The number one piece of furniture for your garden, that everything else works around – the garden table. In the warmer months, I try to get my family working, living, playing and eating outside as much as possible. Soaking up that vitamin D, and, when it comes to the kids, I’m delighted when they can be dropping their crumbs, paintbrushes and anything else, outside rather than inside. Living is easier at the garden table!
With this being the centrepiece of your patio or outdoor space, it’s worthwhile investing a in a piece of furniture that you not only love, but that is constructed to last, and continue looking great throughout the seasons.
These are our current favourite high-end options, where quality and design have been given equal consideration.
Metal garden tables
The EOS Communal table is a sociable 2.5 meters long. We love the slender, modern style, designed by Matthew Hilton, that works particularly well in contemporary gardens and patios. The powder-coated aluminium is hard wearing, super low maintenance and likely to hold up against rust for many years. There’s also a handy hole for a parasol in the centre.
The Hay Pallisade garden table designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. I have this table myself, and 5 years in, with zero protection or TLC, the electro-galvanized powder coated steel is still in tip top condition. It’s the perfect size for our family of 4, and comfortably accommodates extra visitors on the ends.
This Linear steel table designed by Danish Thomas Bentzen for Muuto is slender but 220cm long, making it fantastic for seating many guests in limited space. And at a weighty 45kg, she’ll be staying put in all weathers, with a centre slit to help rainwater run-off.
Wooden garden tables
With modern styling, and made of smooth teak worthy of a yacht, there is nothing to fault about the Flexx outdoor dining table.
100% traditional in style, this table is understated, sturdy and fit for any home, from the most modest cottage to the grandest domain. The teak wood will look better every year as it ages to an elegant silver.
The Noa is the biggest garden table in our round up at 3.4 meters long, ideal for big families and sociable gatherings.
Combining powder coated aluminium with a teak table top, you’re getting the best of both worlds in this table designed by Arik Levy. This table is extendable, and combines the warmth and luxury of hardwood with zero maintenance metal.
The least expensive table in our round up, and perfectly suited to a smaller patio or sunny garden spot, the Malmo outdoor dining table is made from treated, pale toned acacia wood which is very well suited to a life outside.
Cane / rattan
Rattan is certainly having a little resurgence (featured in no less than the manor house garden in Amazon Prime’s hit Saltburn.) We loved this garden table for it’s tempered glass top providing an easy to clean surface. That said, the rattan frame is naturally weatherproof, giving you a style-led piece of furniture, worthy of the indoors, but suited to the outdoors.
Have we missed any? Are there any small, independent makers that we should feature? We'd love to hear!
