The Most Creative Backyard Decorating Ideas for Any Space

Create Outdoor Seating for Two

It's nice to have a great big table that groups can gather around, but there's something equally appealing about creating quiet areas for smaller gatherings, too. Pockets of outdoor seating, either in the garden or by a pool, will serve as great conversation areas or spots where you can get away.

Enjoy a Fire

You don't need much space to enjoy a fire in your backyard. Invest in a firepit, which allows you to sit around the warm flames with friends and family in the cooler months. Just remember to practice fire safety when enjoying this space.

Create a Canopy

Is your backyard bathed in full, direct sunlight? Trees can take years to grow, but a swath of fabric can go up in minutes to provide much-needed cooling shade during the summer months. Best of all, you can easily take it down when you want the sun to shine through.

Smart Landscaping

This vegetable garden was designed to be both beautiful and compact. If space allows in your own backyard, work a natural garden into the setting. Visually striking, durable kales and cabbages are planted among the more traditional tomatoes, onions, and lettuces.

Archway Entrance

If you want to naturally divide a larger backyard into sections while also elevating its overall aesthetic, try adding a formal archway. This one, which leads to a summer garden, is set off by neoregelia on the left and angel's trumpet on the right.

Fresh Tablescapes

Even if you don't have room for planters or hanging plants, you can add live centerpieces to incorporate greenery into a tabletop in any space. Fresh tablescapes can make an open-air meal feel a bit more special, so try topping your tables with lots of natural greenery and flowers.

Garden Planters

You don't need to be an expert gardener to successfully grow flowers, plants, and vegetables in your backyard, which is good news for families with small backyards or those living in apartment buildings or condos. There are a few ways you can optimize whatever amount of outdoor space you have, but our favorite is creating a beautiful and functional raised bed.

• Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Raised Garden Bed

Create an Outdoor Dining Room

Centering your backyard around a dining space is a great idea if you want to get your family outdoors more often. This open-air dining room was designed to evoke both classical architecture and Monet's home in France.

Swing in a Hammock

If you're short on space but still want a place to lounge, hanging a hammock in your backyard is manageable for most homeowners. Anchor your hammock to an exterior wall or purchase a freestanding frame.

Outdoor Living

Bring your living space outside with a sectional set for all to enjoy. Here, homeowners anchored the environment with a bamboo ceiling and a Noguchi lantern that casts a warm glow at night.

Small-Scale Upgrades

Everyone dreams of having a lap pool surrounded by a lush, sprawling garden in their backyard. But if space is tight, consider small-scale iterations of the features you love. A custom-built hot tub just like this on can be paired with a select few garden planters to create your own luxe retreat.

Window Boxes

When it comes to arranging flowers in a window box, you should aim to create a design that's full of personality. That can be achieved through the choice of flower, color, shape, size, height, or texture. A great mix can complement the rest of your backyard's décor.

Outdoor Pathway Perennials

This is the perfect solution for anybody who doesn't want to deal with a lawn, but also doesn't want to give up on the idea of backyard green space. There are dozens of low ground covers and creeping perennials resilient enough to withstand being walked on.

Build a Drop-Down Bar

Whether you're cooking outside or want to keep a pitcher of fresh lemonade at the ready, adding a surface that can easily fold out (and away) whenever you need it will make your life so much easier. A drop-down bar is the perfect solution.

Fresh Roses

A unique alternative to a traditional trellis, a network of eye hooks and picture wire creates the effect of a rose-covered cottage. Roses can be trained around corners or in slender columns by loosely tying stems to the wire with twine. If growing your own blooms is important to you, make them part of the actual layout in your yard.

Hanging Plants

Like any suspended garden planter, these DIY leather holsters guarantee good drainage and keep vines and tendrils out of curious pets' and toddlers' reach. You can add one, two, or a whole slew of these hanging planters in your backyard, space permitting.

Exterior Lighting

Lighting is one of the easiest (and least expensive) ways to cast an enchanting spell in your backyard.

• 12 of Our Favorite Patio Lights to Brighten Up Your Outdoor Space