(Note: This is the first in what I hope will be a series of informative posts about various scam, cons and cheats that are making the arounds. My hope is that, through sharing my experiences, I can spare you some of the pain I’ve endured.)
Every year, through the long, cold, gray months of Ohio winter, I dream of spring, and the opportunity to be outdoors again. I pore over women’s magazines, where cottage gardens and tiki-torch lighted patios feed my fantasy life.
In recent years, one of the big draws for me has been the “outdoor room.” This is a space adjacent to your house that you furnish, embellish with plantings and light for mood so that you can relax in comfort and elegance.
In pursuit of this dream, I now have a furnished patio,
a furnished porch,
and a semi-furnished deck.
But do I relax in comfort and elegance? NO! Because what I actually have is THREE MORE FREAKING ROOMS TO CLEAN!Rooms which, by the way, don’t have walls and windows to keep out dirt, so they pretty much have to be de-grimed every time you want to use them. Not to mention that birds seem to believe that each and every one was designed as their personal potty!
So, Blogger Beware! Don’t buy into the “outdoor room.” It’s a total scam.
Every year, through the long, cold, gray months of Ohio winter, I dream of spring, and the opportunity to be outdoors again. I pore over women’s magazines, where cottage gardens and tiki-torch lighted patios feed my fantasy life.
In recent years, one of the big draws for me has been the “outdoor room.” This is a space adjacent to your house that you furnish, embellish with plantings and light for mood so that you can relax in comfort and elegance.
In pursuit of this dream, I now have a furnished patio,
a furnished porch,
and a semi-furnished deck.
But do I relax in comfort and elegance? NO! Because what I actually have is THREE MORE FREAKING ROOMS TO CLEAN!Rooms which, by the way, don’t have walls and windows to keep out dirt, so they pretty much have to be de-grimed every time you want to use them. Not to mention that birds seem to believe that each and every one was designed as their personal potty!
So, Blogger Beware! Don’t buy into the “outdoor room.” It’s a total scam.
Not to mention that these rooms are either too hot or too cold to use most of the year!
ReplyDeleteHow right you are!
ReplyDeleteBut...I bought into this long ago and it is a vicious cycle of cleaning or ignoring it until I can't any longer!
Check out Bloggy Book Club...my daughter is my first guest blogger!
Have you thought about covering one of those said "rooms" to keep it cleaner and usable throughout the year?
ReplyDeleteBut that's another scam...
You have a great porch!
it was always the bugs that kept me from enjoying my outside room...
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely, though. You've inspired me to create an outdoor room.
ReplyDeleteHee! Just kidding! I've already fallen victim to this scam!
I hate those scammers! But, really...you fell for the outdoor room con? Tsk Tsk....
ReplyDelete(Just giving ya a hard time. As usual, I love your posts.)
Sounds like you need a conservatory to keep the dirt off :)
ReplyDeleteWho knew? Gosh, I never thought of it!
ReplyDeleteoh funny! I was actually reading avidly to discover who or what conned you!!
ReplyDeleteI just LOVE your porch and deck..even though you got conned!!
Thank God you opened my eyes! I was just about to find an outdoor set for the patio my husband and his drunken friends laid. He'll be thrilled to hear it's going to sit barren. (Well, except for the beer cans.) Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteI love my outdoor room. Of course everything is able to be hosed off and I don't care if it's wet when I sit on it because I have my skirted tankini on all the time. And there's the whole drunk thing.
ReplyDeleteYou are wise, young one.
ReplyDeleteNow that is hilarious and so true. When you put a mirror in your outdoor area as I did then you really will know to call the little white men in coats. I over accessorise everything no matter where it is. Do not ask to see a photo of my vegetable garden. Its sad, I have an illness to colour in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great service. You're keeping me from being a dummy. I almost fell for the outdoor room gag. But you opened my eyes to what really is important, precious time and effort.
ReplyDeleteYou should be charging for this wisdom. Can't wait for find out what other scams we must avoid!
I never did. In Michigan, if it isn't an enclosed porch, it's bugs, bird shit, and usually wet...patio furniture with mildew on it is the norm around here....
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! Now I can stop feeling so guilty about never putting furniture on my patio.
ReplyDeleteLMAO! Duly noted. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think all outdoor rooms are scams. Screened in rooms in South Florida are great just about all year round, not counting the rainy days (an average of 90 days of rain per year) and when the hurricanes are getting close and the priority is more where to store the junk that is in the screened room. However I don't think that outdoor rooms work in areas with actual seasonal weather.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, we have seasons here, dry and wet, aka, dry and hurricane seasons. We don't have that sky dandruff, and other foreign experience: cold. if the temperature dips below 70, people are usually found in ski jackets, we can't take the "cold"
The house I'm currently living in has a great outdoor room, depending on what it's used for.
We have a lanai that has screened areas on the 2 sides that aren't buildings (main house, pool house.) The ceiling, that has a lighted fan, is the roof, and it connects the buildings. We have roll down shutters for those sides for security and hurricane season. We were using it as a pool hall, until the second-hand pool table we had finally got to the point where we would need to be completely refelted. Now, it's our gym. It comes in handy with Mom's karate training (she's a black belt), and bro's weight training (trained paramedic). We also keep the tools out there so mom has a nice place to build whatever furniture she wants.
HAHAAHAHA!! That is too funny. I never looked at it from that perspective. Rooms that you can't use all year, and they sometimes become the catch all for items that are crowding the indoor space.
ReplyDeleteThey should make houses that have roofs that pop open like a stadium. You could open the whole house up to the outside, and then close it when you want.