Outdoor Entertaining Area Ideas: Layouts for BBQs, Decks and Pergolas

Start with zones: dining, lounge and BBQ

Here is why each zone goes where it does, plus the two placement details that most often get missed: where the drinks sit and how wide the walkway is.

• Dining zone nearest the kitchen door. Less walking with plates, and the table is the first thing guests reach.
• Lounge zone in the best spot for sitting. Usually the shadiest and breeziest corner, slightly away from the action, so people can linger.
• BBQ and serving on the edge. The cook needs room to work and somewhere to put platters, but should still be able to chat.
• Drinks near the seating, not near the grill. That keeps guests from crowding the cook.
• A clear walkway. Leave a path of about a metre between the kitchen door, the BBQ and the table so nobody squeezes past chairs.

An outdoor rug under the lounge and a defined table zone make even one open patio read as two "rooms". Give every seat somewhere to put a drink — a coffee table, side tables or built-in arm surfaces — so plates don't end up on the floor.

How many seats do you need?

Set up for the number of people you host most weeks, not the biggest party of the year. Then plan how you'll stretch for the bigger days.

For a household that eats outside often and hosts big groups now and then, an extendable table is the most useful single piece. The Rapa Outdoor 11 Piece Extendable Dining Set has a powder-coated aluminium table that extends from 2 metres, which seats eight comfortably, to 3 metres for up to ten. Its ten chairs stack, so you can put some away on ordinary nights, and the textilene seats are a mesh that drains and dries quickly after rain.

For a standard group of six, the Chalfonte 7 Piece Outdoor Dining Set with Sanbria Chairs pairs a dark brown aluminium table with a Duraboard top — a composite that looks like slatted timber and needs no oiling — and six stackable PE wicker chairs with no cushions to manage. Compare more layouts in our outdoor dining sets collection, and use our guide on how to choose outdoor dining sets and lounges if you are deciding which to buy first.

BBQ area setup: seating near the grill

If you plan to grill and eat outside regularly, the BBQ area needs two kinds of seating: somewhere for people to perch and chat with the cook, and a proper table a little further away for the meal itself.

• Keep cushions back from the heat. Grease and smoke work their way into fabric quickly, so cushioned lounge pieces belong a few metres from the grill.
• Use wipe-clean materials close in. Powder-coated aluminium, PE wicker and slatted timber or composite surfaces clean up with a damp cloth.
• Add bar-height perches at the bench. Stools along an outdoor bar or kitchen bench let guests keep the cook company without crowding the grill.
• Give the cook a landing spot. A trolley, bench or side table next to the BBQ keeps platters off the dining table until the food is ready.

The Bendigo Outdoor Bar Stool is built for that perching role: a white powder-coated aluminium frame with a contoured, slatted eucalyptus seat at bar height. It is backless, so it tucks neatly under an outdoor bar, kitchen bench or high table — better for perching and short sits than for a long meal.

Pool and alfresco layouts

Covered alfresco

A roofed alfresco is the most forgiving place for furniture: it's out of direct rain and most of the sun, so cushioned dining chairs and lounges can stay out year-round. Treat it like an extra living room — a dining set nearest the house, a lounge at the open end where the breeze comes through. Because airflow can be lower under a roof, keep cushions dry and give the space a regular airing so mould doesn't take hold.

Poolside

Around a pool, split the area into wet and dry. Keep loungers and quick-drying seating near the water and the dining table under shade, away from splashes. Pieces without cushions, like the Chalfonte's PE wicker chairs, or with quick-drying mesh, like the Rapa's textilene chairs, cope best with wet swimmers.

For lounging, a modular sofa lets you reshape the layout around the pool. The Royan Outdoor Modular Sofa is two armless chairs, a chaise and a teak-topped coffee table on a black aluminium frame, with cushions in 290gr recycled polyester. The pieces can sit together as one sofa or be split up across the deck.

Deck, patio and pergola furniture

The structure over your outdoor area matters more than its size when choosing furniture.

• Roofed patio: the easiest. Most outdoor furniture does well here, cushions included.
• Open deck: the hardest. Full sun and rain mean aluminium frames, drainable surfaces and cushions you can bring in.
• Open pergola: looks covered but isn't — rain falls straight through open beams. Choose furniture as if it were an open deck. A deck with a partial roof is the same: put the cushioned pieces under the roofed section and the hard-wearing ones in the open.

On a deck or under a pergola, a corner lounge makes the most of an L-shaped space. The Portals Outdoor Corner Lounge with Bendigo Coffee Table has a black aluminium frame, solid teak side panels and 190gr Olefin cushions, a fabric described as UV fade-resistant and quick-drying, with a square eucalyptus-topped coffee table in front. If your deck layout changes with the seasons, the modular Hydra 4 Piece Outdoor Set can be arranged in a straight line, an L or an open group, and each sofa has a eucalyptus side table built into one end. Browse every lounge layout in our outdoor lounges collection.

For older homes with a deep verandah, our guide to Queenslander verandah furniture covers long, narrow layouts.

Small patios and balconies

On a small patio you usually can't fit a full dining set and a lounge. Pick one main function — dining or lounging — and add flexible pieces around it: a pair of bar stools at a high table, stackable chairs that come out when friends arrive, or a single modular piece that can move. Lighter colours make a tight space feel bigger. Measure before you buy; our guide on how to measure and size outdoor furniture shows how, and our guide to outdoor furniture for apartments and small spaces has layouts for balconies.

See everything in our outdoor furniture range. If you'd like to see wicker, aluminium and timber side by side, we have five showrooms — Rocklea, Virginia, North Ipswich, Bundall and Beenleigh — so ask which store has the setting you want on display.

Outdoor entertaining FAQs

• What outdoor dining setup do I need if I plan to grill and eat outside regularly?

  A dining set sized for your usual household, placed near the kitchen door, plus two or more bar stools at the BBQ bench so guests can keep the cook company. Choose wipe-clean materials near the grill and keep cushioned pieces back from the heat and smoke.

• What furniture suits a pergola or a deck with a partial roof?

  Rain falls through an open pergola, so choose furniture as you would for an open deck: aluminium frames, surfaces that drain and cushions you can bring inside. On a partly roofed deck, keep cushioned pieces under the roof and hard-wearing pieces in the open.

• What outdoor furniture works by a pool?

  Pieces without cushions or with quick-drying mesh seats cope best with wet swimmers — for example PE wicker chairs or textilene dining chairs. Keep the dining table in the shade and away from splashes, and use a modular sofa so you can rearrange the lounge zone around the pool.

• Where can I see wicker outdoor furniture near Ipswich?

  We have five showrooms, including North Ipswich, as well as Rocklea, Virginia, Bundall and Beenleigh. Our range includes PE wicker pieces such as the Sanbria chairs in the Chalfonte 7 Piece Outdoor Dining Set. Ask which store has the piece you want on display before you visit.