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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to despise outdoor sofa and coffee table sets?

578 replies

1950swallpaper · 28/01/2021 18:58

I don't know why I have taken such a dislike to them. Maybe it is because it is "indoor" furniture but outside. Maybe it is because they are all made out of grey plastic wicker which is not environmentally friendly. Maybe it is because I find them very "show-offy keeping up with the Jones' smug". Maybe it is because I know if I had one, I'd find bringing the cushions in from the rain a pain in the bum. I dunno but I really find them tacky and vulgar. Am I on my own?

OP posts:
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Furries · 01/02/2021 00:29

Just realised. I’ve had mine for 10 years - does that make me Mrs Jones rather than “keeping up with”? 😂

ShrikeAttack · 01/02/2021 00:44

I especially liked to sit under the huge yew.

Don't talk nonsense. Not only are yews very poisonous, they don't have a decent canopy for sitting underneath.

That's just utter silly-talk.

UnityUnited · 01/02/2021 00:47

What does the poster who sits on a yoga mat do when she has friends round? Ask them to bring their own yoga mats to sit on Confused

waterlego · 01/02/2021 02:41

the plastic sofa brigade would have hated it. It was very natural with lots of trees.

Eh? This was in the very same post in which you claimed you weren’t making value judgements on people, just the furniture 😂

I love natural gardens. I love my poplars, my apple tree and my bay. Love my rattan sofa and chairs too. I feel very lucky to have a decent size garden, not overlooked, in which to spend long summer days. It was a Godsend in the first lockdown when I spent most of the day out there (under the shade of one of those hideously vulgar giant parasols). We live near the beach too- 500 metres. So lucky and grateful for our outdoor space.

Bluntness100 · 01/02/2021 09:41

@ShrikeAttack

I especially liked to sit under the huge yew.

Don't talk nonsense. Not only are yews very poisonous, they don't have a decent canopy for sitting underneath.

That's just utter silly-talk.

To be fair, I’ve a number of yew trees, all different, and you could sit under a couple of them to provide shade. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the best tree to sit under, and the ground beneath it very likely to be just dirt as grass normally would struggle to grow there, so not really the stuff of fairy tales, but technically feasible all the same.,😃
Bumblebee1980a · 01/02/2021 11:00

We have a Moda corner sofa and table. It is lush and certainly wasn't an impromptu purchase.

You're right re the cushions such a pain to put on and take off. However you can buy one of those waterproof rain covers so you don't have to during the summer months.

They are lovely and it feels special eating outside on them and goodness knows we need that at the moment! We also have a parasol that does keep the rain off.

They do fire pits too but then you have less table for plates etc. Instead we have lots huge fleece blankets if we get cold.

CounsellorTroi · 01/02/2021 11:06

@UnityUnited

What does the poster who sits on a yoga mat do when she has friends round? Ask them to bring their own yoga mats to sit on Confused
That was me. Last time we had friends around for afternoon tea we used our table and chairs. It was fine. I don’t actually know anyone who has a plastic sofa in their garden.
GreenlandTheMovie · 01/02/2021 13:40

CounsellorTroi That was me. Last time we had friends around for afternoon tea we used our table and chairs. It was fine. I don’t actually know anyone who has a plastic sofa in their garden.

Did someone just actually write "I don't actually know anyone who"?

I actually sent someone with an attitude like this a copy of Debretts as a Christmas present. I suspect the irony was lost on them, but it still tickles me.

CounsellorTroi · 01/02/2021 14:09

I just meant that the people I entertain in my garden would not miss sitting on a sofa there as they don't have one themselves. Nothing to do with snobbery.

Frodont · 01/02/2021 14:11

I'm a bit of a snob and I bloody love my plastic rattan sofa and chairs in the garden in the summer.

Frodont · 01/02/2021 14:13

They were from John Leiws is that helps. I sat lengthways on the sofa reading a book in the sun pretty much throughout the summer lockdown. Lovely.

mbosnz · 01/02/2021 14:13

M’dear?! Are you an elderly retired Colonel?

Absoballylutely! Grin

HikeForward · 01/02/2021 14:19

They are decorative. Would you know about such ideas? It’s like not buying your “art” in Dunelm

Decorative? In what way? So you can admire them against a back drop of daisies but have to warn guests not to sit on them?

Or is it some trend for shabby chic/rustic Victorian iron that I’m missing?

Honestly, I’m all for quirky art but rusty metal chairs are a bit too way out for me. They look like they belong on a scrap heap.

Frodont · 01/02/2021 14:25

And my garden is huge, with loads of trees, roses, herbaceous borders, lavender and old stone walls. The sofa thing looks nice and is super comfy. I've had it for about 8 years now.

CounsellorTroi · 01/02/2021 14:26

@Frodont

They were from John Leiws is that helps. I sat lengthways on the sofa reading a book in the sun pretty much throughout the summer lockdown. Lovely.
I did the same sitting at my table or lying on my lounger. I don't know why people think a garden sofa is the only way you can be comfortable in the garden.
TheKeatingFive · 01/02/2021 14:31

I don't know why people think a garden sofa is the only way you can be comfortable in the garden.

I don’t think people do think that. It’s just that they prefer the garden sofa option.

peak2021 · 01/02/2021 14:50

OP regardless of appearance and saddos being in hock to so-called fashion, I am with you simply on the grounds of not being environmentally friendly.

Quit4me · 01/02/2021 15:03

I have a plastic rattan grey corner sofa set with a glass topped dining table. I can assure you I am not ‘common’ 🤣
I have always owned wooden chairs and wooden table but to be honest, I wanted something I didn’t have to sit so bolt upright in. I love tucking my legs up crossing my legs. Also want to eat dinner outside- it does all of these! The cushions behind my back are very comfy.
I have a lounger is I want to recline more, but I find the sofa set far more comfy than the lounger, plus I can cuddle and sit with my children on the sofa set too which I can’t do on a lounger.
It also only cost £500 in the sale so that helps

Bluntness100 · 01/02/2021 15:14

I don't know why people think a garden sofa is the only way you can be comfortable in the garden

I don’t think anyone said this did they? People said out of the options it is the most preferable. Like in your house. Sure you can get comfy at the dining table, sure you can lay in bed, but many people find a big comfy sofa the best option, because if they didn’t, well no one would have sofas inside either.

I like those metal rustic benches, they look great artistically in the right setting, but in most Uk gardens they’d just look like they belonged on the junk yard if that’s what was sitting on your patio. And they aren’t exactly comfy either.

TheKeatingFive · 01/02/2021 15:39

and saddos being in hock to so-called fashion

Is it so extraordinary that people actually like them?

Big, comfy sofa in your garden. I don’t think it’s too hard to comprehend the attractiveness.j

Janegrey333 · 01/02/2021 15:57

@Bluntness100

I don't know why people think a garden sofa is the only way you can be comfortable in the garden

I don’t think anyone said this did they? People said out of the options it is the most preferable. Like in your house. Sure you can get comfy at the dining table, sure you can lay in bed, but many people find a big comfy sofa the best option, because if they didn’t, well no one would have sofas inside either.

I like those metal rustic benches, they look great artistically in the right setting, but in most Uk gardens they’d just look like they belonged on the junk yard if that’s what was sitting on your patio. And they aren’t exactly comfy either.

Sure you can get comfy at the dining table, sure you can lay in bed, but many people find a big comfy sofa the best option, because if they didn’t, well no one would have sofas inside either.

The Georgians, to give but one example, did not slob around on “big comfy” sofas. The “big comfy” sofa lovers on this thread could never have behaved in such a civilised manner. They would probably have had to lie down on the rug, or something!!

TwoZeroTwoZero · 01/02/2021 16:02

What's wrong with art from Dunelm (or the Range, B&M and the like)? If you like it, you like it; art doesn't have to cost a fortune or be unique pieces from a sought after artist.

I have both btw: a stylised photo of some campervans and beach huts from the Range (hanging on the wall in our summerhouse) and an original, personal painting of my house and garden by a lovely local artist who is also a member of the same camera club as me.

Bluntness100 · 01/02/2021 16:03

The Georgians, to give but one example, did not slob around on “big comfy” sofas. The “big comfy” sofa lovers on this thread could never have behaved in such a civilised manner. They would probably have had to lie down on the rug, or something!!

😂😂😂 love it

Neither did prehistoric man, but times have moved on from medieval and Georgian,

Janegrey333 · 01/02/2021 16:03

Not every sofa is a so-called big comfy one:

apilgriminnarnia.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/pride-and-prejudice-keira-knightly-drawing-room.jpg?w=640

OhBabooahka · 01/02/2021 16:05

@Janegrey333 what in earth are you blathering on about?

The Georgians? What the fuck has that time period got to do with comfy outdoor sofas?

You really do seem to be quite a bizarre person with your comments on this and the snobbish thread.

Off you pop to lace your corset up to prevent you from such uncivilised antics such as sofa slobbing.