The Best Patio Furniture (And How to Shop for It) (2024)

Gregory Han is the managing editor at Design Milk and the co-author of Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire, a book about design and decor. He has been writing about home goods and solutions since 2006 for design-focused outlets like Apartment Therapy, Lonny, Metropolis, and Design Sponge, carrying with him several years of experience as an industrial designer. Daniela Gorny, supervising editor for the home and decor section at Wirecutter, is also a trained architectural designer and amateur woodworker.This guide also builds on the work done by Wirecutter senior editor Kalee Thompson, who wrote the original version of this guide.

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New homeowners and renters often look for comfortable, durable, and reasonably stylish outdoor furniture at a moderate price. And that’s what we set out to find with this guide.

We considered the following when analyzing outdoor furniture:

To identify the key differences separating affordable pieces from moderately priced and investment-worthy designs, we visited big-box stores such as Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, IKEA, and Walmart, as well as more expensive stores like West Elm, Blu Dot, CB2, Design Within Reach, Modernica, Crate and Barrel, and Restoration Hardware. We also dedicated an extensive amount of time to comparing online retailers like Article, Hay, Industry West, Amazon, AllModern, Overstock, Teak Warehouse, and Wayfair (some of which have showrooms you can visit in person).

We looked at on-the-floor offerings in stores and spent about 50 hours researching top-rated patio dining sets and outdoor lounge furniture online. Then we narrowed our list to sets made of wood, steel, aluminum, plastic resin, and all-weather wicker—and also to those with a strong history of positive online reviews spanning several years.

Our team interviewed both landscape and furniture designers, including Aaron and Claire Van Holland of the Los Angeles furniture company House Van Holland (formerly M.F.E.O.); Calvin Abe, a landscape architect based in the Los Angeles area; Andy Balderson, a Washington, DC–area landscape designer; and Los Angeles landscape designers Russ Cletta, Maggie Lobl, and Naomi Sanders. We gathered more insight into what people are seeking in outdoor patio furniture by speaking with three retail experts in Pasadena, California: Veronica Hoodless, sales associate at the high-end Fishbecks outdoor-furniture store; Jesse Mezger, manager at the upscale Patioworld; and Jesse Bawsel, manager at Armstrong Garden Centers. To find good options that will last, we also looked at hundreds of tables, chairs, and sofas online, and at dozens in stores.

Our initial research in 2016 rounded up 33 dining sets representing a promising balance of cost, features, and design. We whittled down that list by examining online reviews and, in some cases, talking to people who owned the furniture sets. We made trips to Home Depot and IKEA to examine sets in person and witness how shoppers reacted to them in the stores. Then we ordered three dining sets and timed how long it took to assemble them in a Los Angeles backyard. For our 2018 update, we ordered another two dining sets and assembled them in another Los Angeles backyard. During both tests, we examined screws, joints, and the apparent quality of construction. And, over the course of several weeks, we paid attention to how comfortable the dining sets were for different purposes, asking visitors to compare the comfort of the seats and the overall aesthetics of the sets. In June 2021, we researched six more patio dining sets. Due to testing limitations during the pandemic, we were not able to assemble these new sets at home. So we narrowed our search to dining sets that we could touch and analyze at big-box stores, that had great reviews at the time, and that were eligible for return or exchange. In 2022, we expanded our research to direct-to-consumer brands—like Article, Blu Dot, and Neighbor—and added larger dining sets and new outdoor living room options, such as sofas and lounge chairs.

Choosing great outdoor furniture involves more than just focusing on something you like the look of in a store or online. If you pick the wrong size table or chairs, with feet that catch dangerously in the grooves of your deck, you may find you’ll be packing the set back up to return. The following guidelines should help you narrow the options and avoid buyer’s remorse.

Consider your outdoor layout

Start by analyzing the shape and size of the outdoor area where you intend to place your new furniture. To create a proportional arrangement in an outdoor space, imagine it as you would any interior room. For example, if you place a long rectangular table across a tight square deck or balcony, the space will look cramped and awkward. And this setup can damage nearby garden or patio features as people move to and from the table. Conversely, placing a small, round dining set in a capacious, open setting can create the impression of furniture floating adrift, losing sight of the shores of communal intimacy that a dining area should aspire to convey.

To gain a better understanding of the balance between scale, accessibility, and intimacy within a patio setting (or any outdoor space), we recommend studying landscape designer Lauren Dunec Hoang’s excellent photographic reference.

As we noted in our dining table guide, the “visual weight” of a piece of furniture can influence whether a table looks too large, too small, or just right for the space it occupies. This helpful rule of thumb, used by interior designers, is also applicable to the outdoors: Leave at least 36 inches between the table and any wall, tree, or other physical object that may impede access. In our experience, it also helps to take a photograph from a high vantage point, as a supplement to any measurements. This photo can provide a quick comparative reference while you’re shopping and help minimize guesswork. Similarly, a roll of painter’s tape can prove quite handy for previewing the footprint of a patio dining set or sofa across its intended space.

Analyze your patio or yard surface

The legs of all the pieces you choose should work with the surface area where you plan to place your furniture. At best, the wrong combination can prove bothersome, and at worst, dangerous. A long wooden bench or sofa placed on top of decomposed gravel creates a horrible mess (we know this all too well from personal experience), while a thin-legged wrought iron chair is apt to catch between decking or sink into soft soil. One dining set we tested—the Mercury Row Nikoleta—was perfectly suited to the smooth surface of a concrete patio or a wood deck. Yet when the set was placed on tiled concrete pavers, the chair legs consistently caught between the pavers, resulting in a few awkward, arms-flailing exits from the table. If your intended surface isn’t uniform and flat, look for a table and chairs with wide feet, ideally outfitted with levelers to adjust for uneven surfaces.

Decide on the seating you want

Many people daydream of backyard barbecues, summer brunches, and other social gatherings with friends. So it’s essential to decide on how many people you’d like to regularly host (along with space constraints). If you often host larger groups, dining sets with bench seating offer more flexibility to comfortably fit six to eight people; we also think bench-style settings are inherently more fun and informally intimate, especially for kids. Our editor-in-chief notes he can easily fit four kids on a bench, whereas regular chairs would be more limiting. The trade-off is the loss of back support of a traditional chair—an omission some guests might notice. But remember, you can always mix and match—interspersing chairs at the ends or on one side of a long table and adding a bench to the other.

Outdoor lounge or conversation sets are fashioned after living room couches and sectionals. And though these cushioned pieces are not explicitly advertised for dining, you’ll often find them at posh hotels, where they provide guests with a comfortable place to drink, snack, and converse for hours on end. They’ve become increasingly popular in larger backyards, offering those who have a preference and proclivity for informal entertaining a more-relaxed and adaptable seating arrangement.

Tips for picking the right style

We recommend that you follow a few guidelines when choosing furniture, to make sure the style harmonizes with your outdoor space:

Other considerations

If you live in a hot and sunny locale and intend to station a dining set out in the open, you’ll likely want to look for sets with a pre-drilled hole to secure an umbrella—especially if you are leaning toward a set constructed with metal. For outdoor seating areas, consider one (or several) standalone umbrellas with stands to provide shade.

For those who are on the shorter or taller end of the stature scale, we recommend trying patio dining tables and chairs in person before purchasing, to see whether the seat height is comfortable for you.

Most people select outdoor furniture based primarily on aesthetics and the style of their home. But before you fall in love with the way a piece looks, consider how well it will wear over the course of many seasons (and how much you’re willing to maintain it). Some materials—like wood—require annual maintenance to keep them looking good, while others can weather the elements for years without any upkeep. Colder and wetter regions introduce issues of rot and rust, making resin-wicker and plastic-resin construction the more prudent options—unless you’re committed to the regular care required by wood and metal.

Wood

All of the designers we consulted cited teak as the gold standard of wood for outdoor furniture, noting a well-made teak piece could last for decades. Of course, you’d need to purchase high-quality teak; the wood is rated in three grades—A, B, and C—with only the first grade considered truly weather-resistant without regular protective treatments. Calvin Abe, principal architect at the design firm AHBE, also praised the tropical hardwood ipe. Meanwhile, furniture designer Aaron Van Holland noted that acacia’s abundance makes it one of the more affordable options widely available.

Among popular outdoor-furniture materials, wood generally requires the most maintenance. “Rain and moisture causes wood to swell and shrink. Temperature does that too, and UV rays are just hard on everything,” landscape designer Maggie Lobl told us. Russ Cletta, also a Southern California landscape designer, said, “Any wood that’s outside is going to require almost annual maintenance.”

You can clean a wood table with a mild soapy solution if needed. Usually, though, a small hand brush should suffice for removing outdoor debris and wayward crumbs from the surface. (And please do use a brush: One of our writers once vigorously wiped bird seeds off their wood picnic table, and they impaled a nearly 2-inch-long splinter into their palm, resulting in stitches and a tetanus shot.) Using a protective waterproof cover before rain and snow will likely extend the furniture’s life. Depending on the degree of your outdoor furniture’s exposure to the elements, you might want to sand and stain or oil the pieces once a year or once every couple of years. With most hardwoods, you can also choose to forgo staining and simply allow your wood to weather to a silvery gray.

Metal

What rot is to wood, rust and corrosion are to metal. The metal dining sets and sofa frames you encounter may be made of steel (bring along a magnet while shopping to check for steel-made parts), cast aluminum, or even stainless steel. Most pieces are treated with rust-resistant coatings, and our research found that few people experience any rust problems within the first few years of buying a new set. When rust does form, it’s usually discovered in areas where moisture is more apt to pool or slowly evaporate, like the underside of chairs and tables. (Look for sets equipped with stainless steel screws and hardware, for additional protection against corrosion.)

Regular cleaning requires only a mild soapy solution—say, 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap to 1 gallon of water. You can also hose off this type of furniture (after removing any cushions). If rust spots form, you can usually sand or scour them off with sandpaper or steel wool. And repainting is always an option (spray paint often works well; getting a color-matched touch-up paint at the time of purchase is an even better plan). Many reviewers say they’ve had success with Rust-Oleum.

The high-end designers we spoke with identified cast aluminum as the most popular type of outdoor metal furniture today. It has the advantage of being very lightweight, strong, and easy to clean.

Resin wicker

The popularity of this modern answer to traditional wicker furniture has exploded in recent years, with slick, basket-like textures found everywhere from rooftop bars to beachfront resorts to suburban backyards. “Wicker” itself is not a specific material but refers to a flexible material, natural or synthetic, that is woven to create said furniture. Your grandmother’s wicker might have been made from willow branches, bamboo, rattan, or reeds. Today’s resin wicker—also called “all-weather wicker”—is generally made of steel or aluminum wire wrapped with a paper or plastic material. You’ll want to look for pieces made with high-density polyethylene wicker, not cheaper PVC, which unravels easily (cheaper PVC is recognized by its shinier and tacky-feeling finish). The material is lightweight, stain- and UV-resistant, and exhibits exceptional tensile strength (which keeps the simulated strands tightly woven). It also won’t stick to the skin like cheaper PVC alternatives.

One reason for resin wicker’s popularity is its easy upkeep. Just wipe it down with a damp cloth, soapy or not—or pull out the hose for a tougher job. This type of furniture is often used in sunrooms, as well as on patios and deck areas. Companies sometimes recommend that such outdoor furniture remain covered when not in use to protect the plastic resin from UV damage (which will eventually lead to deterioration or breakage).

Plastic resin

Just because plastic does not rust, warp, or rot like other material options, that does not mean plastic does not require any maintenance. But of all materials, plastic-resin surfaces are the easiest to clean; they usually require only a quick spray and a wipe with an all-purpose cleaner (for surface spills) or a hose-down (for a more-complete makeover). Tougher surface stains or mildew can usually be removed safely using a cleaning paste made with water and baking soda or a melamine foam sponge (like a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser). Start lightly to avoid excessive surface abrasion. Just like resin wicker, any plastic resin is susceptible to becoming brittle and eventually breaking with excessive UV exposure. So to extend its life, keep your set in a shaded section of the yard, under an umbrella or shade sail.

If you have a level, hard surface and like a midcentury modern aesthetic: Novogratz’s Paulette Outdoor Table + Bench Set stands out for its midcentury-inspired design (plus the choice of four colorful accents), an easy-to-clean-and-maintain synthetic-wood surface, and powder-coated steel hairpin legs. It seats up to four and is compact enough to fit on a deck or large balcony (and you may be able to squeeze in two more diners at the ends). But note that hairpin legs are best placed on level and hard surfaces, excluding this design from natural or gravel-covered yards.

If you’re looking for something with the casual charm of a picnic bench: Hampton Bay’s Walnut Cove 5-Piece Steel Outdoor Patio Dining Set is a modern, steel dining set with a faux-wood look and four casual benches instead of chairs. This set was slated to become a pick. But stock has been inconsistent, and it continues to be regularly sold out. If you happen to find this set anywhere, this easy-to-clean powder-coated five-piece set is a solid choice. It easily accommodates up to eight adults and gets stellar reviews for being simple to build. The mocha-hued “wood grain” won’t fool anyone up-close, but the powder-coated steel plank-style tabletop requires only wipe-on, wipe-off cleaning (not the annual maintenance required with a real wood set).

If you’re looking for something modern that’s easy to move around: Cambridge’s Nova 7-Piece Rectangular Outdoor Dining Set is a modern, sleek, lightweight aluminum set. It’s also durable and wears well, thanks to scratch- and weather-resistant finishes. It used to be a pick and was one of the nicest-looking budget aluminum sets we found. But unfortunately both stock and pricing has remained inconsistent. If you can find it at a reasonable price (around $800), we think it’s a good option.

If you want a “wicker” set and don’t mind a smaller table: Christopher Knight’s Home San Pico Outdoor Wicker 5-piece Dining Set has a round, 40-inch-diameter table, which felt a bit small for four people, compared with tables in other sets we looked at. But it has strong reviews for quality and comes with cushions (light tan). So if you don’t mind a more-compact set, we think this is a good woven-resin all-weather set.

Wood

We originally saw this eucalyptus set on sale on Target.com for $480. Since then we’ve seen the price climb to over $600. It’s not sold in stores, so we were unable to examine it in person. It also has poor ratings in the few reviews we could find.

This attractive eucalyptus set has a round table, rather than the square or rectangular kinds that seem more common in inexpensive hardwood tables of this size. It’s received good reviews, but the IKEA Äpplarö was more readily available and had better reviews in our price range. (Now that the Äpplarö has been discontinued, we’ll revisit this set.)

A contemporary take on the classic picnic bench, this slat-style three-piece set in acacia wood is modestly sized and priced. Designed to comfortably seat four (and maybe more, if you’re willing to get cozy), this set is very easy to assemble, owners report. However, several reviews mention that the wood seemed of low quality and easily warped and peeled, despite regular wood conditioning.

Metal

The apparent strength and durability of this aluminum and plastic dining set—offering support up to 331 pounds per chair—are offset by reports of improperly attached or loosened slats, possibly attributable to poor-quality screws.

This ultra-budget set from Walmart looks decent and comes with cushions. But at 38 inches across, the table is on the small side. And the reviews are mixed, with several new owners experiencing significant problems at assembly and doubting the set will hold up well over time.

Collier Patio Dining Collection

With a faux-cane-back design, Target’s rust-resistant, finished-steel-frame outdoor dining set is subjectively more stylish than most outdoor dining sets in the sub-$1,000 price range. Unfortunately, the set is sold out and unlikely to be restocked.

Resin wicker

This set comes in much darker shades of brown and gray than the other resin-wicker sets we looked at. And, unlike other sets, it has a table made completely of wicker (rather than a glass tabletop incorporated into a wicker frame), which provides an uneven surface for drinks. It also doesn’t come with cushions.

This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Christine Ryan.

1. Aaron and Claire Van Holland, furniture designers, House Van Holland (M.F.E.O.), interview, April 8, 2018

2. Calvin Abe, landscape architect, principal, MIG, phone interview, February 4, 2017

3. Andy Balderson, landscape designer, phone interview, February 5, 2017

4. Russ Cletta, landscape designer, phone interview, February 8, 2017

5. Maggie Lobl, landscape designer, phone interview, February 8, 2017

6. Naomi Sanders, landscape designer, email interview, February 5, 2017

7. Veronica Hoodless, sales associate, Fishbecks, Pasadena, California, interview, February 17, 2017

8. Jesse Mezger, manager, Patioworld, Pasadena, California, interview, February 17, 2017

9. Jesse Bawsel, manager, Armstrong Garden Centers, Pasadena, California, interview, February 17, 2017