Redecorating your back yard, deck, or patio area can be a major undertaking. In fact, if you wait until it’s warm enough to be thinking about back yard barbecues, it’s already too late to do a large scale renovation if you want to be able to enjoy it that season. But there are a few workarounds, particularly if you already have a well-made deck or patio. Having seating built into your back yard can be expensive and invasive. But DIY, mix-and-match outdoor sectional sets are more affordable and much faster and easier to install. So if you’re looking to add high quality, attractive, relatively permanent seating to your back yard and don’t want to wait a year to enjoy it, consider buying your own seating set in ready-to-assemble pieces.
What Are Outdoor Sectionals?
The concept of DIY sectional seating is simple; rather paying someone to install a built-in seating area, you buy the seating piece by piece and assemble it yourself. The final look is very similar; the separation between each seating chunk is only slightly more noticeable than the gap between individual seat cushions. But not only are these easier to assemble, they’re easier to move, remove, and reorganize as well.
Shop Outdoor Sectionals:
The Building Blocks of a Sectional
DIY outdoor seating generally consists of four types of pieces: seats with an arm rest on the right or left; seats with no arm rests; seats designed to fit into a corner; ottomans; and freestanding chairs. In some sets, the corner and side pieces are interchangeable (but not always!). You can buy as many or as few of each piece as you want; each one will fit seamlessly with the next. That means you can build anything as small as a loveseat or as big as your yard can accommodate. As a bonus, you can move the pieces apart to use as individual chairs, or rearrange them to optimize seating.
Accommodating Odd Spaces
The biggest advantage of having custom outdoor furniture is that it can accommodate unusual spaces. But even with only four types of pieces to choose from, these outdoor seating sectionals are amazingly flexible. Corner pieces allow the sectional to bend and curve to fit the shape of the outdoor space; the blank middle pieces make it possible to extend each individual side of the sectional as far as necessary.
Simplicity and Versatility
The beauty of DIY sets lies in their versatility. You choose which pieces, how many to buy, and how to arrange them. That means you can assemble them into standard L or U shaped sectionals, long deck borders, or even smaller clusters; whatever best suits your needs. This is a particularly good option for very large outdoor spaces, where it can be difficult to find out-of-the-box seating that’s big enough to stand up to the space, let alone provide all the seating you need to entertain. You can even build multiple sectionals in different areas of your deck or patio. Because the pieces are part of a single collection, the style will be the same.
Easy Repair And Partial Replacement
Another advantage that mix-and-match outdoor sectionals have over custom built ones is the simple fact that they aren’t custom built. That is, if part of a custom built sectional becomes damaged, it can be really difficult to repair or replace. But with a sectional that consists of interchangeable pieces, if one part gets damaged or stained, it’s much simpler to replace the part, or even simply get new cushions or matching pillows. You’ll be able to get exactly the same one without having to worry about reconnecting with your original contractor.
Coordinate Your Whole Outdoor Space
Plus, many mix and match outdoor sectionals are part of larger design sets. That means you can buy other matching furniture in the same style – like coffee or side tables, ottomans, or even dining sets or bar furniture. While of course it’s possible to match the design of a custom sectional to other pre-fabricated furniture, buying the whole set in the same style from the same company takes out a lot of the guesswork. And of course, when you get it all shipped to you at once, you can get your furniture set up quickly, rather than waiting for construction to finish. In other words, you can get it done and get on with your summer before barbecue season ends!
