Out in the open

With the mercury rising, city dwellers can make the most of their balcony or terrace garden by extending the home into the open. Jigna Padhiar offers some suggestions.

It’s time to extend the home to the balcony or terrace with patio furniture.. Jigna Padhiar advices

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With the mercury rising, city dwellers can make the most of their balcony or terrace garden by extending the home into the open. To enhance the experience, there’s a wide range of garden furniture to choose from.

Also known as patio furniture, the options include loungers, swings, table and chair sets, benches and parasols.

“It’s pleasant to have a cup of morning tea and breakfast in the balcony. And there’s no harm in showing off some good looking furniture,” says home maker

Sanjana Galhotra, who does the trick with a wooden swing shaded by a green parasol.

Right choice
Interior designer Manisha Kurup suggests that patio furniture should be chosen firstly for durability and utility. Also the right design to go with the space and the look.

So if at one end there is the durable wrought iron, at the other is the always-in fashion cane. Decorator Yogesh Talreja prefers cane. “Cane looks good with any kind of décor and offers a wider variety in design. It never goes out of fashion, and it is available everywhere.” Cane furniture needs a lot of care and maintenance, but it is also the cheapest.

The in thing is rustic finish wooden furniture. No two pieces of furniture look alike because they have been given a raw effect, each piece made of a different tree trunk or branch. Rustic furniture is meant for true outdoor enthusiasts as it’s rugged and natural.

You can let your imagination go wild, by using a raised concrete wall as a seating area or with chunks of a tree trunk and even huge rocks randomly paced.