A Year With Applaro

A lot of people have asked questions about our Applaro outdoor furniture. We got it last year from Ikea and the bench, table, and recliners are all from the Applaro line. So, the big questions on the table (har, har) are… how are they holding up one year later? Do we still love them? Wishing we had gone in a different direction? Would we recommend them to other people? Today is about answering all of those questions.

Last year, we bought the bench (read about that here) and the table (and that here) to kick start our back patio makeover. A little bit later, we went ahead and bought two of the recliners (read about them here) in the stained wood finish.

We LOVED the pieces. Especially the table. I’ll say it right now, if you have a small space and you need flexibility to do more than one thing in that space, this is a great table option. It’s on the narrow side, so it does not take up a lot of room, and it has detachable “wings” that can make it long enough to seat ten people. Or maaaaybe twelve, if you’re tricky about it.

The bench has a curved back that helps make for comfier seating. Would I say it’s the comfiest thing I’ve ever sat on? No, not compared to those big outdoor sectionals that have cushions and whatnot. Obviously. 🙂 But add a table in front to put your feet up and a few outdoor pillows, and it does the job just fine. If you’re working with a tighter budget and a smaller space, this compact bench is a good pick.

The recliners are great in that they have a pretty small footprint, given that they are reclining chairs. They don’t take up a lot of space. Again, are they the comfiest lounge furniture I’ve ever experienced? No way. But add a few pillows and something to put your feet up on, and they are a great choice to fit in a smaller space and within a modest budget.

Now, about that “year later” stuff, here’s the low-down of our experience. I should first say that we bought the pieces last summer, they stayed outside all summer and fall (through TONS of rain and a few wind storms), and we winterized everything in late fall for the winter. We brought everything out of storage this April. Here’s our one year later recap…

Color: The white is still white. It does get dirty, but if you stay on top of it cleaning-wise, it keeps its color nicely. The stained pieces have also held up nicely- no refinishing necessary so far. I think this has a lot to do with storing them inside during the winter. The only issues we’ve had is that the recliners get sap on them because they are nestled cozily under our pine tree… nothing anyone can do about that, though!

Paint: No chipping that we’ve noticed. There have been a few scratches and dings, resulting in paint chips, but we attribute that PRIMARILY to the fact that we had to store pieces on top of each other during the winter. You can read about how we winterized our patio furniture here. Bottom line- we’re crediting the few paint scratches to user error, not product failure.

Shape: Some of our pieces warped a bit, but again, we think that is only because of the way we had to store them. Our bench did not have the greatest support in the storage area and we think that a full winter season spent in a weird position made the shape a little weird. Nothing noticeable, it’s just not perfectly balanced anymore.

Sturdiness: Still the same. We haven’t found that it’s gotten weaker over time. You have to know going in- these are not pieces built from the sturdiest wood around and they are not designed to be big and bulky. You’ll notice, specifically with the table, that it is a little on the shaky side. It was like that when we bought it. And I don’t mean that it feels like it’s going to fall over, I mean that if you really push on it, it wobbles. The light, narrow, and compact nature of the pieces means that it is not built to be super burly and sturdy. I will say, though, we’ve never had a problem with it- it has held many people around it and dishes on it with no problem. Just make sure all the screws are tightened and you’ll be all set to go!

Wasps: Apparently, some people have had wasp issues with their pieces, specifically with the stained wood version. We have had no wasp problems with our white furniture or the stained pieces.

So there you have it… everything I can think of to say about these products, one year later!

Bottom line(s): How are they holding up? GREAT SO FAR! Do we still love them? YES! Wishing we had gone in a different direction? NOPE! Would we recommend them to other people? OVER AND OVER AGAIN! 

And, just for kicks… in order of pieces we’ve liked the most to the least, I’d say #1 is the table (it has been GREAT for our “multi-functional” little patio, #2 is the bench, and #3 are the chairs. If your budget is only allowing for one or two pieces, that’s our two cents on what we’ve liked most out of the bunch we have.

Hope this helps anyone out there looking to buy some outdoor furniture of their own! Any questions I didn’t answer? Leave them in the comments and I’ll respond as soon as I can!