Thursday, May 31

I thought it would be easy!

I promise that this blog isn't going to be all about the summerhouse but I thought I'd share part two of the summerhouse story with you.

Now that the long anticipated summerhouse has arrived we didn't want to waste any time in starting to use it, so yesterday we set off to find some furniture. We were convinced that a couple of garden centres fairly near to us had lots of conservatory type furniture and so didn't anticipate a problem. How wrong could we be! Why is it that when you are actually looking for something all the masses of previously seen suitable items disappear?

First stop had just a few pieces of furniture pushed together in a corner so it was quickly on to garden centre number two! More choice here but most of the chairs were too large - OK for a full sized conservatory but not suited to our needs. We didn't want the space to be filled completely by a couple of chairs and a table! There was just one set that we liked. We sat in the chairs and they were comfortable but I had expected to have been presented with a choice and didn't want just to buy the first thing that we saw.

Third stop was the showroom of Burdekins which is only about a mile or so from home. This company specialises in cane, wicker and rattan furniture but didn't have anything that would fit the bill.

In the end we decided to go back to garden centre number two and have another look at and sit in, and ponder the merits of the set that we saw there and liked. We reasoned that it would most likely have been sold when we returned so were pleased to see that the two chairs and table were sitting exactly where we had left them. So we looked at, sat in, and pondered and decided to buy.

We found an assistant who informed us that the set wasn't in stock but that he would see whether he could order one for us. However on his return we were told that there were none to be had and this was a discontinued line but that we could have a small discount if we wanted to take the set on show. We did!

On arrival home it was beginning to rain so we quickly installed the furniture in the summerhouse, made coffee and grabbed a paperback and a magazine, Result!
It was just as we had imagined, sitting overlooking the pond sipping coffee as we watched the fish and a visiting frog swimming around, the rain creating circular ripples on the surface of the water. Then a relaxing read accompanied by the song of a blackbird.

Now we need some greenery in there. Something that will like being in a summerhouse during the summer months as well as during winter when there will be no heating. That back wall looks a bit plain doesn't it? Now what shall we do about that and ... oh yes ... we really need a doormat!

PS: Don't worry that pond filter won't be a permanent feature - well not there anyway!
PPS: Today is the closing day for entering the Fruit Seeds book competition - click here for a last minute entry

22 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous summer house! So picture perfect and the colour is fab (exactly what I would choose). You won't need to go on holiday now as you can enjoy your own instant holiday feel in your back garden! The furniture your selected is really nice. Hope we get lots of nice weather this summer to enjoy the great outdoors!

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    1. Now I need to paint the wooden garden furniture to match Kelli

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  2. It's always the same, you see lots of things when you're not in the market for them, but they mysteriously disappear when you're ready to buy. I think the set you bought is lovely though, just the right size so that you still have room in there, and I know that design is really comfortable. Rain here today, but it won't bother you now, you can still sit out without the fear of being soaked.

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    1. But we would have to get to the summerhouse in the rain Jo so I'm washing instead! Well I was until we had a powercut - fortumately the electricity is back on again.

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  3. Looks really lovely - I would like something like that

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    1. Our plans started simple and sort of escalated CW Funny that - they always do!

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  4. Looks lovely.
    I am behind with blog reading at the moment.

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    1. I guess that you have other things to think about Diana!

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  5. Maybe you should have a tall pedestal at the back of the summerhouse, holding a fern or a "Swiss Cheese" plant or something?
    I agree with you about the excessive size of most of the garden furniture currently in vogue. The designers must imagine that we all have huge mansions.

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  6. Oh Sue, it's so pretty and romantic! I just love it. You will enjoy so many hours there, relaxing and listening to the sounds of your pond. I think the wicker set you settled on fits the bill perfectly. All of the garden / outdoor furniture to be found in stores here are massive, overstuffed pieces. I like yours a lot. Cheers, Jenni

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    1. Certainly not overstuffed, Jenni but even martyn at 6' is comfortable in the chairs.

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  7. What about a wood burner? Not just a nice touch but it's extend the usability in the autumn.

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    1. It may ne a bit small for that Mr F. but it would be a nice idea.

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    2. How about a little fire bowl/chimera {sp?} type thingy that you could pick up and put on the slabs in front of the doors?

      Furniture looks brilliant, just the right size/scale.

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    3. Another nice idea, BW but there is very little space in front of the doors as the pond is just a flags width away.

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  8. Love it, love it, love it.

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  9. AnonymousJune 01, 2012

    It looks lovely, another thing to add to our wish list!

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    1. The list gets ever longer doesn't it Damo - now we need to move on to the next thing!

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  10. Beautiful Summer house. We love ours as well but haven't had much use of it yet!!

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    1. We've had a few coffees and a couple of lunches out there, Lorraine - sheltering form the sun (or was that rain?)

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