The best rattan furniture for your garden should be an extension of your home decor, not just for sunny days. Here are this year's top picks
What is the best rattan furniture to buy right now? You’ll need to know if you’re to make the most of an Indian summer. If the warm spell continues, you’ll want garden chairs on the patio, the barbecue going and a bottle of rosé chilling in an ice bucket. Rattan Cane Furniture
Telegraph gardening writer Cinead McTernan is a rattan enthusiast. “My modular corner sofa has absolutely transformed how much we use our outdoor space,” she says. “I went for synthetic polyethylene rattan because it’s so light and easy to look after – a quick blast with a pressure washer at the start of the season and you’re ready to go.”
Cinead bought her set from Alice’s Garden but there are great selections at La Redoute, John Lewis and Cox & Cox among others. Below, we’ve reviewed 15 of this year’s best, followed by a brief FAQ on how to spot high-quality rattan. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at our top five:
There’s an assumption that natural rattan is superior, Cinead says, but it’s not weatherproof and is only really suitable for sunny days: “Natural rattan does look more beautiful, but isn’t as hard wearing and fades in the sunlight.”
PE rattan (polyethylene - also known as synthetic rattan or polyrattan) can shrug off rain, snow and, as long as you give it an occasional light scrub with soapy water, mould and algae.
“The properties of PE are in between a plastic and a wax,” says Peter Bridgman, founder of Bridgman furniture store, which specialises in rattan furniture. “That gives it a very natural look and feel. It doesn’t look plasticky and it also has no toxins.” For more detail, read the FAQ at the end of this feature.
The experts were our guide to the quality and durability of rattan furniture, but we also took into consideration affordability, style and a range of uses from sun lounging to outdoor entertaining. All the furniture below is chosen from the respective retailers’ most popular products, at a range of budgets. (Remember to check out our guides to the best patio heaters and fire pits too. That way you can enjoy outdoor seating all year round.)
We like: it practically commands you to sit back and doze in the sun
Bucking the trend for polyethylene, La Redoute’s light and airy chair-and-footstool set is made of natural rope on a steel frame, with wooden legs. It’s not totally weatherproof, more of an indoor-outdoor piece to sit on patios in the summer and in the conservatory or a sunny room in winter.
Best value rattan furniture set, 9/10
We like: impressively stylish for the price, but not weatherproof
Mid-century modern design (think Frank Sinatra’s Palm Springs pad) is normally something you pay a Danish designer thousands of pounds for. Argos have managed it for under £500 with this bamboo-look table and chairs, although it’ll need storing inside since the steel legs and polyester cushions won’t be fully waterproof. It does need assembling, too — Argos say it requires two people. Argos also make some of the best solar garden lights to add twinkle to late nights al fresco.
We like: pretty much the Platonic ideal of an outdoor corner sofa
Rattan furniture doesn’t get much more high-end than OKA and this is the pick of their collection: a sofa big enough to seat you and a couple of friends for cocktails and inexpertly-barbecued sausages as the sun goes down. You’ll need a reasonably sized outdoor space but, if you’re an OKA customer, that’s unlikely to be a problem.
We like: the old-fashioned Lloyd Loom styling
Just right for balconies or small patios, this set of two chairs and a glass-topped table has the Royal Horticultural Society’s stamp of approval. It uses 3mm round synthetic fibres for a more classic look than flat-woven furniture and the cushions are showerproof, but would still benefit from being stored indoors.
We like: decent size, with a Pacific island vibe
Good old Dunelm usually know what will suit the average home and garden and they’ve hit the target with this dining set: big enough to serve a decent meal (with the all-important ice bucket in the middle) but small enough to fit in a sunny corner. We haven’t all got rolling acres, after all.
Best rattan hanging egg chair, 9/10
We like: the rope weave for a striking and durable form
Telegraph garden-living expert Sarah Rodrigues loves Cox & Cox: “Compared to some High Street brands, the prices are steep, but the timelessness of the pieces, combined with the attention to detail and construction, really does make them worth the investment. This year, I have my eye on the Hanging Egg chair [only available for pre-order, although this double version is available now]. I can just imagine being curled up in its cosy embrace with a book and an Aperol Spritz as the evenings get longer.”
We like: clever space-saving design, although more practical than pretty
Can you stack rattan furniture? It’s a common question for those worried about storage. The Range’s affordable set is designed with that in mind. They’ve somehow managed to fit four chairs, a table and four stools into a four-foot cube: the chair backs fold down and everything slots under the table, with a snug cover supplied for winter storage.
We like: cushions take just one hour to dry completely after rain
“Right now the trend is for expanding your living space out into the garden,” says Stuart Isbister, who sells these gorgeous Danish-designed Cane-Line sofas. “The outside becomes an extension of your interior design. Danish designers dominate the scene at the moment.” Although made of PE, the Cane-Line is hand-woven in Indonesia, the original home of rattan, and feels identical to the real thing while being completely weatherproof.
We like: a lot of bang for your buck, as long as you can assemble it yourself
If you’re ordering your garden furniture from Amazon, it’s probably because you want it right now. And who can blame you, when British sunshine comes and goes so quickly? Amazon’s top-selling rattan lounger takes several hours of fiddly assembly but works as a family-sized day bed and, when you separate the parts, a lounge set for garden entertaining. It’s hard to ask much more of furniture that comes through the post.
We like: the big, plush cushioning
Moon chairs, otherwise known as Papasan chairs are perfect for creating a cosy reading nook in the corner of a garden. The tilted angle and thick, plush cushions means total relaxation.
This FurnitureBox Moon Chair is made from handwoven wood and rattan over a metal frame. On top sits thick, dark grey cushioning which is 10.5cm thick and more than a metre wide. It curves to your body and even fits a spoilt dog or cat in the space next to you.
We like: the footstools detach, leaving two chairs
Brits no longer need to head abroad to catch a tan (as long as we time it right - early and late summer now seem to be the best bet for sun). Just head out to the garden and relax on a sun lounger (with sun cream, of course).
You’ll struggle to find a rattan garden furniture set more versatile than this Outsunny set from B&Q. It takes the shape of two sun loungers with a coffee table in the middle in its regular format, but the ends detach and can become separate stools for extra seating. The frame is made from metal wrapped in rattan, for a solid structure, and the covers are washable.
Best outdoor rattan bar set
We like: the hidden ice bucket centrepiece
Nothing says al fresco living like an outdoor bar and this set from Maze comes complete with an ice bucket in the middle of the table. It adds a bit of fun and luxury into entertaining, whether for a BBQ or evening drinks.
The set comes with one bar table, one ice bucket with a rattan lid and six bar chairs, all in the light wash Winchester rattan colouring. The bar stools all have foot rests for added comfort.
We like: the lining makes it weatherproof
Where do you store all the cushions for your rattan furniture? In your Bramblecrest Sandstone Rattan Storage Box, of course. Save yourself the eyesore of a cheap plasticky storage bin with this excellently built but lightweight storage holder which will fit right in with your table and chairs.
It’s fitted with a waterproof liner, meaning it can be left outside all year round and keep the cushions dry. The pistons on either side take the weight of the lid, making it easy to open and close.
Best weatherproof rattan garden furniture
We like: the simplicity and ability to add your own cushions
I love a rattan garden furniture set as much as anyone, but I can’t help but sometimes think they look a bit samey. My favourite thing about this set from Bridgman is that is provides the bare bones of a set. You can then either add Bridgman’s waterproof cushions for an additional £319 or find your own cushions with a splash of colour. Personally, I’ve got my eye on the M&S x Fired Earth outdoor cushions (£25).
Best space-saving rattan garden furniture set
We like: the space saving stacking design
If storing your rattan furniture in the colder months is an issue, you might like this Rattan Garden Vase Set from Rattan Direct which all stacks directly on top of each other when not in use. The chairs stack with the seats together and the table sits on top, creating a vase shape.
It also comes with a free outdoor cover, for an extra layer of protection. As if all of this wasn’t convenient enough, the chairs come pre-assembled.
Trick question. Rattan is the material, wicker is the method. Wicker (from the Old Norse word vika, “to bend”) is the way of forming pliable natural fibres like willow, reed, grass or bark into furniture. In Asia it’s often done with the climbing palm rattan. Rattan wicker was so extensively imported in the 19th and 20th centuries from southeast Asia that we ended up using the word generically for woven furniture.
Most is, but not all. Garden furniture entrepreneur Peter Bridgman says you should beware of cheaper furniture where the synthetic rattan strands have been nailed onto the frame: when the nails rust, they will become weak points.
Stuart Isbister, co-founder of outdoor furniture specialists The Worm That Turned, says there is another way to assess rattan furniture: look at the shape of the strands.
“Flat-woven products are lighter and cheaper, but they probably won’t last as long as round weave. Flat weave will often sag in when you press your finger against it, particularly if it’s hot, since plastic becomes malleable with heat. And in some cases, brittle after a year or so.”
Another major factor to consider when buying rattan is the cushions, Stuart says. “They can now be made from things like textilene, which is an outdoor furnishing fabric. They’re a lot softer to the touch and they dry really quickly, so you can leave sofas outside without having to bring the cushions in. Cushions can be a significant part of the cost of garden furniture but it’s worth investing in. At the end of the day that’s what you’re sitting on.”
It’s not advised, but that’s a general rule for all garden furniture rather than rattan specifically. The reason is that garden furniture tends to be heavy, which can weaken the grass beneath it and cause lasting damage. That’s not too mention that you might find your furniture actually sinking into the grass.
Mould and mildew from wet grass could also cause mould on the rattan, while moisture could cause rust on the metal frame.
Talking of grass, you may also want to read our guides to the best lawnmowers and best strimmers. We also have guides to the best gardening gloves and best secateurs.
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