Patio furniture: The look of luxury

The humble patio has become an "outdoor room" for eating and entertaining, and people spend freely to furnish it with sumptuous chairs, tables, and chaise lounges. But we've found that you can get well-made, stylish outdoor furniture without spending a fortune.

We examined a dozen sets of outdoor dining furniture in widely sold materials and styles. The tables and chairs included brand names from expensive porch-and-patio stores and lower-priced versions from big-box retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart. You can expect to pay between $200 and $300 for a dining table and four chairs from a mass-market retailer. With high-end furniture, prices start at about $1,000 and can even go as high as $10,000.

Because there are many more styles and brands than we were able to test, we didn't rate the furniture. But our experts' take on the tables and chairs we purchased will help you choose wisely and shop smart no matter what brand, style, or material strikes your fancy.

What we did find when we examined quality of construction, evenness of finish, and other crucial details was this: In nearly every instance, the inexpensive furniture was well-made, nicely finished, and well-proportioned. In short, low-priced doesn't mean flimsy or cheesy. There are good values if you know what to look for.