Corner and modular seating
An L-shaped corner set puts seating along the boundary instead of in the middle, and leaves the centre of the garden clear. Modular pieces let you break it up when you need the space for something else.
Outdoor living, hot tub hire and motorhome kit
Outdoor Living & Furniture
Seating, shade and shelter chosen for gardens where floor space is the scarce thing - plus a hot tub for the weekend, and kit for when the outdoors comes with you on the road.
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Garden furniture is the biggest thing you will put in a small garden, so it is the decision most worth getting right. The usual mistake is buying for the garden you wish you had - an eight-seat dining set in a space that seats four comfortably, and now nobody can walk past it.
Work out the route people walk first, then furnish what is left.
What actually works in a small garden
Bistro sets over dining sets
Two chairs and a small round table get used every day. A six-seat dining set gets used four times a summer and blocks the garden for the other 361 days.
Things that put away
Hammocks, folding chairs and hanging seats give you somewhere to sit without permanently occupying floor. In a small garden, storable beats comfortable-but-fixed.
Shade you can move
A cantilever parasol shades the seating without a leg in the middle of the table, and swings out of the way. Check the base weight before you buy - most failures are the base, not the parasol.
Gazebos and pergolas
A pergola defines an outdoor room and gives you somewhere to hang lighting. A pop-up gazebo does the same job for an afternoon and packs away afterwards - it is also what we put over our hire hot tubs to keep the rain off.
Garden rooms & summerhouses
The biggest upgrade available to a small garden: a dry, lockable, year-round space at the end of it. Also solves your storage problem in one move.
Buy the storage at the same time
Cushions are what ruins outdoor furniture. If there is nowhere dry to put them they live indoors, which means they do not come out, which means the furniture does not get used. Buy the box with the sofa, not a year later.
More from Alfresco Living
Take outdoor living further
Two things we do ourselves, for the garden at home and for life on the road.
Local hot tub hire
A hot tub in your garden for the weekend, delivered, set up and collected within 15 miles of Salfords, Surrey. Add a gazebo to keep the weather off. Weekend hire from £145.
See hot tub hire
Van & motorhome storage
Tough wall mounts, hooks and catches that give your kit a home in a van or motorhome, so it stays put on the road and is ready when you pitch up.
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