Now the winter is over, and spring is around the corner there are many things that myself and my familyare looking forward to. The kids love to go to the beach, my husband enjoys a game of golf, which of course finishes with a few too many in the clubhouse afterwards. I myself am not keen on golf, and I’m not a great beach fan because I prefer to have peace and solitude. What I am really looking forward to is lounging in the garden with a good book and soaking up some much-needed rays.

This year I am particularly looking forward to the garden because at the end of last summer, I splashed out on some rattan furniture from Garden Village.Previously we had plastic chairs and tables and an old wooden sun lounger, which had most definitely seen better days, and had more than its fair share of use over the years.

While there were cheaper types of garden furniture in the shop at the time we purchased, I decided on rattan because is so durable and the perfect material for outdoors. It can get wet, stand in the sun all day and even snowed upon and it will not lose its good looks or deteriorate! In fact this year until December it was stored outside under some plastic covering until my husband made room for in his precious garage and it looked none the worse for wear for its adventure.

Of course rattan furniture comes in all styles from the sleek and modern, to the old traditional more rustic look. Whatever style you get, you can always make it more to your taste by buying soft furnishings. So if furniture is more rustic, then you could buy geometrical patterned cushions, for example. This is a great way to modernise it, and give it a more contemporary look.

Another type of furniture you can buy is of course metal garden furniture. However I was not too drawn to metal outdoor furniture because I fear it could rust, and also some of the pieces I looked at, which admittedly were at the lower end of most people’s budgets, were not finished well, and one could feel where the joints had been welded. My opinion is, if you want metal garden furniture it must be of high quality to last. For this quality, you will likely pay a fortune, unlike rattan – rattan furniture will last even if it is at the lower end of most people’s budgets.

I bought mine from a furniture store in Leeds, which is quite near to where I live so that I could try out the furniture. However, this particular shop also sells online, so even if you don’t live near Leeds or have a furniture shop local to you, buying online is an excellent option because delivery is free and items are usually delivered within 48 hours