Three Mistakes to Avoid When Purchasing Rattan Garden Furniture

In modern society, synthetic rattan garden furniture is virtually omnipresent in patios and back gardens the world over. The versatility, durability, visual appeal and relatively easy maintenance of this material make it a natural first choice for home-owners looking to spruce up the look of their outdoor area.Still, as popular as rattan garden furniture is, there are still a number of common doubts and mistakes customers buying this type of item tend to incur in, and which can significantly hinder their furniture-owning experience and the mileage they get out of their rattan sets. Detailed in the lines below are three common mistakes the average home-owner should be careful to avoid when shopping for rattan garden furniture for their back yard.Check the SizePerhaps the most common oversight home-owners make when looking at rattan garden furniture sets is to neglect checking the dimensions of the pieces they are interested in actually match the space available in their garden. Most prospective buyers either do not check these at all, or at best guesstimate the approximate measures of both the furniture and their back yard. As a result, once the set has been purchased and delivered to their home, they often tend to find it is too big for their outdoor area, either not fitting at all or, worse, cluttering up the limited space available.

As such, when planning to buy a rattan garden furniture set, it is recommendable that garden-owners equip themselves with at least a few of the necessary measurements. The approximate area of the space the furniture is meant to go into, for example, can be a useful figure to have at hand, as can the overall area of the outdoor space. Having these figures available when first setting out to buy rattan garden furniture can ensure that the pieces bought are of the adequate size to fit into the space available without cluttering it.Ensure It Is Weather-ResistantOne of the main selling points of synthetic rattan garden furniture is its weather protection. Most synthetic rattan pieces are covered with a special coating to ensure resistance against the elements, so the furniture may be left outside year-round without rotting or suffering damage. Natural rattan pieces, however, have no such protection, and will rather easily be damaged if left out in the elements.As such, garden-owners living in regions prone to extreme weather - whether it be heavy rain or extreme heat - should be careful to ensure their new garden furniture is weather-proof, and suitable for being left outdoors year-round, at the risk of experiencing disappointment down the line.Function Trumps FormGoing with form over function is another common mistake many home-owners make when shopping for rattan garden furniture. Visual appeal is obviously a big part of why most garden-owners seek out these pieces to begin with, but it is important not to lose sight of what the furniture will actually be used for, and perhaps more importantly, how it will be used.

This is to say that, for example, overstuffing the rattan set with accessories such as cushions might make for a very appealing visual effect, but it will also imply having to clean and store away all of these smaller parts, which might represent a significant amount of extra work for the home-owner at the end of the season. It is, therefore, better to go with simpler, more streamlined configurations, prioritising function rather than form.It is important to remember that making mistakes such as these in no way means home-owners are incompetent or unintelligent. More often than not, they are simply uninformed, which is why an article like this can prove useful to them ahead of shopping for a rattan garden furniture set!