Few questions about what to buy...

You'll want to cover patio furniture thoroughly with something that can withstand the elements, or it will be ruined and unusable quickly. The outdoor hose water is very harsh and corrosive on the legs, and silty dust builds up everywhere and can even work its way right through canvas covers. Sadly, to preserve its life, everything on our patio is constantly covered under ugly tarps. Accessing it is a hassle. I wish we had one of those outdoor stoe huts. Anything we've put outside with cushions or fabric requires complete washing every few days or it's too dusty and creepy feeling to sit on. We were quite disappointed that a fabric covered swing bench we put outside for the kids literally fell apart from constant washing in just a couple of months. Hard plastic, as unattractive as it is, has been the most durable for us. We're in Dhahran, not RT, so I can't comment on any effects of living at the shore.

We brought our washer from the US (left the dryer, it was gas not electric), and decided to sell it when it arrived in KSA. We kept the Aramco set, figuring it would be easier to have them deal with repairs and replacements than to deal with our own appliance, especially if ours were to croak and there not be Aramco replacements available to rent--we didn't know about availability of such things for down the road, especially if we were to opt out of the rental at the beginning. We sold our washer within minutes on the Aramco classifieds. In the meantime, our Aramco washer quit after a year, and it was replaced with a fully brand new model. The Aramco appliance repairman told me that the washer we had originally was 15 years old (yeah, it was that old, but was cleaned up to look much younger). We're glad we dumped our washer from the States and stuck with the Aramco stuff.