You’ll be made in the shade

It seems once spring hits, even if the weather isn’t as kind as it could be, everyone starts thinking about getting back outdoors.

Recent days in our showroom have seen the majority of our customers all looking at awnings for their homes.

External awnings are designed to provide protection from the heating rays of summer sun. Most heat gain in homes occurs through windows, and while recent advances in glass technology combined with double glazing has made windows far more efficient against heat loss, the reality is that once the sun heats the glass, that heat has already began transferring into your home.

Traditionally made from a canvas fabric, which keeps the heat out effectively but also makes the inside of your home very dark, awnings are a very effective insulator.

Modern awning fabrics, such as Everscreen or Vistaweave meshes are designed to reduce this solar heat gain, while still providing you with natural light and allowing you to retain the view. Mesh fabrics also offer added benefits as the fabric breathes better than a solid canvas fabric, which means hot air escapes rather than becoming trapped between the awning and the window and building up when there are many hot days in a row.

This season has seen the largest revamp of our awning fabric range that we have seen in quite some time. As is the case with fashion, our awning fabrics have always been about the overseas markets, in particular following the European trends.

However, this recent release, in my opinion, is far better suited to our Australian homes, with the colour offering having been inspired by the hugely popular Colorbond range. This is great news for homeowners, as it makes co-ordinating your awnings with your homes exterior much easier.

If you still prefer the traditional canvas fabrics, these have also had a revamp of the range, and while there are still many traditional stripes, there are some contemporary new colours.

If you are after an awning to provide a shady place to sit, then you need to consider a folding arm awning. These retractable awnings can effectively create an outdoor room, providing shade when you need it most and at the simple touch of a button.

We all want to make the most of our available spaces and have areas for our specific purpose or intent. Creating an outdoor room for instance that is a passive, quiet area to recline and read a good book or just chill out with little or no distraction is a completely different space to one where you want to dine or entertain family and friends.

The fabric range for folding arm awnings has also had a big revamp this summer, and we were all very excited recently to receive the new sample books showcasing a huge range of plains and stripes.

Stripes have made a big comeback recently, which has been nice to see. To me it means people are having more fun with their outdoor spaces, rather than sticking with the safety of plain colours.

If you are in the market for a folding arm awning, make sure you do your research as there are a lot of cheaper imported products on the market – it is something that is attached to the structure of your building, so you do need to make sure there is adequate fixing and that the awning is of a quality that will stand up to our Australian conditions.

Our homes should be our sanctuary – a place with a sense of self, a sense of belonging where we can use our own individual creative expression, so it makes sense to me to extend that to our outdoor rooms as well.