italian outdoor furniture from two workshops in cabiate

Italian outdoor furniture from Meroni & Colzani comes out of Cabiate, a small town in Brianza between Milan and Como. Two families of craftsmen share the name. Meroni made furniture for three generations, Colzani made the upholstery for the same three, and since the 1970s they have worked under one roof. The outdoor line is the newer half of their catalogue, and it comes from the same two benches.

Four materials carry most of the outdoor catalogue.

• Rope. Marettimo weaves ropes in bright colours over a tubular structure in a contrasting shade. Gargano, a pouf, wears braids of polypropylene outside and a water repellent lining inside.
• Iroko. A solid hardwood. It shows up in the legs of Lungotevere and in the base of the Trastevere outdoor table.
• Stone. Bolgheri sets a stone top on a painted metal base with curved legs. Linosa can carry a stone or wooden table top on the band beside the seat.
• Painted metal. Tube under the rope, frames under the tops.

The colour on the terrace comes from the rope. The rest of the palette stays quiet: wood, stone, painted metal.

An outdoor seat from Cabiate is a stack. At the top sits a cushion with outdoor padding and a cover you chose. Under it runs the braid, pulled over the tube by hand. The tube carries the load down to the foot, in iroko or painted metal. Each layer comes in grades, and each grade moves the price, which is why we quote the stack and not the shape.

Marettimo shows the stack best. The collection holds a sofa, an armchair and a chaise longue, drawn by Bonura Design with soft, sinuous lines. You sit in the rope, and the cushion softens it. See the Marettimo family.

The outdoor line counts thirteen families. Some hold one piece, like the Otranto pouf, which the factory made for conversation islands on a terrace. Lungotevere holds the most: a chair, an armchair, a chaise longue and a sofa for outside, beside its indoor pieces. The table below groups them by what they hold.

Three families sit outside the table. Giudecca, drawn by Maurizio Di Mauro, has an outdoor chair whose legs run up into the backrest and trace a stylized S. Grantorino adds an outdoor pouf that you can dress in the colour and material you choose. Axum brings round coffee tables that stack over one another.

Meroni & Colzani builds after the order. The workshop keeps no finished stock, so it needs three answers before it can quote: which pieces, which cover and finish, and where the furniture goes. The lead time comes from the workshop once it has your specification, and the freight and import costs depend on your city.

Tell us about the terrace with the form below. Send the families you like, a rough plan or a photograph, and your city. We reply with the covers and finishes open on those pieces, the lead time the workshop gives, and a price for each piece.