My Urban Garden Deco Guide

Award winning designer Susan Bradley brings us these new versions of her lovely laser cut outdoor 'wallpapers': a paisley in gold or green, and a Japanese motif.
'Outdoor Wallpaperâ„¢ is a unique award-winning product for outside spaces, bringing the indoors outdoors via cutting edge technology and innovative design. Outdoor Wallpaperâ„¢ reinterprets a familiar domestic item for outdoor spaces - use as a unique trellis, screening or simply a beautiful decorative feature, to create an immediate impact in any space. '

Presented at Maison et objet  Dedon's 2009 collection is simply stunning. The variety on offer as well as the quality of each series is superb. Green is one of the lines on show: a selection of screens tall or low, with or without containers...The new collections are by Jean Marie Massaud and creative trio EOOS and in keeping with the lounge attitude of the brand.

The excellent online architects source book - Architonic - has updated its presentation of the growing Canasta line by design star Urquiola... Very interesting to get the story from a design and technology perspective all at once:

'Patricia Urquiola approached the outdoors starting from the theme of woven patterns - reviving and personalising the concept with a traditional look in mind, but giving it a decisively contemporary look without using too much nostalgic influence.

 

The seating elements were inspired by the conical shape and weave that is similar to baskets, hence the name Canasta (the Spanish word for basket). Traditional Vienna straw, with its decorative geometric shape, is also a model for these pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

The traditional pattern was amplified, increasing it to macro-proportions compared to the original, and was used to make a dramatic line of comfortable chairs and sofas.
A linear sofa in two versions, with high and low backrest, an armchair with the same alternatives, a large circular armchair and a sunbed, make up the Canasta collection. Ideal for the swimming pool area or the garden lawn, these chairs are like pieces of “land art” that harmonize with the surrounding scenery.In Canasta B&B Italia’s most sophisticated technologies are fused with history and culture: an interweaving between the ancient and the modern. The exclusive workmanship of the fibres is performed in the Philippines, home of age-old tradition where skilled craftsmen have been practicing this art for generations. B&B Italia adds its unmistakable innovative mark to tradition by using a polyethylene fibre (30 mm width) in two different colours: white and bronze.

The seating range is completed with cushions especially created for outdoor use in several different fabric combinations: plain colours and melanges matched with striped and flowered patterns in shades of beige, purple and brown. A creative puzzle of shapes, signs, colours allows anyone to customise Canasta to fit their own personal taste. They’re made through exceptional manufacturing procedures that give them freshness, softness and make them pleasing to the touch as well as extremely resistant to usage.
The collection is enriched by a serie of tables and low tables with structures in white and black varnished steel and tops in ceramic tiles, with decorations that reproduce the cushions patterns in the shades of white, black, brown, cyclamine-colour and and tourquise.
The result is an innovative solution in the field of outdoor furnishings, with products that maintain the same quality, aesthetical and comfort standards of all the B&B Italia’s collections. 

When it comes to pure contemporary designs be it furniture, lighting or planters, created just two years ago, Paris based Sabz offers an outstandingly consistent selection of all things outdoor . So even if you are not European based to order on line, check them out and see what the market has to offer and then track the item in your home market!

I love to see designs used and find browsing Amazon inspiring - even if just window shopping. Many best books now have a ' look inside' option!

After a decade of sleek italian design, poetry is back en force in the world of design. And this new outdoor low consumption light is exactly in that vein.
Philosophy: The moon on the Earth. We can touch it, embrace it, play with it and transport it. We can grasp with our senses part of its charm and mystery.
In & out use.  Family: This collection comprises table lamp and suspension lamp.

If you browse designer clothes sites you will have noticed that a touch of quirky personalization is top trend. I think this is also true in home deco. I love this flower stand that will take all its style depending on the personal choices of flowers, or maybe branches or... other creative options.

 Icon of the Driade brand, this 160 cm metallic tree carries flowers henceforth is proposed in a very beautiful version in steel inox polite mirror. This new finishing excites the precious one drawing of this poetic signed object Kazuyo Sejima. Uses itself indoor or outdoor. Time for cheerful designs!

 My friend Azra and I have a ritual : an almost weekly drink at the local pub ...always outside ....even if it is cold and drizzles...even if we are the only ones! Turns out people end up joining us as they pop out for a cigarette...all end up talking. In this day and age that should be encouraged. So if eco reasons call for a ban on heated parasols, can we revert to good old outdoor  fires? I am all for that!

At the very top end of the market is the work by Cathy Azria . This artist/sculptor is re-inventing the bonfire for the urban garden. Built to special commission, her fires form the heart of an 'outdoor room'. Running on mains gas, they can be designed into a chimney or built into fireproof/frost proof vessels.LINK here

Italian outdoor specialists, Serralunga have modern planters of various sizes and styles,

of which many now famous oversized planters worth checking out [ www.serralunga.com ]. 
On top of this creative range, they work with the elite and edgiest outdoor designers to produce pieces far closer to sculptures than traditional planters. In Milan 07 they showcased such outlandish designs  by Lovegrove and Zaha Hadid.

A further brand to check out with no delay is Belgian Atelier Vierkant. Watch the trailer on their site and you will immediately understand the vision and talent behind a very unique company producing what are certainly some of the most interesting planters in Europe.

It is not just exceptional craftsmanship that will be revealed but a true sense of design as it should be..Link www.ateliervierkant.com

Above in their simplest version used by Luciano Giubbilei.
Below : from selection seen on www.egelantier.be, the excellent belgian garden designers.

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This is not a merchant site but I felt it important to go a step further in the direction of actively changing the way we relate to outdoor spaces in our daily lives.
Like many I oscillate between sheer determination to go green and hesitations about how to come about it without giving up things that are ME!
I know I like design and that I on the other hand have  given up on avoidable traveling, my car and cut down on wasted over packaging. So my choice is to allow my self a bit of long lasting design [ even scoring low on Eco points] whilst I do actively try to use and discover lower impact novelties: solar cooking, solar i pod chargers...Baby steps to gradually change.

I browsed Amazon and found it has many great such products to make better / broader use of any outdoor space .
So here is my debut in store matters!