Outdoor Furniture – 15 Ways to Arrange Your Porch

This post about How to Arrange Outdoor Furniture was updated February 2024.

Looking for ways to arrange outdoor furniture? Whether you have a front porch that welcomes visitors or a back porch that’s private and perfect for entertaining, the way you arrange your outdoor furniture will set the tone for your entire space.

That’s why it’s important to up your game with a stellar outdoor porch furniture layout. With warm weather on the way, we’re sharing 15 foolproof ideas to arrange outdoor furniture for every backyard space and style.

1. A Classic Way to Arrange Outdoor Furniture: A Sofa & Two Chairs

Our go-to way to arrange outdoor furniture is the classic combination of a comfortable porch sofa and two chairs. Just like your living room, this is a foolproof layout that works in a den, on a patio, and, yes, on your porch too.

In the space above, we didn’t let a lack of deck or porch space limit our seating possibilities: we combined a sofa and two chairs from the Navio collection right on the lawn to achieve this comfy yet luxurious look.

Another tip? Swap your outdoor coffee table for a fire bowl during the cooler months so you can use your space year round.

2. Two Loveseats and a Mix of Chairs

Loveseats are a great use of space because, realistically, you’ll only seat 2 people on a couch (just like you will a love seat), but their shorter width allows you to squeeze in more chairs.

In this space above, we broke our Navio 2-Piece Sectional into two loveseats and then surrounded that with a few lounge chairs, a cozy fire pit, two side tables, and a beautiful outdoor rug. The great thing about this arrangement is that all of these pieces can be moved around for a more versatile setup!

3. Arrange Outdoor Furniture by Creating a Corner with Two Sofas

Your first instinct might be to place two sofas facing each other, and while that’s a great layout that always works, we also like to create a corner with two outdoor sofas. The result is an intimate corner where you can chat tête-à-tête. It also opens up the other side of the seating space for easier flow.

The space above pulls out all of the stops when it comes to creating a cozy outdoor room with our Suzanne Kasler Directoire collection. Don’t forget to add outdoor decor like throw blankets, solar lanterns, indoor outdoor rugs, and outdoor drapery.

4. Use a Sectional to Create Boundaries

Alternatively, a sectional can also create boundaries and help define your space. Here we used our Santa Clara Outdoor Sectional to bring the soft comforts of an indoor sofa into an outdoor space. Sectionals are also great if you entertain in large groups because they offer maximum seating.

Another tip? If you’re floating your sectional in a wipe open space, consider a rounded shape.

5. Work a Chaise into Your Porch Arrangement

Typically we think of chaise lounge chairs for relaxing by the pool, but they’re actually easy to work into your seating arrangement too! The Ceylon Teak Chaise Lounge chairs above are great options for blending with existing outdoor wood finishes.

6. Substitute a Chair with an Ottoman

If you’re short on space, consider substituting a chair with an ottoman. The space above uses our Cape Town Sofa, one chair, and then a large, comfy ottoman which can act as a foot stool or an extra perch when you’re entertaining. An ottoman is more versatile than a chair which is especially helpful when you’re trying to make the most of a small porch.

Read more: 25 Dreamy Patios, Pools, & Porches

7. Explore New Areas to Dine Al Fresco

We often run into a dilemma when decorating a porch — do you want a dining or a seating space? What if you want both! One way to bring both into a smaller porch is to do just a pair of chairs. It’s far easier to work two chairs into a space than a full sofa and coffee table.

Alternatively, you can also move your dining area into the yard and free up space on your porch. In the space above, a bit of gravel and a waterproof outdoor rug transforms an otherwise unused space into a beautiful vista for our Amalfi Dining Table.

8. Arrange Outdoor Furniture in a Circle

Working with a lot of different types of seating options? Arrange them in a big circle!

In the patio space above, we mixed and matched pieces from our Navio Outdoor Collection with a few crucial outdoor accessories and lighting options. Placing all of your seating options in a big circle makes the perfect spot to enjoy a cocktail with friends while waiting for the grill to heat up!

9. How to Arrange Outdoor Furniture to Face Each Other

We’ve showed you the combination of a sofa with two chairs on either side, but for a space that’s deeper than it is wide, place the chairs across from the sofa so they’re facing one another. We’ll often use this setup when we want to allow for traffic flow through the space.

In the space above, we blended a sofa, two chairs, and an ottoman from our Harbor Collection with some chic greenery and marble spheres.  Doesn’t it feel cozy?

10. Arrange Outdoor Furniture with a Pair of Chairs

You may be noticing a theme with many of these spaces: a pair of chairs. Both inside and outside, we tend to think that two chairs are better than one. Who wants to drink a glass of wine alone?

For a narrow balcony or small porch space, we suggest a simple pair of chairs with a side table between them. This is a great option for narrow front porches too!

11. Divide Your Space into Two Seating Spaces

If you have a long, narrow porch or patio, it’s impossible to come up with an arrangement where someone at one end can socialize with someone at the other. Instead, divide your space into two different seating areas.

Pull a sofa and a few chairs tightly together on one end, then do a dining area on the other end. This way, you can have a more intimate, private setting for when you’re reading a book, but when guests come over, you have a larger outdoor entertaining space too. In other words, it’s ok if one seating area can’t do it all—divide and conquer!

12. Bring Together Dining and Seating

Another option for split porch layouts? Dividing them into a separate seating and dining area that can be easily combined.

In the outdoor room above, we used a large outdoor dining table to create a dining space with various types of seating options that can be easily re-arranged depending on what the hosting situation requires.

13. How to Arrange Two Long Sectionals Side-by-Side

At the 2014 Southern Living Idea House, Suzanne Kasler was challenged with furnishing a long, narrow covered porch, and she placed two 4-piece sectionals from her Directoire Collection side-by-side to create two distinct and equally inviting spaces.

Now, almost 10 years later, we still follow Suzanne’s vision in large patio or poolside spaces like the beautiful home oasis shown above.

14. Arrange Just Chairs into a Sectional Shape

On the porch of the Idea House Bunny Williams’ designed, she used just chairs to create a cozy but open porch. We love this because everyone gets their own seat, and with a porch as large as this, you can fit plenty of seating!

 15. Mix It Up

Why limit yourself to just one seating area? If you have a large porch (what we wouldn’t give to hang out here during the summer!), mix it up with different ways to arrange your outdoor furniture. Here, you can see a three chaise lounge chairs, a dining area, a seating area in the foreground, and a relaxing bench to the far right.

Whew, that was a lot of porches! Which one was your favorite? Do you feel like you now have a better handle on how to arrange outdoor furniture?

In any case, browse all of our outdoor porch furniture or Pinterest boards and find more outdoor decorating ideas in these posts below:

• How to Mix and Match Outdoor Furniture
• Backyard Pool Ideas: Best Decorating Tips for a New Pool
• 12 Ways to Make a Big Outdoor Statement
• How to Up Your Outdoor Decorating Game
• 25 Dreamy Patios, Pools, and Porches

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