What furniture to buy for your garden?

It can be overwhelming when trying to figure out what furniture to buy for your garden. With the arrival of spring, garden centres are packed with furniture of all types. Patio sets, benches, statues, fountains, barbecues, the list is endless. The process may seem daunting at first, but it doesn't have to be stressful or overwhelming. Here are simple tips to help you buy the right furniture and have fun at the same time.

1: Decide how you will use your garden. Do you want room to stretch out and sun tan or will you want to have lots of people over for a barbecue and eat outside? If you are planning to eat outside, make sure you have plenty of table space to hold all the food and dishes you need. If you eat inside, but bring your drinks outside after dinner, then small bistro tables will suit you just fine. If you are planning on having a lot of people over, you will need to ensure that you have adequate seating for everyone.

2: Measure the exact size of your garden or backyard before buying patio furniture, statues or fountains. Most garden centres are large and it is easy to lose the scale of your garden. What looks small at a garden centre could be too large for your garden. When you find furniture that you like, take measurements and then go back to your garden or backyard. Tape up cardboard boxes together so that they are roughly the same size as the furniture you wish to buy. Next, place the cardboard boxes in your yard. This will show you how much room the furniture will actually take up in your garden.

3: Buy at the end of the season to get the best sales. This is the best way to get the most out of your budget. It can also help to establish a good relationship with the staff at the garden centre because they can tell you when the sales will start and how much of a certain item is left in stock. When something goes on sale, it can be sold out fast, especially if there is limited stock.

4: Visit a lot of different garden centres to see all the different furniture ideas out there. Make it a fun outing of window shopping. Without the pressure to buy something, the trips won't be stressful or overwhelming. Plus, this will give you the time to compare prices and quality of the furniture available.

5: Keep the style consistent. When everything in your backyard has the same style, it will be in harmony, you will feel more relaxed and you will want to show it off to everyone. Plus, once you have established what your tastes are, you will be able to ignore the furniture that doesn't fit with that style, which will reduce your stress when buying new garden furniture.

6: Consider how much maintenance you are willing to do. Will you have to bring the cushions in every time it rains? If so, where will you put them? Can you leave the furniture outside during the winter or will you have to store it for the season? Do you have a place inside your house to store furniture for the winter? If an item requires a lot of maintenance and you're not prepared to do it, then it just won't last. No matter how much you like the look of the furniture in the store, don't buy it if you can't maintain it.

7: Know your budget. It's easy to get carried away and want to buy everything you see. But don't. Set a limit and stick to it. You can always add more furniture next year. Plus, if you really see something you like, let your friends and family know. They can always get together to buy it for you or give you a gift certificate to the store.

8: How comfortable is the furniture you are buying? If you plan to sit on a bench or chair in your backyard for hours, it had better be comfortable. Contoured furniture and cushions go a long way i