oops - also meant to say that we have case goods on our porch, too - a large dining table, and some smaller wood pieces. We worried that they'd crack, warp - whatever. They've been fine, too. Now if they were really fine pieces, maybe not or if they had fragile veneers it would be a problem. I'm pretty amazed how well everything holds up out there.

I live in the very humid deep south. As long as the fabric doesn't get wet it shouldn't mildew.

You could always refinish the wood table top in something like marine varnish that is designed to withstand the elements. Position the futon so that it is as protected as possible from the rain. And the idea of making a futon cover out of outdoor fabric will help with fading from the sun.

I have indoor cushions on some outdoor furniture. While I try to remember to tuck them away at night, I forget most of the time. They have been soaked a few times by the rain, but I've just hung them up to dry in the sun and they're fine. They've been outside for 5 years now.

I know you wrote the question 9 years ago, but it certainly applies to our situation and I wanted to know how things have worked for you. We are in the mountains of Western NC as well. Our screened in porch should be done any week now. I have a wood and caned day bed that I plan on putting on the porch and I was hoping you could let me know how your indoor furniture fared on your porch. Thanks, Carrie

mochacoffey since this was originally posted I have moved from suburban Chicago to the mountains of WNC, maybe near you. We have a porch, 3 sides exposed and have 1 piece of 'indoor' furniture out there. In fact it's the dining table from our old 3 season room. I'm assuming you will get the same kind of weather we have and that includes a lot of wind driven rain. Last night we got a bit of snow and it was in the center of our porch (16' x 20') this morning, not just the edges. Same things happens with rain. You have to expect whatever you have out there to get wet. Everything else we have there is outdoor furniture. I ended up sanding our table and applying an exterior urethane finish. It helps, but it is not perfect and water still gets into the tiniest spaces.

Thank you so much for your response. Sounds like we have the same set up, but your porch is slightly larger. I think my biggest concern is fear that the cold weather will wreak havoc on the wood. The porch has great southern exposure, so it’s not likely to get too musty as the sun keeps it pretty dry. We too had snow last night. We are in Black Mountain, near Asheville.

We're basically neighbors. I'm in H'ville/Flat Rock.

i also plan to use indoor leather furniture for an outdoor covered 14‘x1 8’porch space. We live in central part of NC. I’m trying to bring a bit of a mountain lodge vibe to this space.

Any advice about using leather pieces outdoors?

We’ve had leather furniture in a 3 season room for 6 years in central Ohio. Moisture and temperature doesn’t have side effects at all. We clean the furniture and put leather conditioner on it every spring. Still looks like new