Beat the Heat: 16 DIY Outdoor Showers to Cool You Down

With summer in full swing, we’re finding ourselves yearning for the great outdoors—even when it comes time to shower. While you could go all out with a sleek professional job, there are plenty of DIY options that could have you showering in your backyard this weekend. Here are some of our favorite homemade installations.

Corrugated metal adds a bit of sheen to your backyard while offering you a place to rinse off after a day working in the garden or lounging by the pool. Add a third wall for greater privacy or—for a more ambitious undertaking—incorporate a hinged door to enclose the shower completely.

Channel your inner beach bum with this inventive surfboard shower. The trimmed edge of a salvaged board becomes the ideal upright for a shower installation, and the stone base diverts runoff to the surrounding plants—a twofer, provided you use mild, plant-safe detergents.

For a transportable or low-commitment outdoor shower, purchase a stall kit that can be hooked up to a common garden hose. Add a colorful curtain, and voilà! Your summer weekends just got a little better.

If you aren’t too modest, a straightforward stacked-slat construction is a modern option for an outdoor shower. We love the clever addition of stone ledges wedged between the slats to provide a home for soap and shampoo.

No neighbors? No need to worry about privacy, then. This exposed, wall-mounted outdoor installation requires nothing more than assorted pipe fittings, a shower head, and access to a water line. The towel hook is optional but convenient.

Plumbing pipe is an inexpensive—and intrinsically waterproof—framing system for an outdoor shower. Curtains can be mounted on hooks for easy disassembly during winter months. Be sure to use a heavy-duty waterproof material like canvas to prevent the buildup of mold and mildew. 

If you lack plumbing skills but have a good sturdy tree, here's the easiest outdoor shower solution of all: Simply attach a shower head to your garden hose and drape it over a branch, just like SweetPaul did here. Don't forget a vintage ladder as a rustic towel rack!

Corrugated tin makes a modern backdrop for an outdoor shower, snuggled up to the back of the house. The abstract picket fence styled coat rack is an artful place to hang towels.

This outdoor shower incorporates architectural elements of a traditional cedar shake home. A pergola ceiling tops walls faced with shakes and a barn-styled door. Though clearly a modern addition, this shower fits right in with its historic environment.

A wall of green glass mosaic tile blends into the treelined background of this contemporary outdoor shower. Add a rainfall shower head to this simple and minimalist design, and you may feel you've stepped out into the rain to bathe.

The shade of a tree provides the canopy over an outdoor shower mounted to its trunk. There's no better way to exit the lake than by showering off with it still in view.

This beautiful sustainable hardwood shower stall is completely temporary, can be moved at will, and taken down for storage at the end of the season. No trench digging required. Despite that design, it certainly looks like a permanent fixture.

For more on outdoor structures, consider:

How To: Make an Outdoor Shower

How To: Create a Spa Bath at Home

10 "Dream-Worthy" Swimming Pools

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