The chair nearest the back door usually has an advantage: it is easy to reach with a cup of tea before the kettle has quite finished its work. A seat further into the planting offers something different. It gives you a reason to leave the house behind.

If there is room for only one proper sitting place, that is a more useful choice to make than timber versus metal.

In Kawauchi Rowe’s Putney garden, both possibilities have a place. A smaller timber bench belongs to the reworked rear garden, while a previously little-used side garden has become a planted gravel sitting area. The project is generous, but the decision translates neatly to a small plot: do you want convenience or a destination?

A seat close to the door is likely to be used for short pauses. You can take breakfast outside, keep an eye on something indoors or step out while waiting for someone to find their shoes.

Its weakness is that it can feel like an extension of the household’s circulation. Bins, bikes, open doors and the route to a shed all compete for the same useful patch.

Before fixing a bench in place, sit there with the doors open and someone moving around it. Make sure the table you want to use does not turn the route into a shuffle. A comfortable chair is less appealing when everyone must squeeze past its occupant.

We would give this option the advantage for a household that wants to use the garden little and often. It does not need to look like a complete outdoor sitting room to be worthwhile.

A seat away from the house can change your view of the garden. Instead of looking out at the planting, you sit within it and look back towards home or across a different part of the plot.

The Putney project’s side garden is a useful illustration. The designers describe an area that had been visible from indoors but scarcely enjoyed. Seating, gravel and shade-tolerant planting gave it a reason to be visited.

For your own garden, think about what draws you there. It might be afternoon light, shelter from a particular wind or simply a quieter outlook. Avoid choosing a distant corner only because nothing else fits in it.

The route matters in ordinary weather. Consider whether you will comfortably carry a drink, whether the surface feels stable underfoot and what happens after rain. A seat that requires a minor expedition through wet planting may stay picturesque and empty.

Move a loose chair between the two proposed positions over several days. Sit at the times you are likely to be outside, not only when the garden is at its sunniest. October can be particularly revealing about shelter and the changing angle of light.

Notice privacy from neighbouring windows as well as from your own house. Check what you can see while seated; a view that works at standing height may disappear behind a boundary or a tall pot.

If you prefer the destination seat, decide whether a movable chair is enough. Built-in seating can make good use of an awkward edge, but it commits you to a position and adds a construction project. The Putney garden does not publish a budget, so its bespoke details are inspiration, not a price guide.

Choose the seat by the house if ease is what will get you outdoors. Choose the seat among planting if a change of scene is what makes you linger.

In a small garden, we would rather have one place that is used than two sitting areas arranged for a photograph. A chair moved to the right spot can tell you a surprising amount before you buy anything.