Do you leave enough space in your garden for furniture?

[CountryQueen]

Part of enjoying a garden is being able to sit in the beautiful area that you created. I always make sure that I leave space to throw down a blanket or put out a few chairs and an occasional table. Do you leave space to put garden furniture or is it more of a walk thru affair?

 

[Bandit26]

The garden beds are around the sides of the yard. The center grassy area is half for the dog and half for us. Our side has a table with 4 chairs, to chaise loungers, bbq and fire pit. Its a bit cramped for my taste but it does work well for us

 

[Chuck]

Yes, my chair, my radio and a cooler of beer

 

[mfg53]

I don't exactly leave space for "furniture" but I do leave enough room for a large blanket. Whenever summertime comes I always enjoy making a picnic and having enough room to lay a big blanket down. If I wanted to I could put a small table and two chairs where the blanket would usually go and it would fit in perfectly.

 

[claudine]

I live in my parents' house. My part of their garden is rather small. I don't have any furniture there. When I want to spend some time in the nature, I lie on a blanket, it's pretty comfortable
In my dream garden, I'll have a metal table, a few chairs and a swing

 

[Gardener]

Nope, my whole garden is simply full of vegetables and a cherry tree. I haven't left any room to sit in the garden, but I can enjoy the view from my house. Also, I'm not quite the type of person to simply sit down and relax.

 

[Philphine]

kinda the opposite for me. I made a large-ish seating area and now am trying to give it as much of the feeling of sitting in a garden as possible.

 

[Philphine]

. Also, I'm not quite the type of person to simply sit down and relax.

that's kinda the crazy part for me. even though I've made this area,I hardly ever just sit out there. I'm either pacing around trying to decide what to try next, or actually working on some part of it. I think I just like the concept and want to see what's in my head get made.

 

[Bandit26]

I try to force myself to sit down and relax outside at least 10 minutes a day. Always going nonstop cant be good for our health. Reconnecting with nature and relaxing in my goal every spring. Some years it works and others not so much

 

[CountryQueen]

I purchased a plastic set that looks like wrought iron from the dollar store. I like to sit and watch the fireflies with a fruity drink while the kids play. It's my version of meditation!

 

[lemonzest]

I don't have a ton of space, but enough for a table and bench.

My problem is that there doesn't seem to be a way to keep anything clean and pretty enough to be enjoyable, even if I tidy them up perfectly the very next day they seem to be just covered in polled, spiderwebs, leaves, overnight moisture, etc. Does anyone have any tips for this other than scrubbing everything down every time you want to use it?

 

[Becky]

Does anyone have any tips for this other than scrubbing everything down every time you want to use it?

Our garden furniture is plastic wicker on an alumimium frame, and it doesn't seem to get dirty very quickly... or perhaps it does get dirty but you just can't see it?! Either way it requires very little care. My folks have got a beautiful teak table with matching chairs, but they can't leave the chairs outside and it all needs very regular oiling.

 

[Bandit26]

All my stuff is wrought iron so it only needs to be hosed off once in awhile and repainted every few years. I put the cushions away and only bring them out when we are going to use them

This year they need a coat of paint and I cant decide if they should stay black or maybe its time for a pop of color

 

[lemonzest]

Our garden furniture is plastic wicker on an alumimium frame, and it doesn't seem to get dirty very quickly... or perhaps it does get dirty but you just can't see it?! Either way it requires very little care. My folks have got a beautiful teak table with matching chairs, but they can't leave the chairs outside and it all needs very regular oiling.

Yeah, my brother has a nice wooden set (not sure of the specific wood) that looks gorgeous, but he seems to be oiling it all the time (or at least more often than seems fun to me). I have some wicker and some metal, the wicker just seems to get grubby and dusty... maybe we're too close to the beach is all.

@Bandit26 Maybe iron is what I need to look into. My metal furniture just gets shabby and rusty in places, presumably due to the salt air. I'm a bit skeptical of ironwork just because it looks so heavy, but hadn't thought of just painting it. Seems like the obvious solution in retrospect.

 

[Bandit26]

We inherited ours from my inlaws. Its heavy but very solid and I expect to have it for a long time. We've had cheaper metal and plastic sets but they just dont last