13 Pergola Ideas for Dreamy Outdoor Living

We all appreciate our outdoor spaces more and more, but we also understand sun damage better. How does the canny home landscaper deal with this conundrum? By researching pergola ideas, of course! While many of us want to maximize our time in nature, it may seem like you can’t enjoy your outdoor space without risking those harmful rays. A covered pergola helps solve that problem, and can even let you better enjoy the comforts of an indoor living room or dining area on your backyard patio.

We’ve gathered 25 amazing pergola ideas to help you find inspiration to create the perfect ambiance for your “living room on the outside,” from Mediterranean-influenced designs to modern pergolas, and poolside pergolas to firmly earthbound ones.

• Levitating Luxury                                                                                                                                                              Comfy hanging chairs seem to float off the ground beneath this wood pergola that emphasizes a sense of levitation with climbing plants. An outdoor refrigerator and generous counters mean it can also double as an outdoor kitchen. “We often add retractable awnings as well so the tops can be completely covered as needed,” says Lauren Lerner, principal and owner of Living with Lolo.
•                                                                                                                      La La Landed                                                                                                                                                                    To reinforce memories of 1960s Hollywood Regency style, interior designer Jamie Bush and architect William Hefner reimagine a Los Angeles home for actress Mary Kitchen using an elegantly geometric pergola to complete the white-on-white cool of this patio.
•                                                                                                                         Real Steel Pergola                                                                                                                                                            The black steel frame with inset ipe joists—designed without visible weld joints of screw or bolt attachments—are meant to gray out in the coastal alt air of this seaside home. “The pergola ipe joists compliment the ipe deck below. This all lent a sense of serenity to the space,” say Kate and Ryan Gross of Kate Anne Designs. “In general, we will situate a pergola where it’s going to help frame a space, supply shade as well as create an architectural feature against the home, when applicable.”
•                                                                                                                   Hamptons VibesTo achieve a coastal Hamptons feel, this wood pergola combined design elements to feel light, airy and whimsical but still an integral part of the home. “We incorporated a high ceiling, rear architectural panel to provide a backdrop and criss-cross framed posts, all which led to a feeling of the dining space being embraced by the pergola,” Kate and Ryan Gross say.
•                                                                                                                        Rattan Plan                                                                                                                                                                         Using natural materials like rattan for a respite from the Montecito, California, sun, interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein crafted a pergola-anchored getaway with an assist from Bories & Shearron Architecture.
•                                                                                                                         The Good Kind of Board Meeting                                                                                                                              With its striking midcentury-modern dandelion chandelier and subdued sconces, this pergola, designed by Jessica Risko Smith, is grounded and formal-looking enough to host an alfresco business meeting, but also perfectly suitable for an impromptu weekend family meal. The dark frame of the pergola is a striking contrast to the light stone floors and low outdoor walls.
•                                                                                                                         Eden at Your Doorstep                                                                                                                                                    In need of patio ideas but working with a small backyard, or simply want to keep it close to home? This patio pergola and its climbing plants (Bignonia capreolatata) shade a pebble-covered, cozy little outdoor dining area. “For the framing and fabrication, we used steel tubing into concrete footings,” says Amy Hovis, principal at Eden Garden Design. “We left the steel to oxidize naturally and added steel cable with turnbuckles to create the ‘trellis’ for the vines to grow up it. It was a nice modern minimalist gesture in front of a more traditional-style home. This simple pergola became this family’s most used room in the house, a flexible space for morning coffee, lounging and casual dinners outdoors.”
•                                                                                                                          Pergola Roof Temple                                                                                                                                                Instead of going with a white pergola, this once-lonely rooftop structure provides a shady respite from the white-on-white environment of this treetop hideaway. “This rooftop terrace in Alys Beach [Florida] was hardly used until we reimagined it with a pergola and facing swings,” says Brad Ramsey, principal designer and founder of Brad Ramsey Interiors. “The addition of the pergola with pots and greenery along with the two swings creates a more intimate way to gather and enjoy sunset views. This is now a favorite gathering spot for our clients and their children and grandchildren to relax and connect.”                                                                                           
•                                                                                                                         Zigzag Fountain                                                                                                                                                            Elements like the dazzlingly tilework, Holy Grail–like fountain, hanging brass lanterns, and ornately detailed interior of the shrine-like central structure elevate this pergola from simple shade escape to near-religious experience. Unlike many of the other pergola ideas we’ve showcased here, this freestanding pergola doesn’t encourage you to linger and lounge but to pay respects to its grandeur while patiently ushering you along toward the cool recesses of the home’s beckoning interior.
•                                                                                                                      Minimalist Pergola in Texas                                                                                                                                        Less is more in this metal pergola at an Austin house. The steel complements the design of the ipe-wood terrace by Garden Design Studio and the architecture of the home.
•                                                                                                                     White Shade                                                                                                                                                        Answering only to the towering pines above, this grid-like outdoor pergola of light wood is draped with white cloth on loops, which can be extended to provide shade—or privacy—as needed.

•                                                                                                                       Poolside Pergola in the Country                                                                                                                                  Fieldstone and other natural materials make this cedar pergola—which acts as a pool house in Westport, Connecticut, by the New York City architecture firm SPAN—feel connected to its surroundings.
•                                                                                                                         The Fireplace Next Time                                                                                                                                    Conveniently pre-split fire logs make a perfect accompaniment for the rough stone of this outdoor-fireplace-centric pergola area that’s more of an outdoor living room than anything else. Given enough time, the climbing plants might one day provide extra shade if trained on the pergola.