Last updated on April 20th, 2021
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Perhaps you need a garden day bed if you just can’t get comfortable enough on your sun lounger for the perfect outdoors nap. This piece of outdoors furniture is a cross between a chaise lounge, a couch and a bed and just screams relaxation.
We review a range of the best models available and list their pros and cons, along with a more in-depth discussion of their features and our recommendation for each model. Our Buyer’s Guide covers the main features that the best garden daybeds have to aid you in your purchasing choice.
Best Pick
Runner-up
Best Day Beds For Relaxing In The Garden Reviews
1. Garden Haven Rattan Garden Day Bed
Best Pick
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The Garden Haven Rattan Garden Day Bed has the traditional circular shape of a day bed along with a modern appearance with its black woven poly rattan structure and white cushions. The plastic rattan is woven over a reinforced metal frame and is strong and durable.
Not only a comfy daybed with its 7cm thick cushions and extra pillows, this Garden Haven model pulls apart to provide seating for a group of your family and friends. Half of the structure becomes a curved couch, the other half splits into two curved backless chairs and the centre bit becomes a round coffee table. You just have to love garden furniture that’s multi-functional. Hooks on each part hold everything safely together when you use this as a bed.
To keep you in the shade while on the daybed there’s a canopy in the same colour as the cushion and four pillows, all water resistant. You don’t need to worry about having to kneel on the bed and tug open the canopy as its movement is assisted by two gas cylinders so it opens and closes easily and smoothly. The canopy locks open where you need it to keep you in the shade. The pressure cylinders and fittings are covered to keep them away from bad weather, an unusual feature in day beds.
Maintenance of this Garden Haven bed is simple. The cushion and pillow covers are removable for washing. When they’re in the wash, just gently hose down the structure to remove all the dust and grime that always builds up.
Pros
- Round, sectional weather-proof and UV protected rattan day bed.
- Breaks into a curved couch, two curved stools and a table.
- Canopy opens with the help of a gas cylinder over the curved couch part of the bed.
- The base cushion and four throw pillows are 7cm thick and water-resistant polyester.
- Zippers on the cushion and pillow covers for ease of removal.
- Adjustable feet let you level the day bed on sloped ground.
- Dimensions: 185cm (diameter); 145cm (to top of opened canopy) and 30cm (seat height).
Cons
- Difficult to assemble.
Our recommendation
The Garden Haven Rattan Garden Day Bed has all the features you need in a day bed for you, your friends and family to relax on. The easily opened canopy protects you from the sun during the day. Release the hooks from the different sections in the evening to form a seating circle, with coffee table, for a conversation group.
For all its features, this Garden Haven Rattan Garden Day Bed is our choice for Best Pick in our review. It’s a day bed for all the family and then a seating group for your friends, or however you want to arrange the people in your life.
2. EVRE Bali Day Bed
Runner-up
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The EVRE Bali Day Bed has a low-key style with a black woven poly rattan base and medium grey cushions, pillow and canopy. It’s a circular day bed and a smaller and more basic model than the other circular day beds we review.
While this EVRE Bali Day Bed does separate into a seating arrangement like it’s compatriots, it doesn’t include a central coffee table in the mix. The 7cm (above average) thick base cushion is in four parts and hides a separation into three units – half of the daybed becomes a couch and the other half splits into two backless stools. In all, you end up with a conversation group of three pieces of furniture for more intimate gatherings.
The four included pillows are pleasing plump and let you snuggle up on the day bed or couch in shade and some privacy under the canopy, grey to match the other fabric pieces. All the cushion and pillow covers are removable for washing and the manufacturer recommends that you hand wash them. It’s easy to clean the rattan frame as well with water and a little detergent.
The canopy is not pressure assisted, so you become used to putting it up and down manually. But it is waterproof and UV-protected, as are the cushions and pillows. The colour of this day bed shouldn’t fade in the sun and it can be left out in showers.
Pros
- Circular day bed made of woven black poly rattan with grey canopy, pillows and cushions.
- Separates into a three-piece garden furniture set.
- Cushions are 7cm thick, plumper than average.
- The canopy creates shade over the day bed and the couch when parts are separated.
Cons
- Canopy is not pressure-assisted.
- The cushion fabric is slippery.
- Difficult to assemble.
Our recommendation
The EVRE Bali Day Bed offers a smaller option as a day bed and outdoors furniture grouping to our Best Pick. It’s a good choice for those who have limited room in their garden or who just don’t need a full set of patio furniture as well as a relaxing day bed.
We’ve made the EVRE Bali Day Bed the Runner-up in our Best Day Bed for Relaxing in the Garden review. We like the cosiness of its size and the comfortableness of its cushions and pillows.
3. EVRE Outdoor Rattan Garden Love Bed
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The EVRE Outdoor Rattan Garden Love Bed is the only rectangular daybed in our review – the most common shape being circular. This comfortable and familiar shape is constructed of high resilience, weather-resistant woven rattan for a stylish and minimalistic addition to your outdoor décor. The two-piece structure is woven black poly rattan and the 5cm high cushions are grey, as are the pillows.
This day bed starts out as a two-seater sofa, with arms and a back, with a full-width ottoman. There’s enough length for you to stretch out your legs when you’re sitting up or slumping down, but it’s not a day bed yet. That magic happens when you flip up the side flap of the ottoman and turn that structure 90 degrees, butting it up against the sofa.
If you visualise this (or look at the photos on the sales site), you see that half of the sofa’s width turns into a day bed while the other half remains as a sofa. This saves any arguments about whether the people using the day bed should lay down or sit up.
But this daybed doesn’t come with a canopy so you need to provide something yourself to give shade (perhaps a cantilevered umbrella), or put this daybed in your gazebo.
Maintaining the good looks of this EVRE outdoor daybed is easy. The cushions covers have a zipper to remove them for cleaning, and the manufacturer recommends hand washing them as. do most brands. As for the structure itself, a quick wash down with a light detergent is all that it needs. The manufacturer also highly recommends that you buy a cover (not included) to always put over your garden day bed when it’s not in use.
Pros
- Rectangular two-person day bed made of weather-resistant woven poly rattan.
- The structure is a two-seater sofa plus an extendable ottoman that turns sideways for a day bed.
- Black woven poly rattan structure and grey cushions and two large throw pillows.
- Fabric is showerproof and dirt resistant.
- Waterproof 5cm thick cushions have removable cushion covers for hand washing.
- Dimensions:
- Sofa: 119cm (width); 61cm (depth) and 71cm (height to top of daybed back).
- Ottoman: 111cm (width; extends to 132cm); 55cm (depth) and 34cm (height).
Cons
- No canopy.
Our recommendation
The EVRE Outdoor Rattan Garden Love Bed is a rectangular woven poly rattan daybed of a minimalist design that fits any outdoor decor scheme. It’s a two-seater outdoor sofa with a full-width ottoman that converts half of the seating into a single day bed and leaves the other half as a sofa.
We recommend the EVRE Outdoor Rattan Garden Love Bed as a great compromise if there are any arguments about sitting or lying down to relax. But please bring your own cantilever umbrella or gazebo to shade yourself and your guest.
4. Outsunny 5 Pieces Outdoor PE Rattan Patio Furniture Set
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This Outsunny 5 Pieces Outdoor PE Rattan Patio Furniture Set is new to the market this year. It’s at the top end of the price range of the models in our review and comes with some features the other models don’t have.
This garden bed is made of polyethylene (plastic) rattan woven over an aluminium frame that gives it strength and long life through its weather resistance and UV protection. It’s a light grey colour that highlights the weave. The similarly weather- and UV-resistant four cushions and six pillows are made from Olefin fabric that’s renowned for being mould and rot-resistant. They also have zippers so you can remove the covers and wash them. The structure is grey and the cushions are a light brown for a very neutral colour palette.
The Outsunny garden bed is called a furniture set, like our Best Pick, it’s a circular day bed that separates into a complete set of patio lounge furniture. In this case, the separation is into two curved chairs, two curved stools (without backs) and a coffee table with a circular top and a square base. What’s interesting and a useful feature is that you can raise the height of the table so that it becomes high enough that people can put their snacks and drinks on it without having to bend low over it. There’s a cover for the table top when it’s in its place in the day bed so it blends in with the cushions.
There’s no canopy with this day bed set. We’ve put that in the cons list, but this makes this set a perfect choice for those who want to place it in their covered gazebo or who have their own cantilevered parasol to use for shade.
This is a high-quality day bed and the included furniture cover, which covers the whole unit, helps you keep it that way.
Pros
- Round, sectional weather-proof and UV-protected PE rattan day bed set with premium features.
- The structure is grey and the cushion and six pillows are light brown.
- Polyethylene rattan is woven over an aluminium frame.
- Separates into a conversation set of five patio furniture pieces.
- Table height is adjustable.
- Adjustable feet so the day bed is always level.
- Includes a furniture cover for complete day bed.
- Max load per seat: 160kg.
Cons
- No canopy.
- Difficult to assemble.
Our recommendation
The Outsunny 5 Pieces Outdoor PE Rattan Patio Furniture Set is a highly stylish and comfortable day bed that breaks into a five-piece patio seating group with a height-adjustable table. The woven PE rattan really looks like the real material so fits into any patio décor that focuses on natural materials.
We recommend the Outsunny 5 Pieces Outdoor PE Rattan Patio Furniture Set for those who can provide their own shade or who don’t have any other patio furniture yet – multi-tasking furniture is always a great investment.
5. Deuba Poly Rattan Sun Day Bed
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The Deuba Poly Rattan Sun Day Bed is an affordable model that offers several unique features that make it both stylish and unique.
Starting with its shape, this model puts a twist on the traditional circular style by elongating it into an oval shape. This unusual silhouette, plus the black woven poly rattan and the white cushion and pillows, gives a striking appearance to the day bed. The oval shape allows the day bed to be larger than other models so this is a piece of outdoor furniture that you can’t miss in your garden.
The cushions are 100% polyester, a fabric that’s treated to be weather- and UV-resistant, as well as dirt- and water repellent. The cushions are also 7cm thick, which is deeper than the usual 5cm that many other day beds have. The cushion and pillow covers are removable for cleaning so don’t worry about using them fully. You do only receive three pillows for the backrest with this model so you need to buy or make more to be really comfy.
The canopy is the same white colour as the cushion and pillows. You don’t have to tug it open while contorting on the day bed as it’s powered by gas pressure cylinders, one on each side.
This day bed’s shape leads to our favourite feature – that it separates into six sections to form an extensive conversation grouping of patio furniture. You end up with a couch covered by the canopy, two curved stools, two square stools plus a large rectangular coffee table (once you’ve taken the cushion cover off it). You can seat a large group on this arrangement, especially if you put several pieces together to form a larger shape.
Pros
- Poly rattan is woven over a metal frame to form a lightweight and strong day bed.
- The structure is oval-shaped that pulls apart into a six-piece conversation group.
- Joint clips hold everything together.
- Black structure with white polyester 7cm cushions, three pillows and a canopy.
- Canopy is gas pressure-assisted for easy opening.
- The day bed is weather- and UV-resistant as well as dirt repellent.
- Height adjustable feet for levelling on sloped ground.
- Removable cushion and pillow covers, with zips.
- Dimensions: 226cm (length); 185cm (width) and 71cm (height).
Cons
- Difficult to assemble.
- Comes in multiple boxes.
Our recommendation
The Deuba Poly Rattan Sun Day Bed’s unique oval shape makes it an extra-large day bed which separates into five seats and a coffee table to form a complete patio lounge set. It’s larger than our Best Pick and there’s no hiding its stunning style – it’ll be a focal point in your garden.
We recommend the Deuba Poly Rattan Sun Day Bed for those looking for a larger sun bed that’s convertible into patio furniture for a crowd.
6. Intex 58292EU Inflatable Canopy Island
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Its name gives away the unique feature of the Intex 58292EU Inflatable Canopy Island – it’s inflatable and hence mobile. This is a day bed for those who have a pool in their garden or who want to give the kids their own day bed. It’s also useful as a mobile day bed to take to the park.
Measuring 2 meters in diameter, this day bed holds quite a few kids or several adults. It has a curved back to lounge against or you can lay down fully. The inflatable part has two air chambers so it won’t deflate or sink in case of a puncture. Those who use this unit in the water may be grateful for the grab rope that goes all around the outside, to hang on to or to help themselves carefully up into the day bed.
The fabric canopy extends over one half of the day bed and ties into place with two ropes down to the body of the bed. The shade is detachable for those who want to sun bathe (with sun tan lotion on, of course). Online reviews say you have to take the canopy off when you’re not using it – it doesn’t fold down flat.
This is the only model in our review that has built-in cup holders (two).
Pros
- Inflatable day bed designed for kids or adults.
- Two air chambers so the unit won’t fully deflate if punctured.
- Grab-on rope all around outside.
- Detachable canopy covers half of the bed.
- Built-in cup holders.
- Two-ply laminated bottom for strength.
- Dimensions: 2m (diameter); 1.5m (to top of canopy).
Cons
- Difficult to assemble; instructions often missing.
- Can’t fold the canopy flat.
Our recommendation
There are many reasons to need an inflatable day bed – for the lake or pool; for a small garden; to take with you on holiday. The Intex 58292EU Inflatable Canopy Island gives you 2m of inflated softness to relax on plus a canopy to shade under. Not to mention the built-in cup holders so you don’t spill your cold beverage.
We recommend the Intex 58292EU Inflatable Canopy Island for those places where an on-land permanent day bed just won’t work.
Buyer’s Guide
Buying a garden day bed is exciting as most are multi-functional pieces of furniture, separating into patio pieces that form a seating unit. Here’s what to consider when making your decision.
Shape and size
Most garden day beds are circular which allows them to separate into parts easily, as well as adding an exotic touch to your garden or patio. Our review also includes an oval shape model and a rectangular unit. Each shape takes up a different amount of ground shape and lets you fit a different number of people on the bed.
Number and type of sections
All but the rectangular and the inflatable day beds in our review break into sections that become pieces of seating. These vary from couches with backs, seats with backs, curved stools, square stools, round, square or rectangular coffee tables. One of the tables in our review has an adjustable height. And the number of pieces of seating you get varies with the size and shape of the day bed. All the individual sections should lock together when they form the day bed.
Material
All models we review but the inflatable day bed are made of woven poly rattan. This is a plastic rattan that is weather and waterproof as well as being protected from UV rays that fade the colour and make the plastic brittle. The plastic is lightweight and strong in its own right but it’s woven around a metal core (steel or aluminium) that adds to the strength and durability.
Look for cushions that are made from polyester or a superior fabric such as Olefin. The fabric is generally treated to be resistant to water, weather, UV rays, rot and mould.
Shade
Most all day beds come with a canopy. This is not a negative if you provide your own shade with a cantilever parasol or situate the day bed in a gazebo. Canopies that open with the assistance of gas pressure are easier to deal with.
Maintenance
Cushion covers should be removable, usually with a zipper, and washable. Hose the rattan structure down or wipe with a little detergent on a cloth. And always cover the day bed when not in use with a cover – only a few day beds come complete with this accessory so be sure to buy one separately.
FAQ
What’s the difference between a garden day bed and a sun lounger?
Here’s how I use each of these terms. We’ve looked around and taken the most common definitions from experts on the Internet.
Daybeds
These are a cross between a chaise lounge, a bed and a couch. They’re used for lounging and sleeping. Traditionally, they’re circular with cushioning and a back that’s not adjustable. Many models pull apart into other garden seating arrangements generally including a couch, stools and maybe a coffee table. Most garden day beds have a canopy to provide shade.
Sun loungers
These are elongated chairs that are long enough for people to stretch out on to relax their legs. Sun loungers are usually adjustable to provide a comfortable resting position for your back and your legs. Most sun loungers have armrests.
Reclining garden chairs
These are garden chairs whose back reclines a little so you can lean backwards comfortably. Some may have detachable headrests to hold your neck in a good position, while others may have a small leg flap that raises a little to support your legs.
Final Conclusion
Not only does a garden day bed look enticing to lay down on and relax, many of them break into pieces to form a patio seating arrangement for conversation. Such multi-tasking furniture makes your budget go further as well as keeping you relaxed and in the shade wherever you are in your garden.
Our Best Pick is the Garden Haven Rattan Garden Day Bed. This model has all the features of a quality day bed during your lounging hours and then separates into a conversation seating group for socializing with more people in the evening.
Our Runner-up is the Evre Bali Day Bed . This black woven poly rattan bed has a simple look paired with its grey cushions, pillows and canopy. It’s a smaller unit that comes apart into a couch and two stools (no table).
For other ways of sitting and relaxing in your garden, check out our reviews on Picnic Tables and Benches, Outdoor Sofa Sets, Garden Benches and Outdoor Recliners.
And this is really important, if your day bed doesn’t come with a cover, make sure to buy one – and we have information about the best outdoor furniture covers to consider.
Last update on 2024-12-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
