60 Small Patio Ideas That Will Make You Want to Spend All Day Outside

Calling all minimalists: Pared-back furniture is the perfect way to bring some modernity to the great outdoors. When designers Christine and John Gachot revived Paul Rudolph’s former Manhattan home, they dressed the outdoor space in Blu Dot’s sleek table, a set of custom chairs, and a classic Charlotte Perriand stool. The result? A winning combination of hard and soft elements.

For a small patio idea that looks as good as it operates, take a cue from Studio Schicketanz and add a set of matching chaise longues. The sleek style is fitting for this Silicon Valley home, while the Kerry Joyce performance fabric will keep stains and spots to a minimum.

Want to take your small patio decor to new heights? Add a hanging chair like Workshop/APD incorporated in this Pebble Beach, California, home. This design trick offers an awesome place to kick back and relax—all without taking up too much precious square footage.

Matching furniture might be an easy and efficient way to dress up your small patio, but it can be a tad boring. Instead, shake things up by piecing your outdoor set together one by one. This Palm Beach home designed by Caroline Rafferty offers plenty of visual intrigue—thanks to a Room & Board sofa and two matching Sam Son chairs, which Konstantin Grcic designed for Magis.

Want to make your small patio equal parts cozy and chic? Juxtapose different materials in one confined space. For this idyllic French property, designer Patrick Frey played up the home’s weathered stone facade with wood furniture, custom cushions, and a wrought-iron chandelier.

Avid maximalists will find a lot to love about this bold space by Atelier Davis, which offsets a neutral table from RH, Restoration Hardware with bright chairs from Petite Friture. The citrus hue makes a statement and pairs nicely with the Bay Area home’s lush surroundings.

According to Cliff Fong, the key to decorating any outdoor space is treating it just like your home’s interior. The Los Angeles–based designer brought his impeccable eye to his backyard with a Van Keppel-Green table, assortment of Mathieu Matégot chairs, and a striking pendant, courtesy of Louis Poulsen.

This patio outside a Santa Monica, California, family home designed by Natasha Baradaran features overgrown greenery above a small pergola. The outdoor lounge chairs are by Dedon, and the cocktail table is by Baradaran.

A mix of piled-on pillows in fabric sourced from Peru, brass pendant lamps from Tazi Designs, and vintage statuettes create a cozy eclectic vibe on this Holly Kopman–designed porch.

Romantic scrollwork is the perfect backdrop for a vintage slipper chair paired with a petite table from Artisans du Liban et d’Orient at the chic Beit Trad guesthouse in Lebanon.

A carved-wood daybed surrounded by bougainvillea brings Mediterranean vibes to this Miami poolside patio.

The covered terrace furnished with soft seating is a cozy space for watching TV or enjoying the flicker of the fireplace at this high-end Hudson Valley, New York, home.

A table covered in a cloth by Pierre Frey and antique garden chairs from Provence, France, furnish a cozy brick patio outside a home in Normandy.

In her midcentury house in Los Angeles’s Laurel Canyon, fashion designer Rozae Nichols carefully preserves the laid-back vibe in her outdoor space with a Turkish towel top daybed by Van Keppel-Green and pillows by Gregory Parkinson.

Wood furniture adds character to a patio in an 18th-century row house in the French city of Perpignan. For a personal touch, window grilles and a keystone feature the monogram of the previous owners, the family behind JOB-brand cigarette papers.

Simple black mid-20th-century steel furniture and a sculpture by Odile de Frayssinet sit in a backyard patio, leading to a beautiful green garden in a home in Paris.

Kathryn M. Ireland’s Santa Monica, California, outdoor area is a lesson in bohemian-inspired decor. Along with a built-in stucco sectional, featuring cushions in a custom Kathryn M. Ireland striped fabric, the inviting space includes wicker pendants, a table from her French Finds collection, and chairs by Consort.

Furniture designer Kelly Behun’s Southampton, New York, beach house features a stucco-walled patio, designed by the architecture firm Sawyer Berson. A low teak table and chairs by Bonetti Kozerski Studio set off a wall adorned with staghorn ferns and baskets made in Zambia. The floor is limestone, and the rug is from Morocco.

Vintage Michael Taylor wicker chairs with cushions that are covered in a striped Perennials fabric sit on a small patio in a Bel-Air, California, home. The 19th-century cast-iron table is American, and the floor is antique limestone pavers.

For the terrace of historic Libbey Ranch (a secluded seven-acre family retreat in Ojai, California, owned by actress Reese Witherspoon) designer Kristen Buckingham surrounded a wood-topped dining table with vintage iron and wicker chairs and an antique lantern.

A cedar slat screen and planters of boxwood, English ivy, and magnolia provide shade and privacy on this New York City terrace. The aluminum table and bench are by Harbour Outdoor, and the lanterns are by RH, Restoration Hardware.

The cocktail table, chairs, and sectional by Munder-Skiles turn the covered patio of this Massachusetts home into a cozy cocktail area. The cushions are covered in a Perennials fabric.

The garden patio of this Oakland, California, home features sleek chairs from Design Within Reach, the bench is in the style of Lutyens, the windows are by Sierra Pacific Windows, and the exterior is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Jet Black.

At a rustic Los Angeles abode, the guest room patio features a midcentury cocktail table and daybed (which has cushions covered in a Holland & Sherry fabric) by John Good.

In the garden pavilion of a historic upstate New York home, a vintage garden table from Finch, in Hudson, is surrounded by dining chairs and illuminated by a pendant light from RH, Restoration Hardware. The tropical-root table is from Mecox, and the rug is from West Elm.

In Rachel Lee Hovnanian’s Greenwich Village, New York, townhouse, a spiral staircase leads to a pleasant, quaint patio. A black floral sculpture by Donald Baechler stands out against a white wall.

On the veranda of this rustic Long Island, New York, home, the teak table is by Barlow Tyrie, the wicker chairs are by RH, Restoration Hardware, and the antique wood chairs are from Ruby Beets. The pergola supports a wisteria vine and is surrounded by boxwood topiaries.

A custom sofa with cushions covered in a Pierre Frey fabric sits on the patio of a Monte Carlo home. The vintage chair is by Jean Royère, and the cocktail table is by Pierre Frey.

A pergola covered in white wisteria shades a small patio area in a Southampton, New York, home. The reclaimed teak table is surrounded by rattan chairs with Sunbrella cushions from Bloom and a French iron chair.

Argentine designer Luis Galliussi decorated this small patio for model Eugenia Silva’s Portugal home, where he included a banquette covered in African textiles found in Ibiza, Spain, an urn found in a nearby village, floor cushions that are covered in remnants of antique Moroccan kilims and a Moroccan rug.

A backyard patio is filled with unexpected furnishings: The wicker seating is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Off-Black from Beall & Bell, the pillows are covered in a stripped design fabric by Jennifer Shorto, and the folding chairs and painting hanging on the exterior of the house were both found at a Paris flea market.

The homeowners of this Moroccan abode make the most of a narrow patio by incorporating canvas-covered poufs by maisonLAB, a white wing chair by Ikea, and white dining chairs by Fermob.

Tucked in Capri, an island off of Naples, Italy, is a small charming patio decorated with sleek white armchairs and a table by Gervasoni.

Nestled outside a home in Marrakech, Morocco, is a small patio designed for peace and tranquility. The swing by the garden and the table were designed by Samuel Dowe-Sandes, founder of Popham Design, and the vintage chairs with red cushions are by Harry Bertoia.

A custom-made seating area is covered in cushions encased in a dark gray Perennials fabric on a patio at a home in Alys Beach, Florida. The teak lounge chairs are by Henry Hall Designs, and the Spanish hanging lanterns were found in Belgium.

A small wooden patio in Paris is a lunchtime getaway decorated with lanterns by Casamidy, a table covered with a fabric brought back from Tanzania and chairs by Alinea.