9 Garden Seating Ideas That Will Turn Your Yard Into an Outdoor Living Room

Seats in a garden are an invitation to rest. Because garden seating is part of the landscape, it should never be merely functional, practical, and comfortable but also visually attractive or blend in unobtrusively. 

Here are nine ideas for garden seating, including low-cost, sustainable, and DIY options.

Hanging Chairs

Hanging chairs, also known as bubble chairs, are as relaxing as they are eye-catching. You don’t necessarily need a large tree in your yard with strong branches to suspend a hanging chair. Many bubble chairs come with their own stands that you can place on a deck, patio, porch, or level lawn.

There are lots of different sizes, styles, and materials to choose from, including macrame, rattan, wood, metal, and plastic.

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Bench Doubling As Storage

Though they are often labeled as outdoor patio storage benches, these popular dual-purpose benches can be placed anywhere in your backyard. They are just as handy for pool and garden supplies as they are for seat cushions.

Even if they are waterproof, they are best used for seasonal storage only as moisture gets trapped inside and items can turn musty.

Tree Bench

Wrapping a bench around the trunk of a shade tree is a great way to always find a seat in the shade even as the sun moves. Tree benches are either round or six-sided and made of wood or metal.

They can be installed around a tree at any age but leaving ample space from the trunk is especially important if it’s a young tree to allow for the expansion of the trunk.

Wall Bench

A wall, either one that marks the border of your property or a retaining wall on terraced terrain, is an ideal place to create a nook for a bench that blends into the hardscaping.

This type of seating can be incorporated into any type of wall material—natural stone, poured concrete, pavers, or bricks.

Keep in mind that these materials get hot in the summer heat, so you’ll need cushions for comfort, or add wooden boards for comfort and insulation.

Tree Stump Seat

When cutting down a tree, do not cut it down all the way to the ground; instead, leave a comfortable seating height of 24 to 28 inches. If the trunk is 18 inches or more in diameter, it is a suitable seat in its own right. After the trunk has fully dried out, sand it to smooth it.

If the trunk is smaller in diameter, get a piece of cedar lumber to use as a seat and bolt it onto the stump.  

Tree Trunk Bench

This rustic, naturalistic DIY bench blends perfectly into the landscape. You’ll need a trunk at least 18 inches in diameter and without any side branches. Using a chainsaw, cut flat the side that will sit on the ground. Then cut flat an area on the top side and sand it as needed.

Wall-Mounted Bench

Especially for small spaces, wall-mounted benches are a great option. Mount the bench to the side of a house, garage, shed, or wall.

One step further and even more space-saving is a wall-mounted, folding hinged bench that you only open when you need extra seating. Sometimes the bench is additionally supported with either chains or fold-down legs.

Bench Arbor

This combination of bench and mini arbor is great for sun-drenched yards that lack shade. Made of metal or wood, usually cedar, bench arbors have an arched cover and lattice side panels. The back is either open or also set with lattice panels.

No matter the style, a bench arbor provides ample room for either annual or perennial vines to grow. The arbor needs to be secured to the ground to prevent it from toppling over. If it does not come with an anchoring kit, you’ll need to purchase it separately.

Chaise With Wheels

For fresh air naps and any other time that you just want to put your feet up and stretch out, nothing beats a comfortable chaise. However, they can be cumbersome to drag around to follow the sun or shade.

When you are shopping for a chaise, choose a model with wheels, which makes it easy to move on any type of surface, including lawn and gravel.