Rachel Hayes takes a look at some of the most luxurious alfresco living furniture options this season
The British summer is well under way and with glorious sunny days and lighter, longer evenings, what better way to dine than alfresco – an Italian term meaning ‘in the open air’ – in the comfort of your own back garden.
Before you can plan those relaxing summer barbeques with succulent burgers and chilled wine, it’s important that your garden is ready to host a social scene. There is a range of stylish outdoor furniture to inspire you from barbeques and dining furniture to bespoke living spaces, to ensure that your garden is summer ready.
Crown Pavilions, creators of the world’s finest garden rooms and gazebos, offer an extensive collection of hand crafted garden pieces using fully certified premium quality grade timber. Each pavilion is hand crafted by an exceptional skilled team of craftsmen and can be customised with a variety of optional extras. One of my favourites is the Hampton Luxury Wooden Gazebo – Crown’s largest pavilion, with space for a grand table and sofa, seating up to 20 people. It also has spotlights for evening use. Crown Pavilions also offer a bespoke service which allows you to create your ultimate garden building – from a luxury garden room or summerhouse to a practical garden office.
Another favourite, the ‘Hi Rise Garden’ from Alexandra Rose, is utterly unique. It is an all-inclusive outdoor experience compact in multi layered space taking garden furniture to a whole new level, literally. The main frame is constructed using powder coated aluminium tubes and hand woven in synthetic rattan in a basket weave pattern and a trellis pattern for the balustrades above the plan
ters. A lo-rise option is also available and both the lo and hi rise come with an eight seated dining table.
If you’re looking to create an extra special garden, what better way than to adopt a water fountain?After the Antique specialises in the design and supply of reproduction antique stone and marble fireplaces, fountains, benches and other luxury features for the home and garden.The Double Tier Acanthus Leaf Fountain with Pineapple Detail measures 2620mm high by 4260mm diameter and is also available to order as custom sizes through a bespoke service.
To enjoy all of your tasty barbeque food, you’ll of course need the perfect outdoor dining table. Skagerak, a family run company with historical roots in Scandinavian design and proud furniture traditions, offer the most beautiful outdoor furniture from tables and chairs to parasols and accessories. The Ballare Table is made from Teak, grown in South East Asia, a heavy, hard and sturdy type of wood. Its high content of natural impregnating oils makes teak highly resistant to rot and fungus, making it the ideal material for outdoor
use. The Ballare also extends, for those with a larger group of family and friends.
Celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2015, White Stores is the UK’s largest on-line garden furniture store. It’s the ideal place to look for all of your garden furniture needs. White Stores offers a wide range of fantastic barbeques from charcoal and gas to built-in, portable and barbeque accessories. The BeefEater Signature SL4000S Deluxe Series – Six Burner Stainless Steel Gas BBQ is the ultimate deluxe barbeque with a strong cast iron burner and chromed warming rack. Two thirds of the surface area is a grill and the other third is a griddle to cook smaller items.The SL4000 has a stainless steel finish meaning yo
u don’t have to worry about rust appearing over time. The window on the BBQ hood allows you to watch the food being cooked and the stainless steel three drawers holds any cooking tools and crockery. You can easily move the barbeque around with the heavy duty lockable castors and wheels.
With these wonderful ideas and inspiration you can create your dream garden with ease.
- Crown Hampton Pavilion, from £24,000, www.crownpavilions.com
- Bespoke Garden Room, from £2,000 per m2, www.crownpavilions.com
- Hi Rise Garden, £8,450, www.alexander-rose.co.uk
- Double Tier Acanthus Leaf Fountain with Pineapple Detail, £9,625, www.aftertheantique.com
- Ballare Table, £2,399, www.skagerak.dk
- BeefEater Signature SL4000S Deluxe Series – Six Burner Stainless Steel Gas BBQ, £4049.10, www.whitestores.co.uk
