9 Ingenious Ways to Add Bonus Shade to Your Backyard This Summer

Now is the time to enjoy spending time at your home al fresco. Just picture it: sipping iced tea while gabbing with friends, enjoying a light beach read, or relaxing with a fresh crossword puzzle. Sounds pretty great, right? That is, until your visions of relaxing in the summer breeze are ruined by the reality of sweltering summertime sun. 

Luckily, there are several creative ways to shade your backyard or patio, even if you don’t have a large tree in sight. From pergolas to sailcloths, umbrellas to DIY shades, these nine ideas for adding major shade to your backyard or patio are worth stealing just in time for summer’s hottest days.

You could hang a store-bought sunshade, sure, but why would you when you can use this as an opportunity for a fun and functional DIY project? This $20 DIY shibori shade from Tijana from A Plentiful Life is a Japanese-inspired take on tie-dye, and it’s a whimsical way to add color and pattern to your patio. Plus, it’s lightweight and easy to transport, depending on where you want to use it — your backyard, the beach, or even the park. You can even bring it inside as a bed canopy in the winter.

The bright silver surface of corrugated metal sheet roofing adds an industrial look to an outdoor space, but it also has a functional purpose: It reflects light, directing heat away from your outdoor space while also creating shade. That’s exactly why Kate Richards used it for her covered patio, where she created a stylish, shady spot for a seating area and bar.

An umbrella is one of the most practical ways to add shade to the backyard, but the issue often is its lack of stability, especially in the face of heavy winds. This umbrella stand DIY from TikTok user Arin Solange (@arinsolange) guarantees you’ll not only have shade, but it’ll stay in place. Using an oversized planter and expandable post foam, she shows how to create a sturdy stand that will keep your shade right where you want it.

If you want to build a truly four-season outdoor space, then you should consider not only the sun, but also rain and wind. This outdoor structure, built by Ashley Tapley, completely shields the backyard seating area from the elements on two sides and above. It’s the perfect cozy spot to escape the heat of summer.

Installing a semipermanent sunshade has more than one advantage. When Katie Falbo (@highboyla) hung this sunshade hooked with bungee cords to exterior walls, she created an outdoor living space that is both protected from the heat of the sun and also the elements. That meant she could bring in indoor-outdoor moments, like a rug, textiles, and decor, adding more life to a small outdoor oasis in the city.

Turn a tiny backyard into a tropical oasis with a few simple upgrades. Add an umbrella for the most obvious way to introduce shade to the backyard, then do something a bit more unexpected — bring in lush plants, too. As they grow, they’ll add shade, and their very presence will bring the temperature down a few notches.

Pergolas are, by definition, open on top, with a grid providing some shade depending on where the sun is in the sky. But Timisha Porcher gave her pergola a multipurpose use that makes it as pleasant during the day as it is at night by adding a cover to the top of the pergola. Stringing up some lights helps bring a little magic once the sun goes down.

While a standard pergola could leave you hopping around trying to find the exact right spot with the exact right amount of shade, an electric pergola gives you options — and a solid surface overhead. This electric pergola installed by the Property Brothers can let light in or out, depending on the weather and time of day.

If the weather is hot enough, a standard shade sail might trap heat in rather than simply keeping the sun out. That’s when a lightweight, but practical, shade sail made out of light muslin fabric is just the answer. This DIY is easy to follow, and you can make the shade as small or large as you need for your space.