Are you planning on redecorating and re-arranging your outdoor patio soon? Does your patio seem difficult to use for you and your guests? If you’re experiencing issues using your patio, you might be making some mistakes.
Most homeowners are looking forward to enjoying their summer on their patios. Of the 850,000 new single-family homes in the US, 58.6% of them had patios.
However, just because you have a patio, doesn’t mean you can ignore proper furniture arranging.
Keep reading to learn which furniture arranging mistakes you should avoid. Remember that furniture arranging for outdoor patios is different from arranging for indoors. We’ve also woven in the things you can do to fix those mistakes.
1. Furniture Arranging Mistakes: Disregarding Zoning
Zoning is a furniture arrangement strategy used to create “zones” in your space. It’s a practical way of using and setting up your space.
In zoning, your goals are to create activity zones and to make sure each one’s needs are met.
For example, you plan to use your patio as an outdoor play area for your kids, an outdoor dining or studying area, and a camping area.
If your patio has enough space, it’d be quite easy to create zones for each of these activities.
All you need to do is to arrange your furniture in the zones and to ensure they’re clear of each other.
2. Having Too Much or Too Little Furniture
The beautiful thing about outdoor patios is that they make great places for hanging out.
However, there is also such a thing as having too much or too little furniture on your outdoor patio.
With too much furniture, your patio may feel cluttered and crowded. With too little furniture, you’ll have only limited spaces to sit in and enjoy the outdoors.
When you’re buying patio furniture, make sure they offer enough sitting space for you and your guests.
You also want to ensure they’re comfortable and made for the outdoors. It also helps to buy furniture that will go with the other pieces that are already on your patio.
To ensure you have walking space on patios, get furniture that is proportionate to the size of your patio.
You don’t want your furniture to take up all the space on your patio. For example, if you’ve got a small patio, consider getting slim furniture.
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3. Designing for Indoors
This is one of the most common furniture arranging mistakes most people make.
As we mentioned, designing your outdoor patio is different from designing indoor rooms. The first step to avoiding this is to use outdoor lounging sets and decor.
Your outdoor furniture should have the durability to withstand the elements. Whether it’s the rain, moisture, or the sun, the furniture you choose should be fit to resist them.
Never use indoor furniture in an outdoor setting, or you’ll risk wasting your money.
Keep in mind that outdoor furniture is quite expensive. When you plan your patio design, keep a patio furniture budget.
This separate budget should be large enough for all your outdoor furniture needs.
4. Ignoring Traffic Flow
The next thing you should never forget is how you’ll go around your patio. Traffic flow is a key element of designing anything.
After all, having an outdoor or indoor room is useless if it’s difficult to walk around in it.
To check your patio traffic flow, try to walk around it from point to point. From indoors, how quick is it to walk to one of the outdoor chairs? Consider how easy or difficult it is to get around from one side of your patio to the other, too.
As you walk around your patio, adjust your furniture. Make sure you can walk around the space without having to squeeze between furniture or the walls.
Also, make sure that you can run out of the space as fast as you can in case of sudden rain or emergencies like fires.
5. Lacking a Focal Point
We mentioned zoning earlier. Another strategy you should use when re-arranging your patio is to find its focal point.
Arrange your furniture around a central point. This is where your focal point will be.
If you’re unsure about where your focal point should be, think about the arrangement of and view in the patio.
When you sit down, what do you want to see or view? You may want to view the pool, a landscape, or the fire pit.
You may want to keep your focal point near the fire pit so those seated around it can stay cozy.
As a tip, it helps to add light all around this focal point and on the paths that lead to it. Never forego proper lighting and light placements on your patio.
6. Not Considering the Weather
The weather is the reason you’d want to stay indoors or go to your patio. In the summer, you’ll most likely invite a friend or a group of friends to your home.
When you do this, you should consider how many seats are available, space, and the shade.
Your shade may come in the form of a pergola, umbrellas, or awnings. Try to create a balance in the exposed furniture arrangements.
Make sure they’re exposed enough but also protected from natural elements.
Also, try to keep in mind the latest considerations for gatherings posted by the CDC.
7. Overlooking Small Spaces
Let’s say you’ve already arranged your outdoor sofas and chairs around your patio.
Now, you notice that there are still small spaces on the patio, and you feel that you should fill them with something.
A tip is that you don’t always need to fill your small spaces with more furniture.
This can make your patio seem too crowded and have too many elements. Instead of more furniture, try adding small design items. These can be small vases, potted plants, lighting, or rugs.
Re-Arrange Your Outdoor Patio Well
Those are the seven furniture arranging mistakes most people make when decorating outdoors.
Keep these mistakes in mind the next time you also re-arrange your patio. Other than that, we hope you learned something useful from the tips we scattered in the guide, as well.
Are you looking for other content on how to arrange your indoor and outdoor spaces?
We’ve got more guides about arranging various types of furniture and more. Check out our other guides to see other content on furniture arrangement and smart use of space.
