How to Get Your Garden Furniture Right

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the trend for bringing the outdoors in when it comes to colour and pattern. We know that the colour green is on the rise, houseplants are back with a vengeance and the trend for botanical plants is massive whether you favour the Arts and Crafts patterns of William Morris or the more tropical designs of Mind The Gap.

But I think, now that the summer is on its way, if you want to really make the most of your outdoor space you need to be thinking in the other direction – taking the indoors out. Above is the Bubble Club armchair (which comes as a sofa too) by Philippe Starck for Kartell which is my dream garden chair. The pink is a new colour and I want it even more now. And, because I already have garden furniture I am telling you this because it appears to be on sale at Amara – from £531 to £461 (three month lead time though but you’ll get the end of summer).

It has taken me four gardens and a balcony to work this out. This is because so much of what is available as garden furniture is ugly, expensive, uncomfortable and everywhere. And let’s be clear that I am not showing you what I am saying but rather showing you things that are none of the above.

So you spend a small fortune on a charming wrought iron bistro set (done that) and find you haven’t got time for that leisurely coffee and croissants while idly flicking through a newspaper on the balcony before you have to start work and it’s far too uncomfortable for sunbathing or reading afterwards, so you stay in and lie on the sofa instead.

Then you buy a set of those low sunbeds (done this too) thinking you will recline with a cocktail like something out of Mad Men, but there’s no pool, the cat knocks over the Martini and, if you’re over the age of 35, the huffing and puffing required to stand up again is not quite the elegant vibe you might have had in mind. See also traditional candy stripe deckchairs.

As for anything in pre-matched sets just don’t. You wouldn’t buy a three-piece suite for your sitting room so don’t do it for your garden. And why are they nearly always square? Both literally and figuratively?

The penny finally dropped when I was redecorating one year and hauled an ancient armchair into the garden to get it out of the way. It remained there until it rained as we finally realised that the way to make the garden comfortable (and therefore more usable) is to create a proper outdoor sitting room. Now we have a weatherproof sofa and two armchairs that wouldn’t look out of place in the sitting room style-wise, along with a low coffee table and an outdoor floor lamp.

For the first time in years we have spent long happy hours in the garden, reading, chatting, drinking cocktails and soaking up that precious Vitamin D. Our set is the Jonah pictured above although ours is grey as this natural colour didn’t exist when we bought it about five years ago and I have to say this is much prettier.

The other way to make the most of your outside space is to create a kitchen area with a barbecue and some storage to keep everything handy, even a kitchen sink.

I’m wary of fire pits – if there was one thing we learned during the long months of lockdown it was that the warmth given out was minimal and the lingering smell on clothes and hair was, shall we say, maximal. What about installing an outdoor fireplace instead? If you plan it right you can even cook pizzas in it.

Add shelves for decoration but, instead of books, add herbs and fragrant plants to scent the night air and don’t forget the lighting. Winding festoon lights round trees and balconies will create the perfect relaxing atmosphere and mean that your garden becomes much more attractive than a traffic jam to the coast. And, given it’s bank holiday/long weekend season this is probably going to be the best option for many of us.