Summer here runs from the first lunch outside in May to the last swim in October, which is half the year, and the light stays strong for a good part of the other half. So getting an Algarve home summer-ready has less to do with new cushions every June than with setting the house up once for the climate it actually has.
That mostly comes down to stopping the sun before it reaches the glass, rather than fighting it with curtains afterwards, and arranging the terrace as a room people want to sit in until midnight instead of a display that looks good from the kitchen.
The terrace, after six
Plenty of the best-furnished terraces on this coast are empty at eight in the evening. The furniture is lovely and laid out as if for a photograph, but by then the sun has dropped to the west, under the parasol and into everyone’s eyes, and there’s nowhere to put a glass down without leaning forward. Nobody decides not to sit there. It just never quite becomes the place to go.
What changes that is rarely more furniture. Mostly it’s shade that works when the sun is low, which on a west-facing terrace means a pergola with a retractable canopy or a vine trained over it (slower, but worth the wait). After that, a side table within reach of every seat, and light at sitting height once it’s dark, lanterns on the wall or candles rather than the bulb by the door, for the same reasons as indoors in the importance of lighting. Big planters along the open edge help too; a terrace with an edge feels like a room.
Which materials survive a summer out there is the whole subject of garden furniture in the Algarve, so we won’t go over it again.
Keeping the heat out of the house
Indoors, the decision that matters most happens on the outside of the windows. Exterior blinds, or the roller shutters most Portuguese houses already have, stop the sun before it heats the glass; curtains, however thick, are dealing with heat that’s already in the room. Bring the shutters two thirds of the way down on the south and west sides at midday and the house is noticeably cooler by evening.
Where there’s no outside shading, layers do part of the job: a sheer during the day to take the edge off the glare, and linen drawn across in the hottest hours. Sand and stone colours forgive dust better than white, and linen softens with washing instead of wearing out.
Rugs can mostly go into a cupboard in July and August. The tile and stone floors here are cool underfoot, which is the point, and what to put back down in October is in how to choose a rug.
What August does
At least one storm will come through late in August, quickly, while the cushions are out. A storage bench with a decent lid on the terrace saves a lot of cushions. Covers that unzip and go in the washing machine save the rest, since olive oil and red wine find outdoor fabric faster than rain does.
The levante brings a fine dust in spring and autumn that wants a proper wash rather than a wipe, which stone or sealed wood take in their stride and natural cane never quite recovers from. And the sun fades whatever stays in one place, so turn the cushions round now and then, or pick colours that age kindly; sand and faded terracotta do, bright blue rarely does. There’s more on keeping things going in furniture care, and for rentals, where guests are hard on all of it, in furnishing a holiday rental.
Our outdoor collection has spent several summers in the display areas at both H&P Mobiliário e Decoração showrooms, in Albufeira and Armação de Pêra, which is a fair test of what lasts. Come and see what’s still standing, ideally late in the afternoon, when you can sit with the sun low and judge the shade for yourself.
