10 Dock Furniture Ideas Everyone Will Love

Want your dock to become your new favorite hangout? You obviously need a few chairs, tables, or other furniture pieces, ideally weatherproof and designed for the outdoors. In this post, I’ll break down some options on the market ideal for docks.

Many furniture items that will hold up the longest are made of either cedar or considered ‘commercial-grade’. These will cost more, but contain features like powder-coated steel, tough mounting brackets, and won’t fall apart like cheap IKEA furniture (sorry, IKEA).

What to know before buying furniture for your dock

First, see how much space you have and what you actually need before buying anything. Do you need furniture for sunbathing, relaxing, sitting in the shade, or furniture for entertaining?  If you want to relax or swing, consider a hammock or swing. If sunbathing is your thing consider lounge chairs.

Since you are limited by the size of your dock, you don’t have room for everything.

Furniture sets look great on a patio, but keep in mind those pillows, cushions, and lightweight chairs are likely to blow away unless you (a) remove cushions and (b) bolt everything down. For this reason, I recommend heavy furniture or furniture you can bolt to your dock’s planks unless you only purchase chairs you can easily move before a storm.

If you have a couple of hours, I’d highly recommend putting together one of these cedar gazebos for your dock like this one by Summercove. You can anchor most wood gazebos and canopies to your dock’s planks (which I’ve done).

I don’t recommend the cheap pole-based canopies with cloth tops and small metal components; These can be blown over easily, bent, and the cloth tops tend to stain, fade, and rip over time.

Gazebos are ideal for protecting furniture sets a bit more, and gezebos have hooks to attach a fan if you wish. My parents bought one of these a while back and they take an afternoon to install (although you can have many preassembled and delivered).

For years we only sat on lounge chairs by the dock …which is perfectly fine unless it’s 95 degrees! 

If you’re going the gazebo or canopy route, I recommend you check out this post where I cover a few canopies for hot tubs—many are ideal for most docks.

Chair ideas for your dock

For comfort, I recommend Adirondack or chaise lounge chairs if you prefer reclining; otherwise, patio chairs are great as well. Cedar or teak is ideal (although expensive) for outdoor dock furniture, but it’s up to you.

Since chairs tend to blow away, I recommend either purchasing heavy Adirondack chairs or plastic ones you can screw down. The last thing you want is a nice rattan furniture set that ends up in the water after a storm.

For docks, I like anything from red cedar because you don’t have to worry about it rotting, and they are long-term investments.

This one on Fifthroom.com is made in the U.S.A and comes with an optional footrest. It also comes with Zinc plated steel.

While you can find some chairs on marketplaces like Amazon that are quoite nice, I recommend sites like Fifthroom, since most products are made in America and you can ask questions prior to purchase.

A swingset for your dock is my personal favorite because I have used one of these of my parent’s dock for years. Nothing beats sitting in the swing at sunset or sunrise. If you’re married, dating, or just want something you can rock back and forth on, a swing is a good permanent option.

The one above is made of Cedar, zinc-plated steel, and unlike chairs won’t need to be anchored.

For less than $200, a couple of these weather-resistant Adirondack chairs are perfect for the end of your dock. You may even want to consider a fire pit with these.

These chairs on Amazon are made from PC material so they won’t fade, chip, rot, peel, or splinter like a lot of unfinished wood chairs will.

You can check out their entire catalog of chairs like this one here on Amazon.

This picnic table by Giantex is a great all-in-one solution for your dock. It comes it a nice wood color if you have a natural dock, and they even make this circular version I like even better.

You really don’t need to worry about bolting these down in the summer if you use a weighted umbrella stand, but you certainly can. If you don’t experience high winds very often.

Dock benches

Many dock benches on the market are built for function, not style. Many of the dock benches by ShoreMaster dock systems and metal dock benches are designed for dock systems, designed to not take up space on the dock, and are often mounted on the outside of the dock.

This dock bench kit is probably my favorite because it converts into a table, costs less than $200 on Amazon, and includes a power-coated frame made of steel. This one comes with a 2-year warranty by Lifetime, one of my favorite manufacturers in this category.

If you need something you can mount to your dock and enjoy an afternoon lunch on, look no further.

One of my favorite benches for docks I’ve found is this one by Global Industrial on Amazon. This one has wrought iron legs which makes it really heavy compared to most, ideal for boat docks.

You also don’t need to worry about the planks scratching or taking in moisture, since these planks are made from a composite wood/plastic material.

If you just want a couple of benches on either side of your dock, consider this model by Giantex. This bench is waterproof unlike many others, plus it’s made of acacia wood and metal—ideal for outdoor use.

Benches that look good on a wooden dock can be hard to find, which is why I like how simple this one is; perfect for tasks like putting on a life jacket or watching the sunset—no backrest required.

DIY dock furniture ideas

If you are handy with wood, you can attempt to build a bench, sofa, or chair from plans you can find online. I’ve found several online that I think are ideal to leave out on a dock that I’ll mention below.

9. Outdoor wooden sofa

If you need something elegant to leave out either underneath a canopy or at the end of your dock to watch the sunset, this outdoor sofa by Mr. Built It on YouTube is a great route. You can watch this video from start to finish:

To build this chair you basically need a few 2×4’s, some rope, tools, and an afternoon. Overall the total cost should be less than $250—much less than purchasing it new.

10. DIY porch swing

The classic porch swing (with A-frame) is another classic DIY project ideal for docks. You may want to purchase the actual swing separately, but wood A-frames that come preassembled I’ve found a bit difficult to locate. Below is another video that walks you through how to build one:

The hanging porch swing ‘bed’ is a DIY trend I’ve seen a lot lately if you like the look of it. I personally think a classic porch swing looks better if you have to hang it on a wood A-frame, but it’s totally up to you.

Where to buy dock furniture?

If you plan to keep your furniture outside on a dock, uncovered I would highly recommend purchasing commercial grade furniture; consider something made of teak or cypress, and avoid the cheap composite furniture.

I would also consider bolting down wooden furniture like tables and chairs to prevent everything from blowing in the water.

Below are a few places online you can find dock furniture if you’d like to browse a few more options:

• Fifthroom.com
• Amazon
• Abba Patio
• Lowes
• Home Depot

Above all, select a few pieces you’ll actually use and enjoy on your dock. Some people like to build canopies, and screened-in porches, and go crazy with accessories. I recommend furniture that won’t fade sprinter over time. Unless you’re diligent about applying stains and sealants to wooden furniture, these pieces can get rather uncomfortable after the sun dries the wood out a bit.

Let me know what other dock furniture you recommend, and check out my post, dock boxes 101 if you need a good dock storage solution!