Australian Shade Sails

Anyone who’s been to Australia – anyone who’s watched Neighbours, for that matter, or Home and Away – will know that there’s one thing our brothers and sisters Down Under do better than anyone else in the world.  Summer.  The whole Australian lifestyle is firmly based on the idea of being outdoors safely – enjoying BBQs under the protection of sun cream, floppy hats:  and Australian shade sails.

What are Australian shade sails?  They’re those funky-looking canvas “awnings” you see curving over trendy cafes on the Serpentine, or outside the wine bars on the South Bank of the Thames:  taut overlapping geometric shapes offering shade and cool spaces for the hordes of day trippers.  With their Kandinsky-esque outlines (Australian shade sails look like the colourful mobiles he used to produce), they add class to any outdoor area:  a kind of organic sculpture for garden or driveway, as much as pub garden and restaurant. 

Modernising one’s outdoor space to suit lifestyle and individual taste is, like its interior decorating counterpart, all the rage.  Where once we bought houses to sell, we are (thankfully) now buying them to live in – and of course one’s garden is as much a part of the home as its rooms.  Australian shade sails are a perfect way to extend the stamp of one’s individuality out into the green spaces.  Unlike the awful flapping candy-striped monstrosities of the 90s, Australian shade sails really are garden furniture in the best sense of the word – decorating, shaping and directing the use of the places outside the walls of the home.  Australian shade sails make delightful floating “roofs” over specific parts of a garden, forming them into external rooms where the summer can be enjoyed, rather than endured, in comfort, protection and style.

Australian shade sails are made from commercial “shade cloth”, which has a UV protection factor of 95.  Smearing acres of sun cream on every half an hour is no longer necessary – a person can sit out all day under a set of Australian shade sails without so much as opening a bottle.  Except, perhaps, a nice cold beer, while the resident BBQ expert (and we all know one of those) flips a few shrimps on the grill.