How should homeowners store outdoor furniture to reduce pest risk?

The instinct to tarp or cover outdoor furniture for winter comes from a reasonable place — it's protecting the furniture from weather. But a cover creates a dark, still, weatherproof void directly against or under the furniture, which is a close match for what a mouse looks for once temperatures drop and outdoor shelter options thin out. The cover keeps rain off, but it also keeps a mouse hidden from view and from predators while it works through cushion foam or fabric.

A Cooperative Extension response to homeowners asking almost exactly this question is direct on the point: 'leave the furniture uncovered as much as possible' (UMD Ask Extension). That's a counterintuitive answer, and it's worth taking seriously precisely because it runs against what furniture-care advice usually says — an extension horticulturist is optimizing for the pest risk here, not the furniture finish, and for winter storage the pest risk is the bigger problem.

Metal, resin, or treated-wood furniture frames offer little of interest to a rodent looking for food or nesting material. Cushions are a different story: foam and fabric are exactly the soft material mice chew apart to build a nest, and a cushion left in place over a New Hampshire winter, whether covered or not, is a standing invitation. UMD Extension's guidance on this exact scenario — 'chipmunks or mice are eating my outdoor furniture cushions' — recommends bringing cushions indoors for the winter rather than leaving them outside in any configuration.

If indoor storage space is limited, the next-best option is a hard-sided, sealed container rather than a soft storage bag, following the same container logic that applies to anything else stored in a garage over winter.

Crumbs, spilled drinks, and general food residue accumulate on outdoor furniture over a season of use, and none of it needs to be present for the furniture to be pest-neutral going into winter. A basic wipe-down before storage removes the scent trail that would otherwise draw a rodent to investigate in the first place — a small, five-minute step that meaningfully lowers the odds the furniture becomes the reason something decides to stick around.