Lifestyle Guide To Moving To & Living in Singapore - Expat Living
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18th June 2022 by Expat Living 7 Min Read
Need some recommendations for outdoor furniture in Singapore? These happy customers explain how they picked key pieces for their outdoor living space, including rattan furniture sets and cool dining tables, and what they love about them. It’s always good to hear readers’ recommendations and their thoughts on the best outdoor furniture stores.
I was looking for outdoor furniture that would endure not only Singapore’s heavy downpours and scorching heat, but the potential wreckage that can happen with two young kids! For the same reason, it needed to be stain-resistant and easy to clean from food spillages, rough-and-tumble play and messy art sessions. Lastly, it had to look good!
As an avid follower of Expat Living Hong Kong back when I was living there, I naturally used the magazine here as my bible for everything when we moved in the summer of 2021. When the first outdoor furniture I purchased broke after only a few months of usage, I turned to your Readers’ Choice Awards 2022 in search of my outdoor furniture saviour! With Boulevard Outdoor Inspirations taking the gold award, I was confident I’d be in good hands.
I bought two Sabeto two-seater outdoor sofas, the Sabeto outdoor lounge chair and the Wicklow outdoor serving cart. I love the simplicity yet detailed design of the Sabeto range – the beautiful rattan wicker stands out as a statement.
Our condo is very lush and green, and the collection blends perfectly with the style and tone I wanted for my outdoor cabana space. And the cart is ideal for moving food, drinks, snacks, dolls, cars, crayons, you name it, between my cabana and home.
As cliché as it sounds, the entire shopping experience was seamless! From initial contact to customer service to after-sales support, I was looked after by Paul who is very knowledgeable and patient in answering queries. He even suggested a loan service for when I initially wanted to buy the Sabeto three seater and it was out of stock.
There are so many items at Boulevard that I have on my wishlist, including outdoor lantern lamps, outdoor hanging chairs and planter sets, to name a few!
43 Keppel Road, #W1-01/02/03 200 Turf Club Road, #01-18 The Grandstand (South) 80 Marine Parade Road, #04-K3 Parkway Parade 6781 3211 | boulevardoutdoorfurniture.com
As an architect, I had a specific vision for my outdoor area – I wanted it to be a natural extension of our living space. The furniture needed to fit well on the deck and withstand the weather conditions.
When we moved to Sentosa Cove, with a larger outdoor space, I knew where to go – I’ve been a reader of Expat Living for years, and Arete Culture was one of the first few places I checked out.
I ended up buying the New Costa Rica Lounge Set from them. It’s a three-seater sofa, with two armchairs and a coffee table. The design is simple – a sturdy wooden frame with a light grey fabric – which suits my minimalist taste. It’s made of teak, with beautiful weaving and comfortable cushions.
The Arete team gave me space to do some browsing first, and then I was welcomed by Cherry who listened to my expectations and answered my queries – in-store and also via WhatsApp as a follow up. The piece I chose wasn’t actually in the showroom at the time. And though I normally prefer to view before buying, I made an exception this once, picking it from their catalogue as the modern design and specifications spoke to me; Cherry shared photos and videos of the piece in the warehouse. From purchase to a next-day delivery, everything was very smooth. And when I reported an issue with the structural base creating a sound, we discussed a few solutions and it was replaced without fuss.
20 Depot Lane, #01-01/02 9640 3829 | areteculture.com
My requirements for outdoor furniture were pieces of outstanding design, with a solid build quality and exceptional durability, which is especially important in Singapore’s harsh tropical climate.
I googled “outdoor furniture” and ended up going down to a few furniture stores to have a look; I finally decided on OHMM because, despite it being pricier, the superior build quality, stunning design and fine workmanship stood out among the rest.
Happily I ended up buying a gorgeous eight-seater outdoor sofa set. I found the customer service experience to be extremely pleasant; there was ample parking available, the store layout was a breeze, and the client services manager was very knowledgeable, efficient and friendly.
I’m in the process of renovating my pool deck and I’m absolutely looking forward to acquiring another sofa set from OHMM, as well an outdoor dining set to add a dash of colour and totally freshen up the area.
#03-09 Riverside Point, 30 Merchant Road 6836 2747 | ohmm.sg
Sara Zhang & Olivier Biot, Chinese & French
We were looking for a new dining table for our outdoor area, which is like an extension of our living room. It’s a place where our family can spend time together, and also somewhere for guests to chill out.
The main criteria in our outdoor furniture search was quality, especially considering Singapore’s humid and unpredictable weather. Also, we live in Sentosa, and our balcony is directly under the sun from morning to around 2pm – so quality is really important. As far as styles go, we like classic, wooden and tropical styles.
We’d read about Gallery 278 in Expat Living, and we ended up buying a wooden round dining table from them, with four dining chairs. The table is 1.2 metres in diameter – the perfect size for our balcony. My husband and I can enjoy our meals there, or dinner with friends.
Our shopping experience at Gallery 278 was seamless. We visited without any clear idea in mind, and they really listened to our needs and tried to understand our family size, lifestyle and expectations. Using our floor plan as a starting point, they worked out the perfect size of the table for our space and then gave us recommendations. The delivery service was great too. Also, when the original chairs turned out to be a bit high for the table and for my height, the store provided a trimming service. Now the whole set is just perfect.
203A Henderson Road (Wing A), #11-01/02 6737 2322 | gallery278.com
I searched high and low for a stylish and durable outdoor furniture set, but many weren’t the right quality or they were incredibly expensive (above $10,000). I was getting desperate until I came across this piece at The Furniture Makers after many Google searches of random phrases such as “Bali outdoor furniture” and “outdoor summer sofa”! It wasn’t a top Google search, which is unfortunate because I think all their pieces are amazing.
I ended up purchasing the Furano Sofa and Furano Chairs. They scream elegant Bali vibes, and I love the unique multidimensional rattan look; I also love the muted grey and toned brown look – I paired this with a cement table from the store to tie it all together.
The Furniture Makers were great! Yu Ting is very responsive over WhatsApp and it was easy to schedule an appointment. She helped me find my way into the store (bit of a maze – I got lost in the loading dock!) and provided advice when I asked. The customer service was great; I love that they could tailor almost anything. Delivery on the day was seamless and they placed everything in the exact spot I requested.
All their pieces are gorgeous – if I had more space, I’d snap up everything! I particularly love all their rattan lounge chairs, including the Saturday Lounge Chair and Wally Rattan Lounge Chair.
1 Upper Aljunied Link, #05-01 Joo Seng Warehouse (by appointment only) 9234 4966 | thefurnituremakers.co
We were looking for a comfortable, nice-looking outdoor lounge set – a quality one that would also last in the rain. We happened to be walking around at Dempsey Hill, when we came past Woody Antique House.
The first thing we bought was actually an antique cabinet for keeping our china in. In our Singapore home we missed having in-house storage for things like kitchen tools and china, so that was main reason to buy. We looked also at other places but we fell in love with this specific cabinet. The colour, the design and the measurements were perfect for what we wanted.
We also bought the outdoor lounge set; since we didn’t bring ours from Holland, we started looking for one soon after arriving in Singapore. We liked this one at Woody Antique House; the price was quite expensive if you compare to prices back in Europe, but we bought it anyway as it we liked it the best out of those we’d seen for its design. The service at the store was perfect, the parking at Dempsey is easy – there’s not much more we can add; we’re happy with everything! We might return to Woody to look at side tables in future too.
13 Dempsey Road, #01-05 6475 7036 | woodyantique.com
Want more interior inspiration? See our Homes section!
This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe so you never miss a copy!
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Categories: Furniture Homes Tags: Boulevard Outdoor Inspirations Gallery 278 OHMM Outdoor Furniture the furniture makers Woody Antique House
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