketball game

Floating Cool Jam Basketball

3.  Mermaid swim fin

Mermaid Swim Fin

4.  Starfighter pool float

Starfighter Pool Float with Squirt Gun

Even if you don’t live in a warmer climate and you’re reading this snuggled up by the glow of your fireplace, you will still bring a thrill to your pool-loving friends and family members with these gifts.  They can look forward to using their new pool gear when swimming pool season rolls around again, and the anticipation might just inspire them to help you with pool-opening tasks this time.  An unexpected gift for you, too!

Dress Up Plain Pools with Simple Elegance

Expensive Swimming Pool Design

With enough money and creativity, swimming pools can be constructed in any shape or design you can imagine.  Builders can add multi-level waterfalls, fountains, decorative landscaping, rock formations, and more to create a luxurious backyard escape.  For those of us, though, who chose to have a traditional swimming pool installed without the fancy features, dressing up our existing pool is still a possibility.

Spruce up your poolside landscaping with luscious potted trees and other greenery, or install colorful and easy-spreading ground cover plants that require little maintenance and look great all season.

Decorative Plants for Poolside

Visit your local garden center or scour your own property to find eye-catching stones to place around the pool as decorative focal points.

Attach an elegant pool fountain to the side of your pool to bring the gentle and soothing sound of flowing water to each swimming experience.

Swimming Pool Fountain

Using your own creative instincts and choosing a few inexpensive, yet high impact, features will allow you to add charm and character to a once plain poolside.

What’s Your Favorite Pool Toy?

Remote Control Pool Toys

Mine is a remote controlled boat.  Remote controlled boats are fun for everyone, they don’t require athletic ability, and they can be enjoyed no matter if you are hanging out in the water or lounging poolside.

A favorite choice among pool owners is the boat that doubles as a skimmer. Remote controlled pool skimmers make theRemote Control Pool Skimmer clean up of leaves and surface debris a fun activity rather than a chore. Additionally, it’s easy to create your own games with a remote controlled pool skimmer and score points with every bit of debris collected.

Another fun remote controlled boat resembles a flying saucer and squirts water at the touch of a button. You can surprise an unsuspecting friend with a stream of water shot from twenty feet away — just be sure your friend is a good sport.

What’s your favorite swimming pool toy or game?

Turn Your Pool Into A Party!

Looking for an inexpensive and fun way to add some excitement to your next pool party? Or maybe you just want to change up the pool for your family’s entertainment? Swimming pool lights are a great way to accomplish your goal! Check out the suggestions below to make sure that your next gathering is a colorful and creative blast!

  • Ocean Art Jellies – These Ocean Art Mini Jellies add light, as well as a whimsy charm, to your pool. The float freely around the pool and run on standard household (AA) batteries.
  • Underwater Pool Light Show and Fountain: The multi-purpose light will delight your guests. It floats, spins, sprays, and displays colors both on the surface and below.
  • Kool-Light-O-Scope LED Pool Light: Create a psychedelic swirl in your pool with this light. It will instantly turn a plain pool into a party! It works on both in ground and above ground pools and will leave you mesmerized.