rattan dining chairs on the terrace

Rattan dining chairs sit well around an outdoor table. The cane warms up a stone terrace, it ages to a deeper tone, and it feels good against bare arms in July. Rattan also has limits. Rain soaks it and hot dry air cracks it, so the chairs last longest under a roof.

Natural cane and its limits

Rattan comes from a climbing palm. Makers split and steam the cane, then wrap and weave it over a frame. The strand holds moisture, so it swells when it stays wet and shrinks when it dries out. A few cycles do no harm. A season of standing in the rain loosens the weave at the joints.

Give rattan dining chairs a covered porch, a loggia or a pergola with a solid roof. Leave some air around them so the cane dries after a humid night. Clean them with a damp cloth and mild soap, and keep the hose and the pressure washer away.

Kettal Eolias: rattan on aluminum

Antonio Citterio drew Kettal Eolias to belong inside and outside the house, and he named the pieces after Aeolian islands. The Salina chairs put rattan on an aluminum frame. Aluminum keeps the chair light and free of rust, and the rattan brings the warmth of a plant fiber. There is a Salina garden chair, an armchair with armrests and a lower easy chair for reading. See the Eolias collection.

The same group gives you two pieces for open weather. Panarea is an all aluminum chair that stacks, handy when the party grows past the rattan chairs you own. Lipari is a folding teak table that takes a pair of Salina chairs on a small porch.

Kettal Passage: pick the seat

Ronan Bouroullec designed Kettal Passage in 2024 around a soft aluminum frame and a backrest cut from one aluminum extrusion. The seat is your choice: rope, rattan, woven fabric, textilene, plywood or padding. Rattan comes on the chair with armrests. See the Passage collection.

That choice helps on a mixed terrace. Put rattan seats at the covered end of the table and textilene seats on the chairs that stand in the open. The frame stays the same, so the row still looks like one set. Passage suits a kitchen as well, and the same chair can run from the breakfast table out to the porch.

Bamboo, cane and the wider family

Buyers often weigh bamboo dining chairs against rattan. Bamboo is a grass with a hollow stem, and makers use it as poles for frames. Rattan is solid and bends, so makers use it to weave seats and backs. Both need the same shelter outdoors. If your chairs must stand in the open, choose a synthetic fiber weave for the look without the care.

Send us the size of your table and tell us whether it stands under a roof. We reply with Eolias or Passage chairs in the right mix of seats, and a price for each.