Outdoor things to put on a spring housewarming wishlist

We moved in the last week of March. The terrace was concrete, the flower bed was mud, and by the second sunny Saturday we were eating lunch on a picnic blanket because we owned no chairs. If you are moving in spring, the outside of the house needs the list at least as much as the inside, and it is the part guests never think to buy for.

Furniture that can stay out in the rain

Start with a table and chairs that can live outside. Teak, powder-coated aluminium or all-weather rattan will still look fine in five years. The cheap folding set from the supermarket will not see out the first winter. Go for a table you can eat breakfast at and a dinner for six at, because you will do both by June.

Add a second kind of seat. A pair of deck chairs, a low corner sofa, or a hanging egg chair if you have the frame for it. Different seats make a small garden feel like it has more than one room. Cushions should come off and go in the washing machine, in a fabric that does not fade by August. A storage bench earns its place too: somewhere to sit, and somewhere to shove the cushions when the sky goes dark.

Tools and pots for the first planting season

A spring move lands right in planting time, so garden kit belongs on the list. The minimum is a decent spade, a pair of Felco secateurs, a hose with an adjustable nozzle and a proper metal watering can. A fork and a trowel if you have a bed to dig.

If you have not decided what the garden will be yet, pots are the flexible choice. Three or four large planters, a window box for the kitchen, a tiered stand for the corner that gets sun. A set of herbs for the terrace pays for itself in a summer of not buying basil. If the garden is big enough, a raised bed kit is worth asking for. It is kinder to your back than the ground and you control the soil, which matters when you do not yet know what the previous owners buried.

Cooking outside

The barbecue is the item most new owners put at the top, and rightly. Gas if you want to cook on a Tuesday, charcoal if you want it to taste of something. Then the bits nobody buys until they need them: a cover, long tongs, a meat thermometer, a clip-on light for cooking after nine.

A fire pit stretches the season into April evenings and gives guests a reason to stay outside after dinner. Wood or gas both work; add a few outdoor cushions and two thick blankets. A weatherproof Bluetooth speaker finishes the setup for the first proper garden party.

Lights, ideally without an electrician

Solar path lights along the way to the shed need no wiring. A string of festoon bulbs across the terrace or through the one tree does more for the atmosphere than anything else on this list, for about 40 euros. Lanterns for the table, citronella candles for the mosquitoes, a couple of LED wall lights by the door.

Put solar at the top if you are renting or have not settled the layout. Nothing to drill, nothing to rewire when you change your mind in July.

Shade, and somewhere to keep it all dry

A big parasol or a pergola handles the sunny days. An outdoor rug, one actually made for outside, marks out the eating area and shrugs off rain. Then a deck box, a bench with a lid, or a weatherproof cabinet, so the cushions, the tools and the children's toys have a home between uses instead of living in the hallway.

Finish with outdoor cushions, a throw or two that can get damp, and a fan for the hot week that always arrives before summer officially does.

Put all of this in writing before the party, so guests can buy the secateurs and the festoon lights instead of a fourth candle. Create a wishlist, add the outdoor items first, and send the link with the invitation.