Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Outdoor Furniture from Rattan

If you have been searching for some new garden furniture then one style that will keep coming up is rattan. Rattan outdoor furniture is a type of furniture that is made from one of the hundreds of different types of palm tree in certain regions of Africa and Asia. While in most cases the rattan outdoor furniture that you buy won’t actually be made from these palm trees but is instead synthetic it is based on the style of this furniture.

The reason that most rattan furniture that you can buy for your garden is synthetic is that ordinary rattan furniture would not be able to survive being left outside in harsh weather for a long period of time. By being synthetic, rattan furniture can have the same style as that of the traditional rattan furniture while at the same time being practical for use in our gardens.

When you are buying rattan furniture you should make sure that it has been designed to be used outside. It will need to have been treated correctly if you are going to leave it outside otherwise it probably won’t last that long!

The reason that rattan outdoor furniture has become so popular is that it provides a different and unique look compared with other kinds of modern furniture. It is also generally easy to clean and will last a long time even in harsh weather conditions making it perfect for outdoor use.

One thing to look out for is that many people seem to use the terms rattan and wicker as if they mean the same thing. This is actually not correct – rattan is a type of material used when making furniture and wicker is a method of making furniture. That means that it is quite possible to have rattan wick furniture as they refer to different aspects of the furniture creation process. The reasons that this mistake is made is that often rattan furniture will be created by using the wicker method and hence they have started to mean the same thing.

When buying rattan outdoor furniture you need to think about the same things as buying any other kind of furniture. Mainly whether your budget can afford it and whether it is the right style for your garden. Rattan is a very versatile material meaning that will go well with most styles of garden but there are always exceptions so make sure it is the right choice for your garden before buying.