We Love… Outdoor Furniture

Here are our top tips for what to consider when choosing outdoor furniture.

It might still be chilly outside, but in a few weeks the clocks go back and it’s officially spring time. Which means summer is just around the corner. And with Easter and May bank holidays looming, you may want to entertain outside, if weather permits. As the evenings are getting lighter and temperatures (slowly) climb, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about your garden and furnishing your outdoor space. Here are our top tips for what to consider when choosing outdoor furniture:

Location
Where in your garden is your entertaining area? If it’s right outside the rear of your house, or behind or to the side of a glazed extension, you may want to consider how one area flows into another. This may affect the styles/colours you choose, depending on whether you want the two to merge seamlessly, or contrast against each other.

Function
What will you be using your outside space for? Outside dining has been very popular in recent years, so this might be something that you consider if you don’t already have an outside dining table. Recently there has been a ‘bigger is better’ trend for outdoor dining in particular, so that entertaining for large groups can be done outside easily.

Alternatively, will it be a leisure area, for people to gather around and relax? Deep seating is very popular currently, turning the patio into an ‘outdoor living room’. For those who entertain in smaller groups, having a few comfy chairs outside can be a lovely way to spend summer evenings.

Style
This, of course, depends very much on personal taste. Traditional styles have been universally popular, particularly for outdoor furniture, until very recently. Now however, there is an increasing trend for transitional and contemporary need to buy hydrocodone looks. This will also tie in to the location of your outdoor area – being close to the house you may want to continue a theme, whereas if a seating area, for example, is removed some distance, then it may be feasible to implement a style that is completely different.

Colour
Outdoor furniture materials vary from wood, plastic to metal and other synthetic materials, and can come in all sorts of different colours. Natural wood colours, as well as black and neutral colours are standard for chairs and tables, with soft furnishings carrying colourful highlights.

Neutral colours, blues and greens are usually popular for coverings, and currently there’s a trend for brightly coloured soft furnishings to contrast. Using soft furnishings as colour highlights is a great way to update an old outdoor furniture set and stay on trend.

Focus
If using your outdoor space as an entertainment area which is primarily for dining, it may be a good idea to add a focal point. Growing in popularity, fire pits make great centre pieces. They work well for several reasons; they provide warmth – perfect on light spring and early summer evenings when it’s still a little chilly later on; they’re available at slightly higher than coffee table height, so are comfortable for dining if large enough, and they also encourage socialising, acting like a campfire where people gather around to tell stories.

Above all, the top tip for outdoor furniture is to look at it as an investment, just like you would your indoor furniture. Quality is even more important outdoors because the furniture needs to stand up to the elements.