Outdoor furniture that you actually use

[CadburySpira]

We have a tiny garden which is pretty shady so we’ve never really bought any nice garden furniture. Being as we are stuck here and prob stuck home now for summer, I thought it might be worth getting something. I have a very low to the ground fold up sun lounger which is good if it’s sunbathing weather, but that lives in the shed and can’t really be left out all the time. I’d like something that we could just pop out and sit down on for 10 mins of sun as and when, it needs to be comfortable and either weather-proof or v easy to set up.

Could I ask what are your favourite pieces of garden furniture? And what doesn’t get used? We used to have a garden bench but it was so hard and splintery we never used it. TIA

Aldi have a lovely wooden bench with padded cushions on the website for 199 op.

Rather different to others, our camping chairs get more use than anything! Fold up small, stashed in the shed - always dry, so not covered in bits. Unfold in a few seconds. Really comfortable. I love the idea of beautiful furniture which lives out all the time, but not the reality!

We have these type: www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15900173/hi-gear-vegas-xl-chair-15900173

Mostly place marking but we have two teak garden benches that have withstood the weather for 10 years - they were really expensive but they are brilliant.

Plastic rattan coffee table with mini sofa & arm chairs. The best bit is the cushions fit into the waterproof coffee table so no lugging cushions in and out. No bugs or slugs. Weather proof.

Love it!

Because that might be what’s stopping you using the garden, maybe it’s not the lack of suitable furniture.

The other thing is the route out to your garden, our old house we had to go through the kitchen and shed and it was a small garden and we just didn't bother a lot of the time, even though we spent a lot doing the garden up. Our new house we have a bigger garden but every room at the back of the house (sitting room, dining room and utility room) has doors out to the garden and so we are in and out the whole time because the flow is much easier.

We have a small, shady garden too. We got this set from Amazon

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011UJOF6Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

It's really comfy, we now spend hours sitting out. I keep the cushions in the garage when not in use. although they're shower proof if wet seeps in through the zips it's a pain to sort out.

Prior to that we had this set from Poundstretcher
www.poundstretcher.co.uk/3-piece-wicker-bistro-set-72-50-cm
Not quite as good as the set above but comfortable, cheap and hardwearing. We left it out in all weathers and it lasted years.

Bought this in 2004. Sand it down yearly and paint it. Have tried to find a cast iron one but never one as sturdy as this one. Got it in B&Q for £25 as it was on offer.

Lots of good suggestions thanks!

@livingthegoodlife the storage coffee table sounds great! Is it from a site you could link?

Unfortunately I can't find the exact set we have but it's made by Albert and very similar to one linked www.gardenstoredirect.com/garden-furniture-c18/allibert-carolina-lounge-set-p1404

We are just replacing two rocking chairs that have started to rot after being out for about 7 years. I thought long and hard because I was tempted by the sofa style furniture. But, there is something magical about sitting together in the summer drinking and talking and watching the sun set while gently rocking. So, I have bought rocking chairs to replace them from John Lewis.

www.johnlewis.com/house-by-john-lewis-salsa-garden-rocking-chair/p4828112

My DS enjoying our John Lewis sofa.

I should have added to my previous post, the set I linked to from Amazon is great for a small garden as it's quite small but the sofa still seats 2 adults comfortably. A lot of the sofa sets I saw were massive and wouldn't even fit in our garden.

Also because it's in several pieces you can move it around into different arrangements according to what you're doing. That kind of flexibility is really useful in a small space.

Just adding here our bargain, so going really low rent here but we bought two of these plastic chairs from Dunelm a few years ago and they are so bloody comfy and zero care required. They were so lovely in fact that this year I'm upgrading to same style but proper wood ones as my bday present - I'm wild me!