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Garden Furniture

You can now design your garden as an addition to your home ! Garden furniture, with its innovative materials and unusual shapes, takes the indoors out to provide creative outdoor living areas. This dynamic new trend is reflected in the increasing importance given to this sector in professional trade fairs. Salone del Mobile in Milan in Italy, Feria de Madrid in Spain and Maison & Objet in France all feature flourishing outdoor furnishing offerings.

Garden furniture is no longer confined to the classical trio of garden table, stackable chair and Garden lounger. A whole new range of products kept inside up until is now being landscaped including garden sofa, garden coffee table, garden side table, garden console and garden ottoman that break with traditional furniture codes. Reminiscent of Philippe Starck&rsquos plastic designs, this blow-up sofa with its soft upholstering is the amusing trompe-l&rsquooeil of a Chesterfield leather settee.

Beds are also moving out. The outdoor bed, which mostly resembles a canopied four-poster and is a chic trendy alternative to napping in a hammock, is no longer reserved for hotels in Bali. Even in a small garden, it gives an exotic touch. Outdoor living and  dining rooms can be turned into stylish intimate living areas with light, airy canvas gazebos and shade sails. Another alternative is the sunshade which has come a long way in a short time and now includes giant parasols and mist umbrellas while the practical, stable offset umbrella has become the standard model.

New materials are the key to these innovative designs. Forgotten the plastic chairs stacked in the garage all winter and brought out of hiding in the spring, mouldy, grey and cracked. Whether artificial or natural, the materials that have emerged from the latest technological research weather the seasons without the slightest problem. Garden Lounger, deck chair and steamers are covered with batyline®, a patented mix of jute and synthetic fibres. Textilene, a combination of polyester and vinyl, is another tough fabric used for shipbuilding. These quick-drying, easy-to-maintain textiles are long-wearing.  Woven resin is also used for garden furniture set. It has the charm and appearance of cane but stands up better to inclement weather and sun.  

In ultra-contemporary design, the choice goes to synthetic fibres. When stretched on an aluminium frame, they give wonderful fluidity to sun lounger and garden armchair. In her recent outdoor furniture range, Patricia Urquiola produces a crochet effect with a high-tech fibre. Paola Navone offers the same airy transparency with her perforated metal garden furniture.
 
But these textures have not eclipsed natural materials. Warm, environment friendly wood is still the leader, with the accent on metal alliances. Stainless steel bases give a modern, elegant touch to teak garden tables, garden chairs and garden bench.

The new art of living has taken root in the garden. Outdoor areas are treated like an extra room and furnished with refinement and personality. You, too, can make the most of the smallest ray of sunshine to read, eat, relax and dream the hours away outdoors.

News...

| The Australian porcelain manufacturer Mud is coming to France and will be on display  Bon Marché Rive Gauche (24 rue de Sèvres Paris 7e). The collection comes in fifteen vivid colours and the company was founded in 1994. The table services are shiny on the inside and matt on the outside. | Architects Dorothée Boissier and Patrick Gilles have given a final touch to The Villa Restaurant, the talk of the town on Avenue de Friedland. | David Chipperfield has waved his magic wand on a building in ruins in Berlin.   The Neues Museum is an imposing venue that has preserved the ups and downs of history. |

Vivre Côté Sud will be staging an exceptional variation on the summer holiday theme from 11 to 14 June 2010. This open-air decoration, garden and fine living fair has been on the agenda in Jourdan Park in Aix en Provence for the last five years. Two hundred exhibitors are divided into themes to make the most of your visit. Côté Décors and Côté Jardin, for decor and garden, and two new themes this year, Côté Brocante and Côté Habitat for antique hunters and home lovers.  The accent as usual will be on respecting the environment and sustainable development. Open to the public from Friday 11 to Monday 14 June 2010 from 10 am to 8 pm, except Monday (6 pm). And for the first time, late opening until 10 pm on Friday.

www.vivrecotesud.fr