Four things to keep in mind when buying garden lounge furniture

Martin Jungfer

6/4/2024

Translation: Megan Cornish

A garden lounge brings the cosiness of your living room outside. But not everything that looks good in advertising photos actually is. Here are a few tips before you buy.

If you’re considering buying a set of lounge furniture, here are a few points you should consider before you add it to your virtual basket. I’ve also included a few interesting pieces from the range as inspiration.

The mercury’s climbing. Warm weather is the green light to bring out garden furniture that was previously hidden under protective covers or gathering dust in the basement. Lounge furniture is an increasingly common fixture on local balconies and terraces, replacing the classic table and chair combination.

1. The right size

Generally speaking, garden lounge furniture takes up more space than an outdoor table with a few chairs. This is partly because chairs can usually be easily pushed under the table when not in use, and some can even be stacked. But each person’s seating area on a chair is smaller than on a sofa or armchair, especially if it’s an L-shape.

And although cushions are part of the comfy vibe of a lounge, they’re also bulky. Very different to a thin cushion on a garden chair.

There’s no clear rule about what size lounge will look good on a balcony or terrace. But obviously furniture that’s too large can quickly make the available space look overcrowded. So, it’s better to choose furniture based on your normal circumstances rather than the one time that 20 people are coming over for a summer party. And remember that other things also need space – whether it’s a barbecue, a cushion storage box or plants.

If you don’t have a lot of space, you can initially choose an armchair and a bench from the same range. If you then realise that there’d be enough space for a second armchair, you can buy another one.

2. The right material

Most garden lounges are made of one of the following materials, or a combination of several. Here’s a quick rundown of their pros and cons.

Wood

Rattan

If you buy rattan furniture, it’s usually the plastic version, i.e. polyrattan, a polyethylene (PE) wicker material that’s made from petroleum. Polyrattan furniture is light, making it easy to transport. This type of furniture has the lowest risk of you hurting your back when you carry it out of the basement in the spring or back down there in the autumn.

The plastic is also unaffected by rain or even snow. The Kärcher can also be used to clean polyrattan furniture – although maybe not on its highest setting.

Nevertheless, polyrattan also has disadvantages: the material can fade or become brittle in the sun.

Aluminium

Let’s stick with the lightweight options. Like plastic, aluminium is also light and rust-proof, which is important in outdoor areas. Aluminium is usually powder-coated.

If aluminium furniture is placed directly in the sun, it heats up quickly – to the extent where burns are a possibility.

Garden furniture is also made from other metals, usually stainless steel. There’s a risk of rust if they constantly get too wet, but powder coating and galvanising protect against occasional moisture.

3. Desired comfort level

A garden lounge should look good and be comfortable too. I admit that our current seating situation is convincing on the visual front, but I’d give it a grade of «satisfactory» at best when it comes to comfort. The following is what I’ll be paying closer attention to when buying in the future.

Seat cushions

The seat cushions on garden lounge furniture have to withstand a lot. And I don’t just mean the weight of the people sitting on them. The sun shines on them, they get wet when it rains, and residue from cream cakes or chocolate ice cream end up on the fabric.

I recommend choosing a stronger material for the seat and something softer for the backrest. It makes things so much more comfortable.

Seat depth

Backrest

There’s a lot you can get wrong here. Remember that a garden chair has a backrest 40 to 50 centimetres high. Your garden lounge furniture should definitely not be lower when measured from the top of the seat cushion. The rule is: the higher the backrest, the more comfortable the seat. The backrest can be lower if the seat depth is generous, simply because you then slide down and no longer really sit upright.

The backrest cushions should be securely attached to the frame. Few things are as annoying as back cushions that don’t stay in place. Personally, I like garden lounge furniture that has back cushions that clip onto the metal structure like the model below. Velcro straps are only the second-best option.

If you want flexibility and even more comfort, you can look for adjustable backrests, where you can set how far they tilt.

Extra cushions

The more seating space you have available, the more you can boost comfort levels even more with extra cushions. A cushion makes the corner seat of your furniture much more attractive. If an armrest is padded with a pillow, it’s more inviting for a short nap.

4. Multifunctionality

Don’t want to commit to a garden lounge layout? No problem, there’s plenty of flexible furniture that can be reconfigured. A corner setup can become a very long bench as well as a double lounger for two people.

Sliding storage options are also smart. Or seat cushions that can be folded up to turn a sofa into a lounger. There are also benches that can be pulled out like a sofa bed and converted into a daybed.

The design ingenuity here is virtually limitless. With all the options available, you should think about how often you’d actually end up reconfiguring your garden lounge. This is usually less often than you imagine when you’re browsing through the range.

Alternatives

If you’ve reached this point in my article without being converted into a garden lounge fan, I still have something for you. There are still tables and chairs – very comfortable versions. Or you can spruce up your seating area with something like these:

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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