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Patio Envy

As we coax ourselves out of winter hibernation, longer days are inspiring us to whip the garden into shape so we’re all set for outdoor living as the temperature rises

Hello Irish summertime! The clocks have sprung forward, Mr Whippy ice cream van jingles are ahead, and the sun is shining…well, not really, but we’re a nation of optimists when it comes to the weather.

Just one day of sunshine and we’re hosing down the garden furniture for a blast of al fresco wining and dining before we’re back to our rain default setting.

The one reliable thing is our ingenuity at making the most of these brief moments while hanging onto the notion that we might get a heatwave this year.

While we dream of breezes cooling us down on blistering days, the garden becoming lush with greenery and blossoms, there’s the perfect garden chair with your name on it.

If you are lucky enough to have a sizable patio, you can go for the “bringing the indoors outdoors” look, but keeping everything portable for when morning rays give way to afternoon deluges and a quick grab of cushions off seats.

Not everyone will have a garden but if you have, now is the time to start getting it into shape so you’re ready to go when the heat hits.

Once you’re cleaned up the patio, brought discipline to the lawn and turned over borders before the weeds make their presence felt, it’s time to inspect your garden furniture. If it’s seen better days, it might be time to hit the shops.

There’s little difference in planning the patio for living and dining than there is designing for the same functions indoors, although there is more latitude in the garden because of the temporary nature of seasonal outdoor living, meaning mistakes won’t have the same impact, so you can be more relaxed about it, especially if outdoor design is new to you.

If your patio is about sitting back, legs outstretched, entertaining with weekend barbecues, or just having your morning coffee outside before heading to work, you’re looking at lounge chairs, sofas, chaise longues, a coffee table and a dining set.

But before getting carried away filling your virtual shopping basket, make a list of what you know you’ll need and consider all of your wish-list items. Can you fit those things into the space available and will the budget stretch?

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New England Garden Corner Sofa Set

Perfect Picks - what’s right for your space and budget

If you have your heart set on something like the newly launched Brendan Courtney Home & Garden x EZ Living Interiors collection, take a look at our Humm financing and spread the repayments in a wallet-friendly way.

The collection’s outdoor sofa set has a three-seater, two arm chairs and a coffee table combination with a matching dining set including a table and six chairs with comfort upholstery and armrests for relaxed lingering at the table.

It combines contemporary Italian design influences with classic comfort, shape-shifting its silhouette by mixing materials in a linear and curved design. A backdrop of neutral upholstery gives a blank canvas for your styling skills with cushion arrangements and much-needed throws for when the sun goes down but you’re not quite ready to move back indoors.

An option for a less ample garden is the Viva Conversation set, a two-seater sofa with matching armchairs and a coffee table duo, finished in green to blend seamlessly with garden foliage.

Once the surge of a late September Indian summer has passed, both the Tripoli and Viva don’t have to be stowed in the garden shed. Let them earn their keep over winter in a sunroom dining or living space.

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Brendan Courtney Home & Garden Outdoor Sofa Set

Colour and Texture - what to look out for this season

Scanning an eye over new cushion designs will always give a sense of what colours and patterns are trending.

If your mood is lightened by sunny yellow or summery blue, these are perennial favourites for the warmer seasons, but this year there’s a shift to muted colour combinations and patterns, especially geometrics, abstracts, broad and narrow stripes and biophilic influences.

Showerproof cushions are ideal if you want to leave them outside, but also consider choosing cushions for indoors that you can bring outside for a few hours relaxation. Not only will you get better use from your purchases, you won’t have the dilemma of where to store outdoor cushions when summer is over.

The Ashton blue cushion and blue Carter have abstract patterns which make them a low-maintenance option for outdoors where they’re more likely to get grubby. The bold ochre and white stripe is one to brighten up your day when the sun isn’t obliging, and for something to blend seamlessly into nature, there’s the ochre and pine mohair.

Consider an outdoor rug to pull furniture together and provide comfort underfoot to counter the rigidity of patio flagstones. A weatherproof one with UV resistant properties, and easy to clean with a hose down, is the olive Al Fresco Lanark to add extra comfort, demarcate your seating area and it won’t look out of place in a sunroom or playroom through winter.

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