It’s been a really great experience redesigning CushionsAndUmbrellas.com from the ground up.   It was time for us to take a look at what we wanted to accomplish with our site and how we wanted to improve our customers experience.  I think on of the achieved some of our most important goals.

1. Completely redesigned the site using the Magento E-commerce engine.  A great choice and a great set tools for our customers.  Now we have a much simpler checkout and sign up process, and we now accept PayPal and are working on accepting Google Checkout soon.
2. Our shopping guides, help and answers (FAQ) and this blog with our own customization of the Wordpress using the Thesis Theme.
3. Expanded our fabric offering.  We now carry 60 outdoor fabrics for cushions and 40 Sunbrella fabrics for our patio umbrellas.

We hope you enjoy the new design and a new era for CushionsAndUmbrellas.

Sunbrella, which is our flagship fabric line, and one of the most known outdoor fabrics in the US, has announced a fantastic new program for recycling used Sunbrella fabrics.   Here is a quote from the blog.

The new program, “Recycle My Sunbrella,” operates through a new website – www.recyclemysunbrella.com. Anyone interested in submitting Sunbrella fabrics for recycling should visit the site for additional details on the return process.

Randy Blackston, vice president of operations, said on the post that

“This program is part of our decades-long commitment to environmental stewardship.”

He further elaborated on the program.

“Sunbrella fabric has a service life far surpassing conventional fabrics, and we want to extend that life even further by ensuring it has a home outside the landfill,” Blackston said. “We will accept any pre-consumer and post-consumer Sunbrella fabrics including awning covers, boat covers and upholstery.”

CushionsAndUmbrellas has long been a enthusiastic endorser of  Sunbrella fabric, offering a wide range of Sunbrella umbrellas and Sunbrella cushions in our product offerings, and we’d like to contribute to the recycling program.  If you are a CushionsAndUmbrellas customer interested in recylcing your old Sunbrella based product, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Melissa Michaels often INSPIRES, and we’ve been caught in the wave.  She’s happily challenged bloggers to create a list of 20 Little Things to Treasure in Autumn, and we’re happy to play along.

1. Potato Soup (Yes, you can have it any time of the year, but Autumn makes it a little more special)
2. NEW Sunbrella and Outdura fabrics!
3. Fall colors in South Florida; Greens take on a whole new life.
4. The Moon.
5. The night sky is different.
6. New Colors from the Fashion Houses.
7. That slight little change in the air.
8. School Excitement!
9. The Casual Show!
10. Halloween and kids costumes.
11. Pumpkin Pie all over the place.
12. Thanksgiving, turkey, and more pumpkin pie.
13. Bigger and Better patio umbrellas.
14. Did I mention Pumpkin Pie and Whip Cream?  No?  Ok, pumpkin pie AND whip cream.
15. Parks are cooler to play in.
16. Candles and the Blues.
17. Gettin scared at haunted houses!
18. Fluffy warm slippers.
19. Holiday Shopping!
20. Hot Chocolate and My Chenille Blanky.

]]> http://blog.cushionsandumbrellas.com/sidenote/20-little-things/feed/ 3 http://blog.cushionsandumbrellas.com/patio-recipes/yeah-but-did-you-see-the-color/ http://blog.cushionsandumbrellas.com/patio-recipes/yeah-but-did-you-see-the-color/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:46:14 +0000 rgarcia http://cushionsandumbrellas.wordpress.com/?p=30

It’s not always easy to decide on the right color for a patio cushion or patio umbrella.  We’ve covered the selection of fabrics and frames before, but it’s not always as easy as we might think.  One blogpost might not be the answer, so we’ve decided to do a series of fabric fashion articles highlighting some of the most popular outdoor fabrics.  Each fabric, whether it be a solid, stripe, or pattern, will be looked at for it’s color qualities, it’s makeup, and the best color environment to place it in.

Hope you enjoy the fabric series!

This summer we’ll be heading out to our patio’s and our garden’s with our family to enjoy the lounging in the summer sun, and genuinely deserved.  After spending months huddled up in sweaters and bundled up in the home, it’s time we step out and warm up under the sun.  Time to lounge and sunbathe!  However, remember that there are harmful UV rays to contend with.  The American Cancer Society has said:

Most of the more than 1 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosed yearly in the United States are considered to be sun-related.

Source: Skin Cancer Facts

Melanoma, one of the most serious kinds of skin cancer, can be prevented also treated.  But why take the risk?  There are plenty of things we can do to keep our family safe, like using sunblock, preventing sunburns, keeping to the shade.  But I’ve outlined some tips on how to prepare your patio and home for the summer months, and protect your family from skin cancer risk.

The most important tip is to provide plenty of shade.  This might seem like an easy answer, but take a few moments to think about the shade areas around your home.  Do you have any?  A comfortable backyard or patio or garden should always have a pleasant shaded area  to sit in between 10AM and 4PM.

Most people think that if it gets too sunny or too hot, you can just step back inside your home.  But energetic children aren’t most people.  They’ll play out in the hot sun no matter how they feel.  Start teaching your children the simple shadow rule.  If your shadow is shorter than you, time to hit the shade.

Trees are an excellent way to add shaded areas to your home.  Research a bit to find out the best shade trees for your geographic area.  Banana and Palm trees are good, but they don’t grow in every climate.  Trees are a great way to frame your home’s exterior, but remember to place some trees apart, in different sections around your home, so that there is shade within reach.   If trees are not an option, large leafy plants will always be a great way to shade.  Group them together around a framed gazebo for an excellent shady spot.

Keep your patio furniture close to a shade area.  If you like to entertain around your patio, and everybody is lounging about on the patio furniture, make sure it’s close, or even better, under a shade.  Falling asleep on a chaise lounge might be great, but under the sun, you’ll not only wake up with a nasty sunburn, your risking your health.

Use your home as the shade area.  Watch the sun and judge the best and longest shadow caused by your home.  Make this area a lounge area and play area.

Of course, patio umbrellas with Sunbrella fabric are a great way to prevent harmful UV rays from hurting your family.  Sunbrella fabric has been recognized by the Skin Cancer Foundation as protective against the harmful effects of the sun, and is on their list of recommended products.