Outdoor furniture sets

A set saves you matching one table to four chairs by hand. This group holds 39 pieces, all listed for patio use: aluminum, bamboo-look and steel frames, teak-look seats, and tops in square, rectangular and round. Five are sold as true sets. Check seat height before anything else, because tall stools and low chairs share the page.

Five sets, and the pieces around them

Only five of the 39 products are listed as sets. The rest are single chairs, stools and tables that sit in the same group, so read each line for what it includes before you count seats.

Where a frame is listed, it splits three ways: aluminum on eight, bamboo-look aluminum on five, steel on four. Seats are plastic teak on 11, faux rattan on five and metal on one. Tops lean aluminum (16), synthetic teak (seven) and resin (two). A dining table set sits in the grid at $292.

Match the seat to the table

Four pieces have seats 17 3/4 inches off the floor, and two more list 17 1/2 or 18. Those are dining-height chairs. Five list seats at 28 1/4 or 29 inches, and those belong at bar-height tables, about 40 to 42 inches tall. Pull a 29-inch seat up to a 30-inch table and a guest ends up wedged against the edge with nowhere to put a knee.

Tops are mostly square (19) and rectangular (18), with four round. Two guests who want plate room need a top 30 inches on a side. Four diners fit on 36 inches square, or on a round top 42 inches across.

Stacking, arms and the end of the season

Fifteen pieces stack and five have arms. When the patio goes to bed in the fall, stackable chairs take less of the storeroom floor, and armchairs take more. Count both before you pick a storage corner.

Everything here is listed for patio use, and 25 pieces are listed for indoor use too. Patio-listed pieces still go to bed clean and dry: a hose, an afternoon to drain, a cover over the top. A table that went in wet and stayed wet is a spring problem.

Orders start at eight pieces, tables and chairs counted together, whatever the mix. A set's contents are not always obvious from the grid, so talk to a specialist before you count one toward that eight.

Need more chairs than tables? Patio chairs is the larger shelf, and patio tables pairs with it. Put your counts into patio plans and see how many tables the terrace really takes.