My Urban Garden Deco Guide

Many of my readers may still see snow from their kitchen window, but I am in Paris and the temperature this morning was March like... That fast forwarded me into spring and I set out to find great shade solutions.
To kick of this series, I have selected designs by Gerald Wurz and Sunsquare.
I love these giant shade sails  because they have the ability to almost create mini outdoor rooms even far away from any proper house. The mechanical side itself is a lovely piece of design.

This design by the Belgian firm Umbrosa is delightfully named  Ingenua.
It offers a variation on the classic shade sail and adds an unprecedented ease of use to it. The best feature is the fact that you alter the height and inclination of the sail between the posts so very easily. More at www.Umbrosa.be
Available in  white, blue or a variety of other colors, square or rectangular.

About UMBROSA
Enjoying the Shade...

Umbrosa presents a complete range of innovative shade creations... flexible parasols, shade sails .. discover our brands Paraflex, Ingenua, Rimbou and Shademakers www.umbrosa.be

In 2008 at the Meuble Paris fair this new shade sail won the jury's vote for Best discovery.
Rimbou's designer Pieter Willemyns has created a totally flexible solution to enjoy the shade. Its design allows one to easily change its orientation to follow the sun. It is easy to set up and dismount. Love it!
By www.Umbrosa.be

Shade solutions are more and more diverse. Perhaps that is also why the good old parasol too is  going through a revival with edgier new designs. I love this one. It is a 2003 design by Markus Boge and Patrick Frey.
I saw it at Sabz.fr

In Paris spring has arrived early. The sun in out ... It is beautiful today. 
To follow up on my post earlier this week on 'Architects of shade', I thought I 'd share this creative solution developed by Atelier Oi represented by Sabz - who sell on line. Link here

Alex Johnson from the excellent blog dedicated to outdoor rooms that can serve as offices, has e mailed me the list of winners at Grand Designs. And I am pleased to see that my pick below won the award for best design in the outdoor category. It is Odosdesign's formica reinterpretation of the classic parasol. You can find it on line at Conran... You will have a 10 week delay so hurry if you love it!

LINK here

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A spectacular shade sail by .....................

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Sleek lined architecture is still often let down by the accessories available for outdoors.Shade sails have brought interesting new design options and a breath of fresh air to the category ...making parasols seem clumsy and outdated.That may change. It seems the gloves are on at swiss based parasol specialist Glatz .They have successfully developed this high spec square parasol. The photo says all that needs to be said about its compatibility with sleek chic houses.

LINK here