In the past, garden furniture has consisted of items such as a simple wooden bench, lightweight plastic patio furniture and sun loungers made of pretty much the same material. Brightly-coloured umbrellas and sun awnings were also the order of the day, but there have been many changes in garden furniture over the past two decades or so.

Today, gardeners are keeping pace with trends which are being followed by many keen gardeners and aficionados of style alike in modern garden furniture.

One of those trends is for understated, natural-looking shades which blend in seamlessly with the garden that they stand in. These colours include dark browns, charcoals and light browns, which are often the natural colour of the material used to make that furniture.

While some trends in garden furniture haven’t stood the test of time, other old favourites continue to figure prominently in the front and back yards of homes throughout the country such as wooden furniture.

Wooden benches, chairs and tables still sit proudly on the porches and patios of many gardens, and they don’t look at all out of place. One type of wood that is used for garden furniture is teak. Despite being expensive, it’s also durable, luxurious and, most importantly of all, low-maintenance.

Although some things never change, others evolve all the time. Rattan garden furniture is a relatively new phenomenon, and like teak, is preferred by many because of its weather-resistant qualities.

However, it’s the appearance of rattan which appeals to gardeners more than anything else. Reflecting modern tastes, the colours used in its design are usually shades of charcoal and brown, even though a few items stray from this formula.

Aside from chairs and garden sofas, rattan is increasingly being used to make tables and sun loungers, and they tend to look pretty good.

***This post is an association with Bridgman***