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IT’S GOING TO BE MEDITERRANEAN

The gloves are off – the winter ones – and the garden trend for 2008 has been settled: it’s going to Mediterranean-style.

That’s the prediction of Manchester-based Housing Units as its design teams return from the world’s furniture fairs, and the store prepares to put out its 2008 summer garden designs.

“It’s largely down to last year’s bad summer – many more people hit the Mediterranean than usual, and they came back with great memories and are now trying to re-create a more Mediterranean feel in their garden,” said Nick Fox, director of Housing Units.

“It’s going to be all about alfresco dining this year – the garden has become more and more of an outside living space where the family can spend quality time together during the summer months, and with the economy as uncertain as it is, it’s likely many families will be thinking patio doors rather than foreign shores.

“As a result, the signs are that they’re thinking about a summer home investment rather than summer holiday, and spending more time and money improving the garden.

“And as gardens are being used more frequently for entertaining, homeowners are spending significantly more money on products for the garden. More and more higher-quality barbecues and garden furniture are being bought in recent years.

“White plastic furniture is out, as are single-summer lifespan barbecues. The latest innovation is wicker lookalike – very summery, but very tough and resilient indeed.

“It is actually high-quality twisted resin weave and therefore requires no treatment or maintenance. It looks like wicker, but it’s not. It’s resistant to sun and rain so you can leave out all year. Each piece of furniture has been hand woven over an aluminium frame.

“The real beauty of resin weave is that it offers the opportunity to combine the elegant lines of indoor furniture with the benefits of hard-wearing and low-maintenance outdoor materials.

“The sofa range looks particularly good in a conservatory - or on a patio.

“Overall, quality furniture is carefully constructed and crafted, but you’ll certainly notice how much it lacks in some areas: there will be no splinters, no rough drill holes, no flimsy hinges or mechanisms, and no uncomfortable afternoons through poor design.

“People are readying themselves for July, August and September – but they’re also thinking a littler further ahead as well: with the advent of the chimenea the right sort of autumn or even winter day can see garden furniture put to good use.”