Soft landing in the garden

Shop Front: Whatever style of garden or patio chair you've got, you need a cushion to match. The obvious reason is comfort: whether timber or metal, these chairs often look better without a cushion - but it's not much fun to sit on a hard chair for very long.

What cushion to buy depends on your chair. It's really about size more than colour or anything else. Too big and you'll slide right off, too small and what's the point.

The variation in size is greater than you'd think, so take a rough measurement for a guide. In general, smaller chairs can only handle thin cushions but larger more robust chairs are made for thick cushions, similar to that pictured here from Meadows & Byrne.

Most cushions available are either striped or plain. Thankfully, floral or any other type of pattern hasn't really taken hold. Although not pictured here, some of then best stripes can be found in The Blue Door in Naas, all in simple Swedish taste. Pia Bang is also a good place for stripes with blues and whites, greys and whites, greens and white . . . you get the idea.

Plain cushions can look good if different colours of the same style are mixed on different chairs. White may be most impractical for a cushion but no other colour looks as good. We say what the heck. They can always be washed.