Small Patio Furniture

Where to find furniture for tiny patios and decks.



Expect to pay about $200 for a set of two chairs and a table. Anything less is either on sale or is probably cheaply made. If $200 is out of the question, or if you want some other items for your patio, visit a few yard sales, second hand stores and even place an add in Craig's list or another local classifieds saying you are looking for used patio furniture. My neighbor walked away with a really nice patio furniture set for $40. She got three chairs, a table and an end table.

Ideally, if you want small, you want something that will fold. Seriously consider double use pieces of furniture, too - short side tables that are sturdy enough to be used as a seat. Benches are also a nice double duty item, because there are some excellent outdoor storage benches that can hold all your gardening gear while the top functions as a table and a seating area. A long enough bench, with some creative use of a reading pillow or some other way to prop yourself up, can also become a lounge chair. And if the bench is too short after you've done all the propping up, then pull up one of those folding chairs to put your feet on.

If you want to carry the double duty furniture idea a step further, buy pieces that could be taken on a camping trip, or pieces that you'd want to have at an outdoor event. I bought two very small portable folding seats several years ago for waiting on ticket lines when I was in New York. I still have them. They have plastic covers that have just enough padding to be good to sit on, but not so much padding that the seats can't also double as very, very small folding tables (especially if you put a plate or a tray on top of the seat part). They cost me $25 each... I believe I got them in a Bed, Bath and Beyond. And they weigh less than 2 pounds each, so hauling them to your destination is not an ordeal.

The folding seats I got are also waterproof, which is another critical feature of patio furniture - it needs to be able to get wet. Also, if you are looking for small patio furniture, you probably don't have winter storage space, so look for furniture that can stay outside all winter and be okay next spring. When in doubt, wrap it in the tarps sold at home supply stores.

One last thought: if you have almost no space on your patio, skip the table entirely. Just get one or two end tables (the higher the better) and use those as tables. With two folding chairs you can sit on one chair and put your feet up on the other and have your coffee and your phone and your book and whatever you need on the end table. Its a little less than luxe, but it will do. And you can fit the whole setup in six square feet.