I have a friend whose company builds and imports teak furniture from Indonesia--David Smith Company, they're on the web. I have a large outdoor table and about 10 deck chairs. I even have a large chair made from teak roots. All of it stays out year round. Here's what I've learned... You either oil them, or you let them go natural and silver. Both ways look nice, so it's more about realistically assessing you personal energy level. If you know eventually you'll stop the oiling, don't bother in the first place, just let them silver. How often you oil depends on your location, sun exposure and rain. If they're out in full sun and you have a wet winters, figure on 2 coats a year. If it's full sun and little rain, figure 3--to keep them "catalog" pretty. If you cover them in the winter, or they're under a roof, you'll need to oil less. You can start oiling and then stop, and the teak will eventually silver off, it will just take a little longer. You can go silver and then oil, but it will take many, many coats to bring back the color, and it will never be as good as if you started oiling from day one. If you oil, get a guality teak oil. The box store stuff is typically poor quality oil. My root chair, in full sun and 36" of rain annually, has been sitting on bare dirt for 3 years. It doesn't have any black spots or rot. Also, teak grain doesn't raise, or crack with this kind exposure. It's as smooth as the day I bought it. If it's ever rough, a quick pass with some fine sand paper clears that right up...assuming I haven't been oiling, which I don't. (Also a good trick to remove the occasional drink stain.) Teak comes in various grades. Higher grades have uniform color and are darker in color. Lesser grades have uneven color and often have reddish streaks through the wood, (this comes from excess iron in the soil). My experience has been that my chairs, made from the lesser grade, will get black spots if left exposed all winter--although I live in a very wet climate. A quick scrub with a light bleach solution and sanding in the spring cleans it right up. But considering I get these chairs for $25 on sale, compared to $150 for the high grade, it's a small inconvenience. Teak is well worth it. It will last forever.

rhome - I agree the dark counters would have been cold and warm but to me, more or less a black color is more neutral, and I was also borrowing the idea from a magazine. Why exactly that black and the beige worked in my inspiration picture is beyond me - I just know that it worked. That picture also showed a kitchen w/ white cabinets and it worked beautifully, but again I can't say why. Probably cause there's a hint of peach or pink that makes it less than just a really dull beige - and then also because the beige went so nicely w/ the floors. Yes I like contrast and I definitely would have had it w/ the black/dark grey counters but I was really trying to move away from something that's not only so ubiquitous these days and yes so potentially dreary in our small, dark, North-facing kitchen. I too like grey and beige together, which is along the lines of liking tan with black. And it's funny cause you know how right now tan and grey is going together more like in interior furniture. As for my instincts, I don't know...I think it's more of a hit & miss thing. I think when I hit it I really hit it but when I miss it, well it's just too often or random for me to be able to gamble considering I won't have the money to rip it all out and start over. Don't even really have the money to be doing this in the first place! :-o It's not deficit spending per se, and half the money's going to pay off the one and only credit card we have, but the money could have gone to pay something more off such as car, or savings toward kids school, etc. (having some guilt there). Re. not having enough faith in my instincts, I agree there too...I just haven't had the opportunity to remodel before (the most I've ever really done is choose paint colors, curtains, rugs, throw pillows and furniture)! I think the bottom line is that black w/ tan works REALLY well - thanks to that magazine picture pointing this out ;) but grey and beige is just a lot more questionable. Here's the clincher, which happens to be what I want to say in response to mondragon: mondragon - What's funny is that I totally agree w/ you that it works in a more modern looking way. I think in a modern kitchen, the stainless steel and beige tiles would look pretty cool. Almost retro-modern, since pink was such a '50's color. Problem is I'm trying to make the kitchen look more 1913 (trying to make the stainless *work* as period, due to its surroundings and the fact that they did have zinc countertops e.g. in pantries back then). So I guess the final question is that while it can look good in a modern kitchen - and that's I guess where I guess my instincts may be okay - can it work in an older looking kitchen (regardless of the fact that marble definitely can)? Something tells me the farm sink, gooseneck faucet and pendant light might tie it all together (and the original cupboards) but once again - not sure. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond, and I'm sorry to always be writing so much! I hate that about me but just can't seem to help myself when it comes to something so important to me! Can you imagine having 3 small, messy boys, one big messy husband, and no dishwasher or disposal or undermounted sink to make life dramatically better?! ;) And now I'm thinking of upgrading from a very standard fridge made in 1990 that has 18.2 cu. ft., to something much bigger! Just being able to keep big gallons of milk in the door will be a massive improvement!

I have the same situation as you. We converted an old small carport to a decent patio (doesn't that sound fancier, LOL) by extending the length and width, laying mortared patio brick in place. This resulted in half the patio/porch being under roof and the entended part being open. This gives me a sheltered, shady seating area and an open, sunny area. I have a faux vinyl wicker set with very nice cushions (loveseat, two chairs, a cocktail table, and an end table) under roof. I also have/had a cheaper, glass-top table with vinyl slinged chairs that came with cushions. The cushions were always wet/damp in the morning or after a rain, so we just used the chairs with the vinyl strips. They were very closely woven and were extremely comfortable without the cushions. We had a severe hail storm last spring and destroyed my chairs so I am also on the quest for a new user friendly set for that area. I DO NOT WANT CUSHIONS, so will probably go with the sling-back style that is some type of woven mesh material. These are more commonly seen in the discount stores - Walmart on-line has a nice selection - and usually have the glass or tile top. I do not want to sit on wet cushions or have to dry a seat when I step outside to have my coffee in the morning. I will also say, I love how easy my faux wicker set from Target is to maintain. They stay outside, minus the cushions, year around, and even though they are under roof, they still get exposed to wind, rain, blowing snow, etc. I just give them a good water hose and soft brush scrubbing in the spring.

Here is revised Option 1a drawing showing the shorter sofa. Also, depending on the color scheme you want, this is the scale chair you need to fit in the space. Don't you love this color!? With your white sofa, and some other wood elements, you could build around this color. Just depends on what you like best. What's your favorite color?