French bistro patio chairs

The sidewalk cafe look, built for the curb. 13 French bistro chairs here, every one with a woven faux rattan seat and back, most on aluminum frames with a bamboo look, a few on metal. Pick the weave pattern first. Then decide on arms, and on whether the chairs need to stack for a nightly breakdown.

Weave, frame and arms

Color pairs carry this group. Black with cream or with white, red with cream, green or brown with white, and a few in solid black. Frames come in natural, walnut, brown, cherry, black and dark walnut finishes. Pick the weave you want guests to see from across the street, then match the frame to your awning or your door.

Most side chairs here are 16 to 18 1/2 inches wide. An aluminum bamboo-look chair in black and cream is 18 1/8 inches across and weighs 7 pounds. Armchairs run wider, up to 22 inches, and that difference shows up fast on a narrow sidewalk. The bamboo look is a finish on aluminum, so most side chairs weigh 7 or 8 pounds, light work at breakdown.

Seen from the curb, a row in one weave reads like a sign for the place. Two weaves in alternating seats read as a pattern. Choose on purpose. Single chairs here run from about $114 to $171, with capacity listed at 400 or 500 pounds where the record gives it.

Stack it or carry it

Most of these chairs stack. A brown and white rattan chair at 18 1/2 inches stacks, and the red and cream model at 18 1/8 stacks up to 6 high. If the row goes in every night, filter for the stackers. If the chairs stay out under cover, choose purely by look.

Woven seats hold up best with a routine. Brush them off, rinse them after a dusty week, let them dry fully before stacking, and when the outdoor season shuts down, cover them or move them indoors.

Pairing the table

A Paris-style set packages a table with two chairs in one line, an easy start for a few two-tops along the window. For more tables, go to patio tables; a 24-inch square seats a pair over espresso, and two pushed together seat four.

Other woven seats live in rattan patio chairs, and the full chair range sits in patio chairs. Confirm the color pair on the listing before you commit forty chairs to one weave. Then put the row in an outdoor plan with the color pair noted on every line.