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Investing in your backyard furniture is a surefire way to ensure that you and your family get plenty of hours outside in the sunnier months, but it can be hard to know where to start. Especially if you have a smaller lounge area, you’ll want to be sure not to buy too many things as to not overcrowd the space, which means prioritizing smaller seats, built-in storage, and other small patio ideas to spruce up your backyard without a lot of space. And, if your patio or yard is a bit too sunny, you can also opt for a space saving umbrella that will provide shade without decreasing room for foot traffic — keep reading for some of the most highly-rated options. 

Something to know about umbrella shopping is that, from a glance, it seems equally common for outdoor umbrellas to come with a base versus without. So, if the umbrella you’re looking at doesn’t have a base in the photos, that indicates that you’ll need to buy a base separately. Opting for a smaller base will help you save space if your yard is smaller. The Paima Umbrella Base from Article retails for $99 and is made of concrete, so it’ll keep your umbrella super stable (it was also a vetted New York Times pick.) The ShadeMobile Rolling Umbrella Base from Costco is $159.99 and has over 1,000 glowing reviews from customers, so both are a great bet. Size is another important feature to consider when choosing a patio umbrella: a 9-foot umbrella is standard and fits for a table of four chairs, for reference. 

Instead of having an umbrella that is only useful in sun or rain, you can get the Sunvilla Solar LED Market Umbrella, which provides a light source for nighttime use. The umbrella retails for $174.99 at Costco, and you need to buy a separate base to hold it upright. When you place it in the sun, the umbrella uses a small solar panel on top of the dome to power the LED lights that are embedded underneath the panels. As the sun sets, the lights can turn on and illuminate your table or sitting area so you can stay outside without a problem. That means a whole lot of space saving, since it removes some of the need for extra lamps or lanterns in your backyard. 

The Sunvilla umbrella is remarkably loved by Costco customers, with over 900 five-star reviews on the site. “It’s great,” one user wrote in a review on Costco’s website. “It shades, the material lasts (I had one for two years with no sign of material wear in the hot Sacramento summers), and the lights are wonderful. Perfect for sitting in the evening with friends over dinner.” Other users also touched on the quality of the product, with one person calling it “The best patio umbrella I ever bought. The workmanship and quality is great”. Others called out how convenient it is that the LED lights have three different brightness settings; “Absolutely amazing product. LED’s last all night and can be dimmed,” one happy customer reported. 

When it comes to patio umbrellas that will keep you cool on summer’s hottest days, the PHI VILLA 15ft Large Patio Umbrella, with its massive overhang, is a great choice. The umbrella retails for $149.99 on Amazon, and includes a base, which is fairly small compared to the jumbo-sized shade. The canopy is large and does the work of multiple umbrellas, meaning you only need one base for lots of shade, a space saving hack. The material of the umbrella claims to be UV protective and weatherproof, so you can keep it out regardless of the season, but the item only weighs 45 pounds (when not filled with sand), so you can easily move it to storage for the winter months. 

Perhaps the best reason to buy this particular choice, other than its low price tag, is that the umbrella has thousands of five-star reviews on Amazon’s website. Many happy customers spoke about how convenient the umbrella’s large size is, stating that they were able to fit a lot of furniture beneath its awning. “The outdoor table and chairs I ordered haven’t arrived yet, so for now, I’ve just placed two outdoor sofas under it,” one Amazon shopper reported. “But in fact, it’s big enough to cover an eight-person outdoor dining set. Absolutely fantastic!” Others say that the umbrella is stable and high quality. “Very sturdy even on windy day,” another user said on Amazon’s website. “Love the material of the umbrella it is made of, very durable.” 

Another highly loved patio umbrella choice is the Seasons Sentry 10′ Square Solar LED Cantilever Umbrella, which retails for $699.99 from Costco, and comes with its own fillable base to keep it steady. The remarkable features for this product include the 360 degree head rotation and 80 degree tilt, making it so that you can adjust the dome accordingly and be shaded throughout the day instead of needing multiple umbrellas to cover you from the sun, saving you space and money. Like the Sunvilla umbrella, there are built-in LED lights that rely on solar power to recharge during the day to keep them glowing all night long, again saving the space that a lamp and cords would otherwise take up. The material of the canopy is also resistant to stains and bacteria, and comes in three color options: gray, tan, and blue. 

The umbrella has 385 five-star reviews on Costco’s website, and a lot of the happy customers mentioned how large the item is, providing them with ample shade for their backyards. “This umbrella is HUGE, and it covers our patio set perfectly!” one Costco reviewer wrote. Others commented on how reliable and bright the built-in LED lights are, saying, “Even the LED lights are great, they come with two battery packs, on that can charge with the solar panel and one that you can charge offline if needed. Highly recommend.” Some of the negative reviews on Costco’s site mentioned frustration around the base coming unfilled, but commenters pointed out that you can fill the base with water instead of needing to find massive amounts of sand. 

Frontgate’s 10′ Cantilever Square Umbrella is a bit pricier, ringing in at $959, but it’s a large option that comes with its own side mount base and plenty of color choices to make that price tag worth it. The pole allows the umbrella to rotate 360 degrees with ease, so it’s great for anyone who has multiple seating areas in their backyard that could need shade — and therefore saves the space that another umbrella or two would take up. The side mount base also makes it so you’re taking up side space and still have room for a coffee table in the center, great for smaller patios or yards. You can crank the canopy open with one hand, and the canopy itself is said to be “marine grade,” making it resistant to mildew and other types of damage. Plus, the umbrella comes in chic colors like sage green and auburn on top of the typical navy, tan, and beige. 

The 80 five-star reviews from Frontgate’s site touch on a few reasons why the umbrella is worth buying. For one, the canopy is large enough to add some serious coverage: “I bought a size to practically cover my small 13 X 13 patio. I love it!!! It brings the temperature down quickly on the sunniest day and adds to my privacy,” one reviewer wrote on Frontgate’s website. Others noted that the item is very hardy and long-lasting. ” It stands up to very high winds. This is our second one. The first one still looks great after I think about 4 years,” one user reported. 

When it comes to affordable, reliable patio and backyard shade sources, the Hampton Bay Aluminum Market 9 Foot Crank and Tilt Patio Umbrella, sold for $89 through Home Depot, is a great way to go. This simpler pick has all of the basics that you would need, and is a smaller size for smaller patios and yards. The canopy is 9 feet wide, making it the perfect size for a typical four-seat setup, and has a simple crank mechanism to easily open it up. This umbrella does not come with a base, but does have a rust-proof aluminum frame and can easily slide into a table. 

After over 1,800 reviews, the Hampton Bay umbrella has 4.4 stars on Home Depot’s website. Positive reviews mentioned that it is easy to set up, affordable, and comes in nice, bright colors like the ruby red option. “This Hampton Bay umbrella is really top quality, very well-made, has great features and looks great with my table and chairs,” said one happy customer on Home Depot’s website. People also loved the auto tilt function, which allows the umbrella head to tilt with more cranks on the handle. “The crank handle is easy to operate and takes the umbrella from a closed position to an open position and then to a tilting position. The tilt function is a nice touch especially since our deck gets the late afternoon sun and it nice to be able to easily position the umbrella for shade,” another reviewer said.