Living in the centre of London, like a lot of other city-dwellers, I don’t have a garden. But boy do I wish I had one – in my dreams I would have deck chairs in the summer, overgrowing herbaceous borders and a sunny patio for alfresco dinners. Instead I have a small balcony jam-packed with herbs and at the moment, spring blooms – it’s my little urban oasis – but there’s no where to sit. We have two large doors that open onto the balcony from the living room and when the sun is shining through it is almost like we’re not in a city at all and there’s a sprawling garden just beyond the soft linen curtains. I’m constantly trying to find ways to bring the outdoors in, from plants to translucent blinds and curtains, but when Out There Interiors offered me the chance to review their Finleigh chair, part of their vast collection of garden and conservatory furniture, I jumped at the chance.
Suitable for both inside and out, here the saucer-shaped Finleigh slots in perfectly next to an alcove near my balcony doors. With some wild, sculptural cow’s parsley and plants creeping in from outside, it makes the living room feel instantly spring-like, verging on summery (not quite yet, there’s still a nip in the air!). When I photographed this post it was the morning of the eclipse and I was getting so frustrated it was so dark and dingy – I had completely forgotten about the eclipse until the news came on on the radio. A fews hours later and the sun was streaming in, casting beautiful shadows through the close weave of the chair.
I love the chair’s curvy, retro style, something I’ve been seeing a lot in interiors recently, both rustic and modern (like this pastel-shaded Scandinavian home I featured the other week, that shows how to mix rattan with different textures, from sheepskin to exposed wooden floors – see the post here). Like in that home, the Finleigh is essentially a hand-weaved cone slotted into a slim black metal base, making it really light and airy. It’s comfortable too, the wide brim fits the shape of a reclining body and it’s even better with a couple of cushions…
A perfect addition to a compact, urban home in need of a bit of sunshine and fresh air, don’t you think? On that note, I think I’ll lean back with a good book and a cuppa, the smell of hyacinths drifting in from outside and dream of my perfect garden…
All images my own.
I’ve also created a Pinterest board to get you further inspired by rattan chairs and show how they can be incorporated into lots of different homes. They sit well in pairs in modern living rooms or paired with a quirky cushion in the corner of a bedroom…
This post was written in collaboration with Out There Interiors, as always views and opinions are my own.
