Outdoor Storage & Deck Boxes

Outdoor storage means a weather resistant box that keeps cushions, tools and pool gear dry outside, sized in gallons rather than in inches. Common sizes run 50 to 200 gallons. Most are rated to be sat on, usually between 300 and 600 pounds, so the box doubles as a bench along a wall.

Blow molded high density polyethylene dominates, formed as a double wall with an air gap that keeps the inside cooler and stops the panel flexing. Resin panel boxes assemble flat and cost less, with the seams as the weak point in rain. Cedar and teak versions look better and need a liner, since wood breathes and damp reaches the cushions through a wet week. Details separate a good box from a wet one: an overhanging lip on the lid sheds water away from the seam, gas struts hold the lid up so it cannot fall on your hands, and feet or a raised floor lift the base clear of standing water on a deck.

Nothing else in this category does the same job, so compare it against indoor Bins & Baskets and Entryway Storage instead. The relationship worth naming is with Deep Seating Sets. Cushions from one four piece group need roughly 120 gallons, and six dining chair pads fit in 50.

Households that keep cushions outdoors all season need one, and so does anyone without garage or shed space to give up. Small patios gain twice over, because a 60 inch box seats two people and holds the cushions they were sitting on.

Fill the box in your head before buying, since capacity in gallons means nothing until you measure a cushion. Press the lid in the middle and watch for flex, then open it and hold it to feel whether the struts take the weight. Dry cushions completely before packing them, because a closed box turns a damp cushion into a mildewed one over a winter. Prop the lid open on a dry day each month and check that the drain holes are clear.