The most common form of patio furniture is the suite of chairs and tables on which we eat barbecued food. These tend to be white plastic items which, by the very nature of their use, leads them to be almost constantly off white and in need of a good scrub with plenty of elbow grease.

The table normally comes equipped with a hole into which a parasol may be placed to keep the sun off the food and the eaters¹. This, however, is not very helpful on a windy day when your table and food can be lifted up and end up hurtling across the patio towards the neighbours' house.

The more time people spend on their patio, the more comfortable the furniture becomes. Sun loungers and cushions are added to give people a more comfortable time when roasting themselves under the sun.

An essential piece of patio furniture is, of course, the barbecue, which can range from a disposable tin foil, one-burn-only variety, through the wheeled-out, more solid, though temporary, construction, to the permanent and sturdy brick-built variety. Again, the more time spent cooking, the more permanent and sturdy the construction.