Iroko outdoor furniture, the wood under the cushions

Iroko is the wood you see on most Flexform outdoor pieces: the frame of a sofa, the legs of a table, the slats of a daybed. The company site calls it a dense West African hardwood, and the factory in Meda picked it because it holds up in rain and sun. If you are buying Flexform for a terrace, odds are you are buying iroko, so it pays to know what the wood does and what it asks of you.

Solid wood, turned by hand

Flexform uses solid iroko, cut and joined, with no veneer over a cheaper core. On Meriggio, a sofa by Antonio Citterio from 2023, the factory says its craftsmen smooth, turn and finish the wood by hand. The result looks like indoor furniture and lives outside. Meriggio comes as an armchair and as two- and three-seat sofas, on a base the factory calls a sled. See the Meriggio collection.

Solid wood also moves a little with the weather, swelling in damp months and shrinking in dry ones. Joinery built for the outdoors allows for it, and that is part of what you pay for.

Keeping the wood off wet ground

Water sitting under a leg does more harm to outdoor wood than rain on top. Flexform deals with it through small parts you may miss at first glance. Meriggio rests on thermoplastic spacers that keep the wood away from moisture on the terrace floor. Desco, a dining table also by Citterio, ends each leg in aluminum tips with nylon pads.

Other pieces do the same with metal. Hamptons stands on aluminum feet, and Ontario sits on a steel perimeter set back from its edges. Compare the feet of two pieces with the same care as the frames.

Four finishes

The iroko comes natural, stained grey, stained brown or lacquered white. Natural shows the grain and the warm color of the wood. The two stains even the color out and pair with the metal finishes of the steel parts. Lacquered white gives a painted look.

Choose one finish for the whole terrace, and decide it early, since the wood color steers the metal, cord and fabric choices that follow. If you already own Flexform pieces, bring a photo of them in daylight to the conversation. A natural sofa next to a stained grey table reads like two orders, and the metal parts, the cord and the cushions will already add enough color. Ask us for samples and look at them outside, in the light of the hour you use the space.

Care over the years

Sun fades the color of natural wood left outside, and a finish ages with it. Flexform recommends its waterproof covers, made on request at extra cost, to keep each piece close to its first condition when you leave it unused for long periods. Desco carries the same advice in the factory text.

For routine care, brush off leaves and dirt, wash the wood with water and a soft cloth, and let it dry in the air. Keep standing water from pooling around the feet. Before you put any oil, cleaner or treatment on a finished piece, ask us which products suit that finish, because the wrong one can mark a stain or a lacquer.

A table in iroko

Desco shows the wood at its plainest: a solid iroko base, a top in iroko slats for an all-wood table, or a top in stone. The stone choices are lava stone, porphyry, cardoso, beola argentata and matt Taj Mahal. The factory notes that you can recycle the parts of the Desco tables. See the Desco collection.

Iroko questions for the desk

Send us the pieces you are looking at and the finish you lean toward through the form below, with the city. We reply with samples on request, the care each finish needs and a written price.