We use cookies to understand how Kaiku is used and improve it. You can accept or reject non-essential cookies — read our Cookie Policy.
Buying Guides
Practical, jargon-free buying guides on furniture, saunas, cold therapy and garden structures that last.
15 September 2026
Crystal ball water features: what the ball is actually for
The ball is not decoration. It is what makes the water visible. Here is what it does, what colour-changing adds, and how the tabletop and floor-standing versions differ.
15 September 2026
How many BTU does a gas fire pit table need?
BTU is the only number on the box, and nobody explains it. Here is what it means in a British garden, and where the difference between 40,000 and 50,000 actually shows up.
3 September 2026
Which planter material actually survives a British winter outside?
Terracotta and unglazed ceramic absorb water and crack when it freezes inside them — the classic winter casualty. Stoneware and stone-effect resist it better; metal and synthetic rattan don't crack at all, though metal gets cold enough to chill roots. What to leave out all winter, and what to bring in.
3 September 2026
Cold plunge with a chiller — is it worth it over ice, and what temperature?
We sell one cold plunge, and it comes with a chiller built in rather than as an ice-bath-plus-bags-of-ice setup — worth knowing plainly rather than presenting a false choice. Here's why a chiller earns its cost over ice for regular use, the temperature range that actually matters, and how it pairs with our infrared saunas for contrast therapy.
3 September 2026
Infrared or traditional sauna — and what the running cost actually looks like
Straight correction first: we don't sell a wood-fired sauna — our non-infrared cabins run on a Harvia electric stove. Infrared heats your body directly at 45-60°C; a traditional cabin heats the whole room to 70-90°C+, which is most of why infrared costs noticeably less to run. Seven of our own saunas, sorted by which type they actually are.
3 September 2026
Pergola or gazebo, and how tall can a privacy screen legally be?
A gazebo is built for weather protection first — netting, a solid roof, sometimes curtains. A pergola is more architectural, often with a retractable or sliding canopy rather than full coverage. UK permitted development allows a garden boundary up to 2m without planning permission (1m facing a highway) — and a trellis topper counts toward that total.
3 September 2026
Solar or mains garden lighting — and why water features are different
Solar suits path and border lighting well, provided it gets 4-5 hours of direct sun a day — no cabling, no running cost. Mains suits anywhere shaded, or anywhere needing reliable output through a grey British winter. Water features are a different story: every one we sell is mains-powered tabletop decor, not a solar option at all.
3 September 2026
Gas, wood or electric — which fire pit fuel actually suits you?
Gas lights instantly and produces no smoke or ash — most of our own range is gas for exactly that reason. Wood gives real flame and crackle but needs ventilation and cleaning out. Electric is the only safe choice under a covered or built-in structure. Eight of our own heaters and fire pits, sorted by fuel.
3 September 2026
Chest of drawers or wardrobe — or both?
A wardrobe stores what needs to hang — coats, dresses, anything that creases folded. A chest of drawers stores what doesn't — folded clothes, underwear, anything better kept flat. Most bedrooms genuinely need both rather than a bigger version of one; eight of our own pieces measured, hanging and folded storage side by side.
3 September 2026
Bathroom storage without a fitted vanity
Straight answer first: we don't sell vanity units — cabinets with a basin built in. What we do sell for bathroom storage is baskets, wall shelves and storage caddies, and they solve a genuinely different problem: things you actually use daily, kept in reach, rather than things you want hidden behind a cabinet door.
3 September 2026
How many shelves do you need, and open or behind a door?
About 23-26 average hardbacks per linear metre of shelf, packed solid — and real-world capacity, once you allow for gaps and uneven sizes, is more like 65-75% of that. Open shelving displays what's on it and needs tidy contents; a cupboard-fronted piece hides the mess for the same footprint. Which suits which room.
3 September 2026
What size wall art, and gallery wall or single piece?
A gallery wall is sized as one shape, at the same two-thirds proportion as a single canvas — a cluster of small prints spanning the right footprint is correctly sized even though any one print in it looks too small alone. When a single statement piece works better than a group, and eight of our own pieces shown both ways.
3 September 2026
What shape mirror suits your wall?
Round softens a room of straight lines and hard furniture edges; rectangular and square match a grid of existing frames; arched and octagonal read as more traditional or architectural. The two-thirds sizing rule works identically across every shape — this guide is about which shape to reach for, with eight of our own mirrors as the reference.
3 September 2026
How deep does a desk need to be, and is sit-stand worth it?
60cm depth suits a laptop; a full monitor and keyboard setup wants 70-80cm, and BS EN 527 sets 80cm as the recommended minimum. We don't currently stock a height-adjustable sit-stand desk, so this guide gives the fixed-height standard (72-75cm) and is straight about that gap, alongside eight of our own desks measured by depth.
3 September 2026
What size TV unit, and how high to mount the screen?
A TV's diagonal isn't its width — a 65in TV is only about 144cm wide, and that's the number the unit under it actually needs to match, plus 5-20cm either side. Screen centre goes at 100-110cm from the floor whether it's wall-mounted or sat on the unit. Eight of our own units measured against real screen sizes.
3 September 2026
Chandelier or pendant light — and how much ceiling clearance?
A pendant wants at least 7ft (213cm) of floor clearance anywhere someone walks under it, and 75cm above a dining table specifically. A chandelier's more ornamental scale usually wants 8-9ft (244-274cm) of ceiling height to hang properly. The real difference between the two, and eight of our own lights measured against both rules.
3 September 2026
Warm white or cool white — which for which room?
Warm white (2700-3000K) suits living rooms and bedrooms — the same colour temperature as candlelight and a sunset. Cool white (5000K+) suits task-focused spaces like a home office or a workbench. Most kitchens and bathrooms sit in the middle at neutral white. The scale explained, and which of our own lights let you choose.
3 September 2026
Where should a floor lamp actually go?
A reading lamp wants its shade roughly at shoulder height when seated — about 100-105cm — so the light falls on the page without shining in your eyes. An ambient corner lamp works the opposite way: taller, and further from the seat, so it bounces light off the ceiling instead. Eight of our own lamps sorted by which job they do.
3 September 2026
What coffee table top material actually holds up?
Marble and travertine mark if you set a hot mug straight down; solid wood and veneer scratch but sand out; glass and ceramic wipe clean but show every fingerprint; rattan is the lightest and least fussy of the lot. Six materials, what each one actually costs you day to day.
3 September 2026
Corner, 3-seater or two smaller pieces — and which fabric?
A straight answer on fabric versus leather first: we don't currently sell a leather sofa, only velvet, linen, textured weave and chenille — so the real choice is which fabric suits your household, and whether one sofa or two pieces seats your room better.
3 September 2026
What size sofa for your room, seat by seat?
There's no official sofa-size standard the way there is for a UK bed — a 2-seater runs 140-180cm, a 3-seater 198-229cm, both around 85-100cm deep. What that means for a small room, why corner sofas need measuring differently, and eight of our own sofas checked against the rules.
3 September 2026
King or super king, and is ottoman storage worth it?
UK king is 150 x 200cm, super king 180 x 200cm — the difference is roughly one shoulder's width. The room each size actually needs, what ottoman storage costs you in clearance, and eight of our own beds measured against both.
3 September 2026
What size dining table for how many seats?
Sixty centimetres of edge per seat on a rectangular table, and round tables that scale by diameter rather than a straight per-person count. The seat counts by length and shape, round versus rectangular properly answered, and eight of our own tables measured against real chairs.
29 August 2026
What garden furniture can stay out all winter?
Teak, powder-coated aluminium and rattan on an aluminium frame need nothing. Everything soft comes in by the end of October. The materials table, six rules, and our own sets with the job each one needs.