Rattan Garden Furniture Choices

We are on one final push out in the garden at the moment, the cooler weather is on its way, and now the rain. I don’t even want to think about it really as I will miss the garden so much over the next few months. We have created a lovely family-friendly space out in the garden, and it’s so nice to use it and get some fresh air easily. 

I wanted to share with you the different types of garden furniture we have in our garden and why it works for us as a family. We are currently making some changes to the garden to make use of the spaces better and getting ready for a new area of the garden to be built next year after we removed the kids climbing frame. 

Rattan Garden Furniture – Sofa 

We purchased a rattan garden sofa back in 2018 and it was one of the best purchases we’ve made for our house and garden. It has given us a comfy space to be able to relax out there and with my bad back, I have needed softer garden furniture than wooden ones. It gives us a space that you can put your feet up at, sitting back looking into the garden and large enough for us as a family, and extra people. 

When you purchase a large garden sofa like this, be aware of how you are going to store the cushions. You don’t realise how much space they do take up and you need to keep them dry, as you don’t want them going moldy as it’s very tricky to get any mold out of them. We have a large garden cushion box that works brilliantly and keeps everything dry all winter, and is huge! 

We use a cover for when we know it’s going to be a short spell of rain, as it saves us having to pack them all away, which is a bit of a mission.

Garden cushion box

Rattan Garden Furniture – Dining Set 

This year we treated ourselves to a new rattan garden dining set with a raised table and sofa seating. I decided to go for the rattan garden furniture again as I loved our sofa set, and I knew it was also going to be comfy to sit on and gave us another area of the garden to sit at. I placed it up on a raised patio in the garden and looked forward to using it, however, we didn’t get as much use out of it as I hoped. It was positioned right at the wrong point for the sun at dinner time. Most of us would be facing the sun and where it was higher we struggled with the sun in our eyes. It’s also not in a place where we can have a parasol, and as it’s higher up the parasol would be taken by the wind. Our last dining set was smashed due to the wind! 

Location of new rattan dining table 

So with this all in mind and the new area of the garden being built next year, we will use the lower sofa set up in the new area of the garden, and create a chillout area.  Then we can bring the dining set down onto our patio, directly outside the house for easy dinner dishing up.

We can use our fantastic IKEA parasol to shade us from sunshine. Although come dinner time, the sun isn’t on this patio as much so perfect for eating. It’s also a very comfy rattan dining sofa set, so I am quite happy to use it more. 

What I also love about this set is you can lower the table up and down, so we have the option of it being a raised dining table, or lower to have it as a coffee table. 

Rattan Garden Furniture – Double Swing Chair 

I have always loved the idea of a swing chair or a hammock to sit in the garden in, nipping out there for 5 minutes to drink a cup of tea, taking in the fresh air, and 5 minutes of peace. I wondered how much space the hammock stand would take up in the garden, but would be lovely laying out in the hammock! I am such an outside person, I can’t be stuck in for long so having an easy access space is perfect for me. The large rattan sofas are brilliant, but you have to have every cushion on them otherwise it slides along and doesn’t sit right, and I don’t want to get all the cushions out for a 5-minute sit-out. So having this swing chair is great as it’s one large cushion that I can store easily inside or in the cushion box, grab it, and put it away again if I know it’s showery or rain coming in.

You will often find me and my husband sitting in there having our afternoon coffee together and having a quick catch-up on life. I have positioned it tucked into this corner as it’s sheltered from the wind, it gives me a different view of the garden flowers and it feels like I’m all snuggled away in the corner surrounded by trees and plants, pure bliss for me. 

Tips For Buying Rattan Garden Furniture 

• Plan your spaces in the garden 
• Look at the sunshine area 
• Do you need a parasol? 
• Has it got a parasol hole?
• If not can you fit a large base one alongside?
• Is anything adjustable like the table height? 
• Where will you put the cushions when not in use?
• What are the delivery times and costs? 
• Do you have a flat surface for the sections to sit nicely together?