15+ Simple But Nice Backyard Seating Ideas

Birdhouses and garden gnomes are fine if you don’t mind having the same garden decor everyone else has. If you’re looking for a way to express your unique personal style, though, don’t just settle for the ideas you get from your local home and garden store. Take home a few of these less common decor pieces and make your backyard truly your own.

Gazing globes
These glass garden accents were popularized during the Victorian period when 4-inch hanging balls of either gold or blue were used to scare off witches. Miniature gazing globes are designed to hang in the air along a garden path or beside a pond. Today’s globes are typically ten to twelve inches, but globes as small as five inches and as large as twenty inches can also be found. Blue and green globes capture light well, but if you want a clear reflection of your backyard, go with silver. Warm colors like red or gold work well near seating or above plants of a similar color. Gazing globes can be placed directly on the lawn or in a flowerbed, but they reflect light better if mounted on a stand. Stands are often works of art in themselves, ranging from classical Greek columns with scrolls and acanthus leaves to whimsical designs with animals, fairies, and other figures.

Sundials
A backyard sundial not only makes a unique conversation piece, it’s also functional. When installed correctly, sundials keep quite accurate time. While horizontal sundials are the most common, there are also vertical sundials that can be hung on a wall. A more unusual design is the reflected ceiling dial. This horizontal sundial uses sun reflected from a mirror to drawn the hour lines on the ceiling. For many home landscapers, though, time telling comes second to aesthetic value. In addition to hour lines, the sundial plates are typically enhanced with a design such as an animal or leaves, and many carry inscriptions. Usually the dial’s gnomon, or hour hand, is also incorporated into the design on the dial plate.