The 6 Best IKEA Products For Adding Stylish Privacy To Your Outdoor Space

No matter how beautiful your outdoor space is, it's hard to fully relax unless you have some privacy. However, if you're a renter or a homeowner on a tight budget, permanent fixtures like landscaping or fences aren't an option. While it's possible to DIY your own privacy screen, an easier option is to shop for portable privacy products. Crowd-favorite retailer IKEA has a few practical and affordable products that can help you add privacy to a patio, deck, or balcony. We've rounded up the best ones for screening off your outdoor spaces, including privacy screens and creative materials you can repurpose to create your outdoor sanctuary.

IKEA's outdoor privacy products might not provide as much coverage as a good fence or hedge, but they come at a fraction of the price. Plus, they're movable so you're not restricted to using them in one spot. Privacy screens are also an affordable way to divide areas and create outdoor "rooms", for example, to separate a dining area from the rest of the garden. Or, place them around a patio to provide cover from nosy neighbors or curious passersby. Ahead are some of our top IKEA picks for creating a more private outdoor space.

IKEA's NÄMMARÖ line is designed with style in mind. The modern outdoor furniture collection is made to both, "blend in and stand out," the designer Nike Karlsson explains on IKEA's website. The simple geometric designs and soft wood color is simple but beautiful, so you can style it around your current furniture to create your outdoor oasis. The NÄMMARÖ Privacy screen ($95 from IKEA) is a best-selling piece from the line that follows these design principles. It's a simple but handsome rectangular slatted screen, made of wood and mounted on a basic stand. It's freestanding, so you can place it anywhere on a patio or deck.

This screen is made from durable acadia wood and is pre-treated to better stand up against the sun, rain, and even stains too. It measures 55 ⅛ inches tall by 31 ½ inches wide and 19 ⅝ inches deep. Its footprint isn't very large, so you can even use it on a balcony. For more privacy, line up a few of these screens together. They're not too heavy, so you can easily move the screens around to suit your needs. 

You can also use it as a support for climbing plants, which would allow for more privacy as leaves fill in the gaps between the slats. Try one of the many plant varieties that are perfect for growing on a trellis. Or, one of our favorite recommendations is to use the NÄMMARÖ Privacy screen to add some privacy to an outdoor shower. The contemporary design and honey-brown wood color can make an outdoor shower feel like a spa.

Made of galvanized steel, fashioned into rectangular sheets and painted with a white polyester powder coating, the LUNGÖN Privacy screen ($110 from IKEA) offers a whole different look from the wooden NÄMMARÖ screen. The metal build makes it look more modern and sleek, in comparison to the warm wood appearance of the store's other screens. It's another privacy screen with small slats. This design lets light through (and with the white color, it can really brighten up a space), but the openings do make it somewhat see-through.

This screen measures 55 ⅛ inches tall by 31 ½ inches wide by 15 ¾ inches deep, so it's the same size as the NÄMMARÖ, but with a slightly smaller footprint due to the shallower feet. Reviews note that the screen doesn't perform well in very windy conditions, so if you live in a blustery climate, you might want to add additional support (like weighing down the feet with heavy plant pots or other accessories) or opt for the NÄMMARÖ Privacy screen, which has a wider base.

Looking for more storage as well as privacy? The NÄMMARÖ Storage box and privacy screen costs $204.99 at IKEA and is an excellent two-in-one combination of both. It's essentially the privacy screen combined with the line's outdoor storage box. Like other pieces in the NÄMMARÖ line, it's made of solid acacia wood that's pre-treated to protect it from weather and stains. Both the privacy screen and box have a slatted design to match other furniture in this series. This means they won't offer full privacy, nor storage cover from the elements, but it does allow more light through to brighten your outdoor space.

This product is also freestanding, so you can place it almost anywhere, as long as you have the space for its larger footprint. It measures 55 ⅛ inches tall by 31 ½ inches wide (the same as the NÄMMARÖ Privacy screen), but measures 26 ¾ deep to accommodate the storage box. The box is perfect for tucking away outdoor accessories like cushions, planting tools, and toys. Best of all, it's also sturdy enough to double as a bench, so you have overflow seating for entertaining. This makes it a great option to add privacy, style, and storage to an outdoor space.

If none of the IKEA privacy screens above appeal to you, you can use the store's other products to fashion your own privacy barrier. To create a leafy oasis that also offers a bit of privacy, use the FEJKA Artificial potted plants. If you don't have a green thumb (or simply don't have the time to nourish plants large enough to offer privacy), IKEA's artificial potted plants are an excellent alternative. We're partial to the indoor/outdoor Monstera, which costs $69.99 from IKEA. The store demos how to use the faux foliage to fill the ASKHOLMEN Flower box ($50 from IKEA). The plant measures 35 ½ inches tall, so the planter gives it some necessary height to offer privacy for a seating area. We like this plant for its large leaves, which provide better coverage than some sparser greenery.

Alternatively, if you want more height, you can use it with a taller, purpose-built planter, like the Veradek Plastic Planter which costs $179.99 from Amazon. Another option is to grab a taller faux plant, like the FEJKA indoor/outdoor Kentia palm, which costs $79.99 from IKEA. This plant is taller, at 70 ¾ inches tall, but has narrower leaves. Ultimately, choose the plant that you like the look of the most, while also providing some privacy. This video from @robynhouseofus shows how you can incorporate faux plants to improve privacy. Line multiple plants together to create a denser foliage cover. Fluff out their leaves to make them look more lush, and consider adding soil into the pot so it looks even more like the real thing.

ALTAPPEN Decking, which costs $15.99 for 8.719 square feet at IKEA, is not intended for patio privacy. However, it's an excellent outdoor material for if you want to make your own DIY privacy screen! You can attach ALTAPPEN Decking tiles to an existing structure (like a fence between balconies) to create a dreamy DIY privacy screen. Or, you can mount them on a frame to create a freestanding room divider (for indoors or outdoors) and to define living spaces.

Essentially, ALTAPPEN Decking is perfect for creating the screen part of a privacy divider. It's built for the outdoors, made of lightweight polypropylene plastic and contains at least 20% recycled material. The plastic material is weather-resistant; it;s waterproof and is UV-stabilized to prevent fading from the sun. A pattern in the material lets sunlight and air in, but the small gaps can offer even better privacy than other screens.

Assembling the decking is super easy as the pieces click together, with no tools needed. This pack comes with nine square panels, each measuring 11 ¾ inches by 11 ¾ inches to cover a total area of 8.72 square feet. It's also possible to cut the panels if you want a custom shape. In short, if you are able to build a privacy screen frame, these affordable decking tiles can help you create the screen portion of your project.

The SCHOTTIS Pleated shade ($3.99 from IKEA) is designed for indoor use, but as a video from @so_so_sonnie shows, it can work outdoors as well. It's simple, with a pleated design, and is made of 100% polyester, which helps it withstand mild outdoor conditions. The material is easy to rinse clean, and it's thin enough to dry quickly after some rain. Even better, this shade is a very budget-friendly option, costing less than $5 per panel. It has a built-in peel-and-stick adhesive along the top, which attaches it to the top of window frames. This design means it needs to attach to a structure (or a frame) overhead. Since it's intended for the indoors, this adhesive might not hold up to outdoor conditions long-term. So, you might want to attach it using nails or screws or outdoor-rated adhesive strips instead.

The shade measures 74 ¾ inches long and 35 ½ inches wide. You can cut the thin material to size to suit your space. The bottom of the shade needs to be anchored to take advantage of its full length (otherwise it will sit shorter due to the pleats). Essentially, it needs a top frame and bottom surface to attach to, so it's not ideal as a freestanding privacy screen, unless you build a frame. Some spots you can use this shade are around existing outdoor structures, like on a covered deck or gazebo, between the ceiling and railing.