Summer feels of the new Made.com range of outdoor furniture

Anyway, the online retailer, which has a base in Ireland and delivers here, can be very good value for some items, and this season it has released 17 bits in garden furniture over eight ranges, aimed at small balconies and large terraces, with full-on modular suites for the latter. made.com.

Ikea also has its summer offering out at the Dublin store, not the full range yet, but there’s a tidy looking suite of two-seater and two armchairs with coffee table, in plastic mind, at just €125 with family membership.

And closer to home, and in the line of protecting your home, Aldi is on the ball with its HD CCTV camera kit for €199 which went of sale this Thursday.

The four camera system allows 20 days of recording on a 1TB hard drive, along with night vision, infra-red lens and all-weather surveillance that can be used inside or out. Best of all, it has remote operation through iOS or Android app. So happy hols.

n And again with the paint thing, Aldi also has matt and gloss water-based paint on sale right now in some delicious colours for €5.99 a pop, if there are any left. I picked up olive yellow, azure blue and violet to paint some old chairs into new life and might try the shed.

No undercoat, wash with water, how bad? Damp seal for walls and bathrooms is also on offer at around €14.99

n Working on the principle that really expensive furniture, from high-end design houses usually translates down to the high street at some stage, it’s good to train the eye, or strain the pocket, whichever suits.

Portugal had set itself about creating a commercial design industry during the recession and it’s now taking off, thanks to a new generation of confident creators set in and around the Porto region. (This area and the Douro Valley have become the destination of choice for the cognoscenti, with high-end magazines proclaiming it a chic destination, including Architectural Digest).

Products from the Wewood Company, near Porto include the Bowie armchair and Bowie, two-seater sofa, (above). Designed by Concalo Campos, the armchair costs around €2,500 and the two-seater is €5,500 approximately, in oak and wool, available throughclippings.com.

The online curator is also selling the wonderful, Wick chairs, (right), by Design House Stockholm for around €580 for a four-legged version and a swivel version at around€650. Meanwhile, the Butterfly lounge chair from home-lust.com at just under €500 offers a leathery, relaxed style.

Throw on a Mongolian fleece and you’re there, style apex. Great for lounging or reading and manspreading; €489 And to go with it, a black or brass coffee table at 129 and like all of these styles the top is detachable for use as a tray.