In most cases, seniors who are buying furniture need to be a little more careful about the features they look for than those who are younger and buying furniture. Because for many seniors, there are issues with things like mobility, balance, strength, and more. So when you’re buying furniture, even patio furniture, these things all need to be taken into consideration.
To help you with these considerations, here are three tips for selecting patio furniture for seniors.
Choose Something That’s Easy To Care For
Being outside is great for your health, especially for seniors in places like assisted living facilities who might not get out a lot. But if you want to have patio furniture that’s always going to be available for seniors to use, you’re going to need to take care of that furniture. So to help you avoid having to spend a lot of time on this, it’s wise to choose furniture that’s going to be easy to care for.
Ideally, you should look for pieces that are marketed as being all-weather, meaning that they can be kept out at all times during the year and stand up well. These materials usually include things like metal, teak, some wicker, and cedar furniture. You should also make sure that you choose outdoor cushions to use on your patio furniture, as they will help to repel water and be easier to wipe down and clean.
Make Sure They’re A Safe Height
Many seniors have difficulties with going from a standing to a seated position and vice versa. Knowing this, you’re going to need to choose patio furniture that’s at the right height for them to easily sit down and stand up, ideally on their own. Something too low to the ground will be extremely hard to get out of.
Something that can help with this is picking furniture that doesn’t have too deep of a seat and that has cushions with lots of support so they don’t just sink right down into them. Both of these things can make rising from a seated position much easier for seniors.
Balance Structure With Portability
With patio furniture, it can sometimes be hard to balance a solid and sturdy piece with something that can easily be moved around. Especially on smaller patios, being able to move the pieces to accommodate for more people or other items can be important. However, you also want to ensure that the pieces won’t buckle under the weight of whoever is sitting there, especially if they’re an elderly person. Knowing this, you may want to consider having your elderly loved one try to sit in and move the piece of patio furniture before making your purchase.
If you’re picking some new patio furniture to be used by seniors, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find the right pieces.
