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3 min read
Portable folding chairs don’t have to look boring. Here are our favourites, whether you need a practical yet comfy option for your next festival, one with storage for the beach or something pretty for the back garden.
Be the envy of your friends when you rock up to your next picnic equipped with an easily transportable but chic folding chair – no chair legs required.
One of the downsides of festivals, beach days, camping and picnics is the lack of seating – and if you do carry your own with you, it’s often bulky, awkward to carry and heavy. Not to mention that the legs often sink into the ground if you’re on a sandy beach or in a muddy field.
What you really need is a portable picnic chair, sometimes called a folding beach chair, or foldable back rest. These nifty, lightweight contraptions offer all the comfort and practicality of a chair, minus the awkwardness, heavy lifting and annoying legs. Here are 10 of our favourites that are both practical and stylish.
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La Redoute cofete rattan folding beach backrest
This woven rattan beach backrest looks very stylish and wouldn’t look amiss in your back garden. Perfect for lazing around with a book in the sunshine.
Summerhouse by Navigate strawberries and cream adjustable picnic chair
Sit back and enjoy the sunshine in this adorable strawberries-and-cream-adorned picnic chair. It folds flat, has easy-clean fabric and a carry handle, so it couldn’t be easier to drag about with you.
John Lewis grid folding picnic chair
This cheap and cheerful outdoor accessory from John Lewis’s Anyday range has a padded seat and backrest, along with carry handle for ease. It’s petite in size, so it can easily be stored in the car boot for whenever you need it.
Sunny Life luxe lounger chair
Now, this product is more of a splurge, but it’s worth the investment if you’re going to get a lot of use out of it – and we can confirm it’s comfy. The vintage blue stripes bring nautical charm, and you’ll certainly be the envy of the beach on your next Cornwall jaunt.
Dunelm three rivers foldable chair
This is probably one of the most compact foldable chairs on the market right now, going from a ‘beach towel’ position into a convenient back rest.
Holiday Tommy chair
This capri-striped sage chair is Insta-worthy and comes with wooden armrests and padded backpack straps to carry it around. The best part is the large back pocket, which is big enough to store your book, SPF and personal belongings – so you really only need to take one thing with you to the beach.
Folding bamboo beach seat
The most expensive on the market, this beautiful beach seat is made from sustainably sourced bamboo and would look perfect as additional seating in your back garden. Just choose a suitable seating pad to complete the look.
Helinox incline festival chair
OK, this chair may not be the prettiest of the bunch but it sure is convenient, and it’s perfect for festivals. Really compact, it’s made with uneven terrain in mind and comes with a sliding base to adjust to sloped grounds (perfect for the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury).
Shop Helinox incline festival chair at Ellis Brigham, £109.99
Sunday Supply Co. animal kingdom beach chair
Comfy and low, this easy-folding chair is quick to store and simple to carry, meaning it’s perfect for those who take a lot to the beach and don’t have any more space to carry things. Buy the chair as is or upgrade to the set, which includes two chairs and a matching umbrella – cute!
Ikea Strandön sun lounger
Ikea’s nifty bright yellow and blue sun lounger is perfect for those that love to stretch out at the beach. We love that it comes with straps to hold your towel down that would otherwise inevitably blow away in the wind…
Images: courtesy of brands
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