Garden Furniture Terms Explained
Garden furniture listings are written in trade shorthand, and half the words mean less than they seem to. We are Garden Centre Shopping, a family business selling rattan-effect furniture from our showroom at Sapcote Garden Centre in Leicestershire since 2001. That is 25 years of explaining these terms across the counter, and this page is the written version, updated for 2026: 40 terms, one plain-English definition each, then the buying context we would give you in person. Where we stock the thing being defined, we have linked the range.
B
Bistro set
A bistro set is a compact garden furniture set of two chairs and a small table, sized for a balcony, porch or small patio.
The name comes from French pavement cafes, and the footprint is the point: most bistro sets sit happily in a space around 1.5m square. Ours go further than the cafe original, with reclining and rocking versions in the rattan bistro sets range.
C
Cantilever parasol
A cantilever parasol is a garden umbrella held up by a side arm and offset base, so the canopy hangs over the seating with no centre pole.
It shades a sofa set without a pole in the middle of the conversation, but it needs a much heavier base and more storage room than an upright parasol. We do not currently stock parasols, so treat this entry as help with reading labels elsewhere.
Casual dining height
Casual dining height (also called lounge dining) describes tables around 65cm to 70cm tall, between a coffee table and a full 75cm dining table.
The idea is one set doing two jobs: low enough to lounge at, high enough to eat at. Our rattan sofa dining sets are built around this height, and several of our Burbage sets go one better with a height-adjustable table.
Companion seat
A companion seat is a two-person bench with a small table joined between the two chairs, so each of you gets a seat and a shared surface for the teapot.
You will also see it called a love seat or a jack-and-jill seat; all three names mean the same piece of furniture. They suit front porches and quiet corners where a full sofa set would be too much. See our rattan companion seats.
Corner sofa set
A corner sofa set is an L-shaped arrangement of outdoor sofa sections with a table, seating four to eight people along two sides of a patio.
Measure the two walls it will sit against before you fall for one; the footprint matters more than the seat count. Our rattan corner sofa sets run from a compact 3-seater to the 8-seater Burbage with a height-adjustable table.
Crank handle
A crank handle is the winding mechanism on a parasol pole that raises and lowers the canopy by turning rather than pushing.
Worth insisting on for any canopy above about 2.5m, because pushing a big canopy open by hand is a two-person job in any breeze. Check the handle is metal rather than moulded plastic; the handle usually gives up before the canopy does.
Cube set
A cube set is a dining set whose chairs, and often footstools too, tuck fully under and inside the table to form a neat cube when not in use.
It is the most space-efficient dining format when packed away, but sit on one first: chairs shaped to tuck away are usually more upright than standard dining chairs. We solve the same storage problem with stacking chairs instead; see our stackable garden furniture.
D
Day bed
A day bed is a flat or near-flat outdoor lounging piece sized for lying down, often with a canopy and usually big enough for two.
Compare it with a sun lounger, which is a single-person seat with an adjustable back. Day beds have serious footprints, often 2m in each direction, so mark the space out on the patio before you commit.
Dining set
A dining set is a garden table with matching chairs at full dining height, roughly 75cm, built for meals rather than lounging.
Count the seats you will use weekly, not the seats you need at one summer party; a 4-seater used daily beats an 8-seater used twice a year. Our rattan dining sets run in 4, 6 and 8-seater sizes, round and rectangular.
F
Firepit table
A firepit table is a garden table with a gas or solid-fuel burner set into the middle, combining a table surface with a heat source.
Check the burner output in kilowatts, where the gas bottle hides, and whether a cover comes included for the burner bowl. We do not currently stock them, so this is a label-reading note rather than a pitch.
Flat-pack (KD)
Flat-pack, also written KD or knock-down in the trade, describes furniture delivered in pieces for assembly at home.
KD simply means the joints are bolted rather than welded, and an honest listing will say how many bolts and how long to allow. Much of our range skips the job entirely; see ready assembled and no-tools assembly elsewhere in this glossary.
Flat weave
Flat weave is rattan-effect strand with a flat, ribbon-like profile, woven to give a smooth and even surface.
Flat weave shows its quality quickly: sight along the surface and look for gaps, waves or lifted strand ends. Half-round weave reads more like natural cane; neither is better, it is a preference of look.
Footprint
Footprint is the floor area a furniture set occupies, measured as its widest length by its widest depth.
It is the most useful number on any product page. Mark the footprint out on your patio with masking tape and leave 60cm of walking room around it; if that fails, size down. Tight on space? Start with our rattan balcony sets.
Frame gauge
Frame gauge is the wall thickness of the metal tube a furniture frame is made from, usually quoted in millimetres.
Thicker tube resists flexing, denting and wobble at the joints. It rarely appears on listings, which tells you something: if a retailer will not quote the gauge when asked, assume the thinnest tube that holds the shape.
Furniture cover
A furniture cover is a fitted sheet of tough outdoor fabric that goes over a whole set to keep off rain, leaves and bird mess.
Rattan-effect furniture does not need a cover to survive outside, but a cover turns the spring clean into one wipe. Look for straps or toggles that hold it down in wind. Ours are shaped to our sets; see furniture covers.
G
Glass-top table
A glass-top table has a sheet of toughened (tempered) safety glass as its surface, sitting on or set into the woven frame.
Glass wipes clean after rain and gives a level surface for plates, which a woven top never quite manages. Check the listing says toughened or tempered; ordinary glass has no place outdoors. Our tables use 5mm tempered glass.
H
Half-round weave
Half-round weave is rattan-effect strand with a rounded top and a flat underside, giving the surface a ridged, cane-like texture.
Of the synthetic profiles it is the closest look to natural rattan, and it hides minor dust and pollen better than flat weave. Choose it if you want the furniture to pass for natural cane at a glance.
Hanging egg chair
A hanging egg chair is an egg-shaped woven seat suspended from a freestanding frame or a ceiling fixing, sized for one person.
Check the weight capacity and the spread of the frame's feet; a well-rated chair on a narrow base can still tip on slabs. Ours come and go with the seasons; see what is in stock under garden chairs.
High-back chair
A high-back chair is a garden chair whose backrest extends above shoulder height, supporting the head and upper back.
The extra height matters most if kneeling and springing up are behind you: the tall back and firm arms give you something to push against when standing. We keep a dedicated range; see high-back garden chairs.
N
Natural rattan
Natural rattan is the stripped, steamed stem of a tropical climbing palm, woven into furniture; it is a real plant material, not a plastic.
Lovely indoors, wrong outdoors: rain swells it, sun dries and splits it, and a British winter finishes it. If a listing offers natural rattan for garden use, ask where you will store it from October to April. For outside, you want rattan-effect, defined below.
No-tools assembly
No-tools assembly means a set arrives in sections that connect by hand, with no bolts to drive and no Allen keys to lose.
Typically the woven sections arrive whole and you slot or clip them together in minutes. Most of our sets are no-tools or arrive fully built; the product page states which, and the delivery is included either way.
O
Olefin fabric
Olefin is a synthetic cushion fabric, made from polypropylene, with the colour locked into the fibre during manufacture rather than dyed on afterwards.
Because the colour runs all the way through, olefin holds its shade in sunlight far longer than dyed polyester and most stains lift with soapy water. Worth seeking out on any cushion that lives outside more than it lives in the shed.
P
PE rattan
PE rattan is woven furniture strand made from polyethylene, the tough, flexible plastic used for outdoor weave; HDPE (high-density polyethylene) is the better grade of it.
This is the material we mean when we say rattan-effect: our weave is UV-stabilised HDPE. Be wary of weave listed only as PVC or as unnamed plastic, which goes brittle in frost.
Polyrattan
Polyrattan is another trade name for synthetic rattan weave made from polyethylene; it is the same family of material as PE rattan and rattan-effect.
You will meet the word on European listings especially. Treat the names as interchangeable and judge the spec instead: strand thickness, UV stabilisation and what the frame underneath is made of.
Powder-coated aluminium
Powder-coated aluminium is aluminium tube finished with a baked-on layer of coloured polymer powder rather than wet paint.
The coating shrugs off chips and scratches better than paint, and the aluminium underneath cannot rust even where the coating gets damaged. It is the frame under every set we sell; see aluminium garden furniture.
R
Rattan-effect
Rattan-effect is furniture woven from synthetic polyethylene strands over a metal frame, giving the look of natural rattan without its weather problems.
It is the honest name for what most garden rattan actually is, and it is what we make and sell. We have written the full explanation at what is rattan-effect garden furniture, or go straight to the rattan garden furniture range.
Ready assembled
Ready assembled means the furniture arrives built: finished pieces come off the van ready to place, not boxes to open.
Worth a great deal if bending and kneeling are off the menu, or you simply have better ways to spend a Saturday. We keep a dedicated range; see ready assembled rattan sets.
Reclining ratchet
A reclining ratchet is the toothed mechanism in a chair's arms or back that lets the backrest lock at several angles between upright and laid back.
Count the positions (five is typical) and test the action: a good ratchet moves with one hand while you stay seated. All our recliners use ratchet backs; see reclining garden chairs.
Resin wicker
Resin wicker is the North American trade name for synthetic woven furniture strand; it is the same class of material as PE rattan and polyrattan.
You will meet it on imported listings and American buying guides. We say rattan, or rattan-effect, for the same thing. Whichever word is on the label, check the strand is polyethylene rather than PVC.
Rock-stop
A rock-stop is a small locking bracket on a rocking chair's runners that stops the rocking action and holds the chair still.
It turns one chair into two: locked for eating and for getting in and out safely, free for rocking with a cup of tea. Look for it on any rocking set you consider; ours have it. See rocking rattan chairs.
Rust
Rust is the flaky orange oxide that forms when iron or steel meets water and oxygen; only metals containing iron can rust.
This is why frame material is the first spec to check on outdoor furniture. Steel frames rust from the inside of the tube outwards, where you cannot see it coming. Aluminium contains no iron, which is why our frames cannot rust.
S
Shower-resistant cushions
Shower-resistant means a cushion's fabric will shed light rain long enough for you to bring it in, but is not made to be left out in weather.
Nearly all outdoor cushions are shower-resistant rather than fully weatherproof, whatever the listing implies, so look for covers that unzip and machine-wash. Over five summers, washable covers matter more than any coating.
Storage box
A storage box is a lidded outdoor chest for keeping cushions dry and clean while the furniture stands uncovered.
Buy one sized for every cushion you own at once, because they are always bulkier than you think, or use a dry corner of the shed. We sell fitted covers rather than boxes; see furniture covers.
Strand thickness
Strand thickness is the gauge of the individual woven strand in rattan-effect furniture, and the quickest single measure of weave quality.
Much of the market weaves at around 0.1mm; our sets are woven at 0.2mm, double that, which is most of the reason a set still looks right in year three. If a listing does not quote strand thickness, ask.
Sun lounger
A sun lounger is a single-person reclining bed with an adjustable backrest, made for lying in the sun rather than sitting.
Compare the day bed (bigger, flatter, usually for two) and the recliner (a chair that leans back, better for reading and dozing upright). If you nap more than you sunbathe, a reclining chair with a footstool is usually the better buy; see rattan recliners with footstools.
T
Tilt head
A tilt head is the hinge near the top of a parasol pole that lets the canopy angle towards a low sun instead of staying flat.
Useful in Britain, where the sun spends most of the day at an angle rather than overhead. Check the tilt locks firmly in place; a canopy that flops in a gust is worse than no canopy.
Tubular steel
Tubular steel is furniture frame made from rolled steel tube, usually painted or powder-coated, and cheaper than aluminium.
It is strong and keeps prices down, but steel rusts, and it starts inside the tube where no coating reaches. If a four-seat rattan set costs under about £300, the frame is usually the reason. Ask what the frame is made of before anything else.
U
Upright parasol
An upright parasol, or centre-pole parasol, is the traditional garden umbrella with a straight pole through the middle, standing in a base or a table hole.
Simpler, cheaper and steadier in wind than a cantilever, at the cost of a pole in the middle of the table. Buy the base heavier than the label suggests; around 20kg is a sensible minimum for a 2.7m canopy.
UV-stabilised
UV-stabilised means additives are mixed into a plastic during manufacture to stop sunlight breaking it down and bleaching the colour.
It is the difference between weave that fades slowly and evenly and weave that turns chalky and brittle within two summers. All our weave is UV-stabilised HDPE; see the all-weather garden furniture range.
W
Weight capacity
Weight capacity is the maximum load a chair or seat section is rated to carry, quoted per seat in kilograms.
Most well-made garden chairs rate between 110kg and 150kg. It matters most on hanging chairs and recliners, where the load moves around. If a listing does not state a figure, assume the importer never tested one.
Met a term that is not here? Call us on 01455 274748, ask at the showroom at Sapcote Garden Centre in Leicestershire (open 7 days), or start with our frequently asked questions. Every set we sell comes with Delivery Included, a 3-Year Guarantee and a 30-day money back guarantee, and the people answering the phone are the same ones who wrote this page.