The Complete 2025 Garden Furniture Buying Guide

How To Choose The Best Garden Furniture For Your Outdoor Space!

Creating your perfect outdoor space starts with choosing the right garden furniture. With so many options available, from styles, materials and types, it can be a little overwhelming when it comes to selecting the right type of furniture for your garden.

Luckily, here at Garden & Patio, we are here to help. With so many different garden furniture options available, we have put together this extensive garden furniture buyers guide to hopefully make it as easy as possible to choose the right outdoor furniture for your outdoor space.

Whether you're looking to host summer barbecues, create a peaceful reading nook, establish an outdoor dining area, or all of those things, this comprehensive garden furniture buying guide will help you make an informed decision about which garden furniture best suits your needs.

Which Garden Furniture Material Is Right For Your Garden Or Patio?

Choosing the right material for your garden furniture is is in most cases personal preference. As mentioned above on the style buying guide, you may already have a material type in mind.

Rattan Garden Furniture

Rattan garden furniture has been popular for years in British gardens, offering a perfect blend of style and functionality. It looks great, and is available in light and darker colour variations to suit all tastes and garden designs.

Advantages

Rattan wicker style garden furniture is weather-resistant and uv-stable, making sure it retains it's colour. Rattan furniture can also be lightweight and comfortable to sit on even without cushions.

Disadvantages

Rattan garden furniture can differ in price when it comes to quality. It is important to point out that cheaper sets can have lesser protection when it comes to the weather and UV light, meaning they can discolour much more easily and fade over time.

Metal Garden Furniture

Metal or aluminium garden furniture would usually come in two forms which are aluminium and powder-coated steel. This material type is becoming more and more popular for its sleek style and modern look.

Advantages

Generally aluminium garden furniture gives exceptional durability and longevity and due to the smooth finish, is very easy to maintain and clean. The modern design and angles you get from metal furniture is making it more and more popular for gardens.

Disadvantages

Metal furniture can be heavier to move, depending on the style you opt for. You can check the weight of the furniture you are buying with us, or the retailer you are buying from prior to making a purchase.

Wooden Garden Furniture

Wooden garden furniture, especially pieces made from hardwoods, bring natural beauty and warmth to any outdoor space. It's a traditional choice that never goes out of style.

Advantages

Wooden furniture is natural and has that timeless appearance. It also ages beautifully with care. It's a cooler style of material in the Sun, whereas other materials which come in darker colours can retain and become quite hot in direct sunlight.

Disadvantages

Wooden garden furniture most certainly requires more regular maintenance. Alongside cleaning regularly, you may also need to sand and oil wood regularly to retain its appearance and quality over time.

Plastic Garden Furniture

Plastic garden furniture, including high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene options, offers practical and affordable solutions for outdoor spaces.

Advantages

Plastic garden furniture in general offers more affordable options compared to rattan, metal and wooden types. Just like metal, plastic is also really easy to maintain and clean.

Disadvantages

Plastic garden furniture offers limited styling options when compared to other material types. It's also worth noting that cheaper, lesser quality options do not last as long as other garden furniture types.

What Available Space Do You Have & Have You Thought About Layout Options?

Understanding your outdoor space is crucial for selecting appropriate furniture:

Choosing Garden Furniture For Small Gardens

The size of your garden obviously matters when it comes to selecting the right type of garden furniture. For smaller gardens, choosing the right size of furniture is more important. You don't want a huge 6 seater sofa set taking up most of the space, when you can choose outdoor furniture with more compact 2 or 3 seater options, that bring flexibility to your setup.

Choosing The Best Garden Furniture For Medium & Larger Outdoor Spaces

When choosing outdoor furniture for medium to larger gardens, there is more flexibility when it comes to options. Larger floor space, means bigger more focal pieces can be considered such as a 12-14 seater dining set.

Maintaining & Cleaning Your Garden Furniture

During the wetter and colder months, you can store garden furniture, cover it, or just store the most delicate parts such as cushions. If you already have garden storage for large or bulky furniture items then that is ideal. If not, you can always invest in a cushion storage box which can keep the cushions and upholstery items out of the elements in bad weather.

The lower maintenance options are most certainly metal, aluminium or plastic garden furniture. All of these options can be cleaned and maintained really easily.

All furniture materials can be cleaned relatively simply with a wipe down with warm soapy water. You should also avoid any harsh chemicals on all types of garden furniture to avoid damage and discolouration. With wooden furniture you will need to sand and oil the wood on occassion to keep it looking great over longer periods of time.

Most wooden furniture does come treated and ready to withstand the British climate.

Ready To Find The Ideal Garden Furniture For Your Space?

The perfect garden furniture choice depends on balancing your specific needs with practical space and layout considerations. There are several types of furniture to choose from, and all come with lots of advantages, and some disadvantages, depending on your garden and maintenance needs.

Here at Garden and Patio we offer every type of garden furniture, from single pieces, to full sets, in all different colours and materials covered in the guide.

If you need anymore help when browsing the collections on our website, do not hesitate to reach out to our expert team who are on hand to help and advise on your specific wants and needs.

Shop Our Extensive Garden Furniture Collection

Whether you are looking for wooden, rattan, plastic or metal garden furniture, we have options and choice across all material types, colours and styles. Free delivery across the UK and all garden furniture comes with full supplier guarantees.