garden furniture

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Classic garden furniture

Garden furniture , also known as leisure, balcony or terrace furniture , is furniture that is specially manufactured for permanent outdoor use. They are typically made from weatherproof materials.

History of garden furniture

Compared to the history of seating culture, the history of garden furniture is still very young. At the beginning of the 19th century, simple garden chairs and tables served as mobile seating for the garden area. Soon afterwards there were also the first folding garden chairs.

The success of garden furniture only began in the second half of the 20th century and with the burgeoning leisure society, which resulted from less work and more free time. The vacation trips to the south began - in the 1950s preferably to Italy - where one got to know the cheerful southern life, which was largely played out outside. In the 1960s, it was the porch swing in particular that could be found on every terrace and in every garden. Today there is a variety of materials and designs that make the transition from living space to garden a seamless success and continue living outside in summer.

Types of patio furniture

Seating

The seating furniture mainly includes stacking chairs, folding armchairs, wicker armchairs, garden benches, lounge furniture, Hollywood swings and stools. Basically, outdoor furniture must meet the DIN standard EN581 in terms of safety and mechanical requirements. In particular, folding armchairs or any kind of moving parts contain crushing and shear points that can pose a risk of injury.

Tables

The different types of tables are also subject to the EN581 standard for outdoor furniture, which regulates, among other things, the stability of this furniture. There is the right piece of furniture for every location and purpose. From the small hanging table on the balcony to round or square dining tables, extending tables to lounge or high tables.

Lie

The garden loungers include folding loungers, roller loungers, stacking loungers, relaxation loungers, deck chairs, rocking loungers and hammocks .

Lounge furniture

The main feature of lounge furniture is the low seat height, which allows you to linger in comfort, but is not suitable for dining in such seating groups. In order to find a transition from this low lounge furniture to similar but suitable seating groups that are also comfortable for dining, so-called dining lounge seating groups have recently been increasingly developed. Here too, models are offered that can be combined and expanded in a variety of ways.

Hollywood swing

Hollywood swings have been demonstrably manufactured for over a hundred years . This furniture owes its name to numerous Hollywood films in the 1950s. A fixed frame with a sun canopy provides support for seats of different widths, which swing freely in this frame.

Beach chairs

Beach chairs are particularly known in the North and Baltic seaside resorts and are manufactured as a two-seater as standard. The closed shape offers protection from wind and sand drift. In many cases, beach chairs have also found their way into the garden at home and convey a little holiday flair there.

Camping furniture

This furniture is characterized by its low weight and space-saving storage. The furniture, which is mostly made of light tubular steel or aluminum frames, is covered with waterproof and quick-drying textile cover materials. Today most of the garden furniture is imported from the Far East, this camping furniture is still often from southern European production.

Umbrellas

In the past, as is still common in Asian countries, sunshades were carried in the hand, today they are much larger and are held in special umbrella stands or in sleeves embedded in the ground. The stick umbrellas are most common, followed by the more modern traffic light umbrellas, which are located next to the seating area and can be swiveled over the table area. Like sun lotion, good sunshades have a sun protection coating that is also available in the known sun protection factors.

materials

Wood

Wood, especially teak , is an extremely popular material for making patio furniture. Teak is very weather-resistant and should be sanded and oiled regularly. This preserves the natural wood color. If no oil is used, the teak is given a silver-gray color. With wooden furniture, attention should be paid to the FSC label, which stands for sustainable cultivation.

plastic

Plastic furniture had its wedding in the early days of garden furniture development. Their lightness, robustness and easy maintenance together with the low price made this furniture very successful. After plastic furniture had become almost completely insignificant in the meantime, it is now experiencing a rebirth in a new production method. After polyrattan furniture has conquered the market, furniture can now be manufactured in injection molding machines using new processes that convey this look.

bamboo

Although extremely robust and durable, bamboo is only used as a niche product in garden furniture.

rattan

Wicker furniture made from natural rattan is complex to manufacture and is rarely used for commercial garden furniture production.

Poly rattan

Wicker furniture made of polyrattan is comparatively cheap to produce, as the plastic fibers come out of the machine as mass production. The fibers have the advantage that they are color-stable, long-lasting and easy to process. Polyrattan has become an integral part of garden furniture production and is one of the most important materials in this segment.

metal

In addition to galvanized or powder-coated steel, this includes aluminum and, as a high-quality addition, stainless steel. The inexpensive garden furniture is made of powder-coated tubular steel and the higher quality and more durable furniture made of aluminum frames with the advantage that they are permanently rust-free.

concrete

Although concrete is known and absolutely trendy in furniture construction, garden furniture made of concrete is still the absolute exception. Examples of commercial concrete furniture can be found with specialists on the Internet.

Fiberstone

Similar to concrete, fiberstone garden furniture is still quite new on the market. Fiberstone has the advantage that the furniture made from it is much lighter than from solid concrete, although the look is very similar. The material is frost-resistant, easy to care for and durable.

Fiber cement

Fiber cement is a mixture of cement, rock aggregates and bamboo fibers. These fibers significantly improve the behavior of the concrete when subjected to tensile loads. This addition also serves to increase impact and tensile strength (or load-bearing capacity) and formability. The walls of the fiber cement articles are generally made much thinner, which reduces the weight considerably, but they are heavy and can only be moved by 2 people. The look of massive, heavy furniture made of concrete is retained, as the existing cavities cannot be seen from the outside.

measure up

The fairs take place annually:

  • international:
    • In March, the garden furniture fair for Outdoor & Leisure in China will take place in Guangzhou / China as part of the China International Furniture Fair .
    • On the first weekend in September in Cologne: International trade fair for sporting goods, camping equipment and garden furniture spoga + gafa is aimed at the international specialist audience
  • national
    • A national garden furniture fair for trade visitors is the gardiente , which takes place in July in the Rhein-Main exhibition center and is primarily aimed at German specialist retailers and offers the opportunity to order directly in good time for the following year.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Gottfried Grohmann, Friedrich Gotthelf Baumgärtner: Ideas magazine for lovers of gardens, English plants and for owners of country estates . tape 2 . Baumgärtnersche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1806, p. 238 ( full text in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ Karl Friedrich Mohr: Memories from the Krystallpalast and from London. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 123, 1852, pp. 1-14.

Web links

Commons : Garden furniture  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • DIN EN 581-1 Outdoor furniture - Seating furniture and tables for camping, living and contract areas - Part 1: General safety requirements; German version EN 581-1: 2006
  • DIN EN 581-2 Outdoor furniture - Seating furniture and tables for camping, living and contracting - Part 2: Mechanical safety requirements and test methods for seating; German version EN 581-2: 2009
  • DIN EN 581-3 Outdoor furniture - Seating furniture and tables for camping, living and contract use - Part 3: Mechanical safety requirements and test methods for tables; German version EN 581-3: 2007