When you have an in-ground pool in the center of your patio / outdoor space, arranging your patio furniture around it can seem a bit daunting. Luckily, we’re here to help with some guidance on the subject.
Basically, think of your pool as the centerpiece; like when furniture is arranged around a firepit. Your items will surround (and face) the pool, even if it’s only on one side or corner.
The perfect pieces of patio furniture to arrange around a pool are reclining lounge chairs. They really only go one way which is side-by-side, it’s not as complicated as an outdoor couch and chairs.
The ideal spot to put these chairs is on the far side of the pool. What we mean by this is when you first walk out of your house, the furthest side from you. If you have nothing but lounge chairs this will also make the pool itself more accessible.
A fantastic improvement you can make with lounge chairs is to add small end tables and put them between the lounge chairs. Don’t space them out too much, or else you won’t be able to easily make use of the tables while sitting in the chair.
When placing your chairs, put them on a slight angle relative to the pool. Three feet is typically a good distance between your pool and the chairs.
Another common choice for patio furniture near a pool is a dining table and its respective chairs.
If your table has a hole, we absolutely recommend adding an umbrella to it, both for aesthetics and functionality.
When combined with lounge chairs, place your table(s) next to the arrangement of lounge chairs. If you have room for it, give it at least five feet between the two sets of furniture.
If all you have is your dining set, put it where the lounge chairs would have gone, on the far side of the pool.
You may want to put dining sets a bit further away from the pool than something like lounge chairs, because nobody wants to get splashed when they’re eating food.
Wicker furniture, namely sets of wicker furniture including a couch and chairs, can be a little trickier to set up in a nice-looking way around a pool.
Normally, these sets of furniture are a couch and two chairs. In some cases you may also just be working with a sectional. These pieces come together to form a U-shape or L-shape.
Basically you want to have the largest side of the largest piece facing the pool. This usually means the back of the couch or sectional. You can then arrange it to form your U or L-shape if you have additional pieces of furniture.
The furniture should be a few feet from the pool, three feet or so will do.
Consider adding an outdoor coffee table in the center of the set, as this can do wonders for appearance. If you’re working with a U-shape or L-shape arrangement, you can even add end tables between the pieces.
These are our guidelines for arranging your patio furniture around your pool to create a nice appearance, but you also need to keep functionality in mind.
This will vary from person to person, but for example; if you make use of your dining table while others take advantage of the pool, you may want to keep it further from the pool. Don’t be afraid to space things out if you don’t have a lot of furniture too.
Another thing to keep in mind is the weather. If your items are not heavy, you don’t want them getting blown into the pool on days with strong winds. Umbrellas are another concern for this same reason, because they can become damaged even if they are properly secured by such conditions.
We hope you enjoyed this article!