Contemporary colour schemes for both interiors and exteriors have centred around neutral palettes for a long time. Stark or barely-there white and grey hues, the subtle tones of weathered steel, stone, and natural timber, and complementary dark trim make beautiful features and accents inside and outside. Black is increasingly popular, not only in fence trim but also in exterior cladding including roofs. Even plantings are frequently grouped and coordinated in elegant, limited palettes with an emphasis on non-flowering foliage.
So where does bright colour fit into outdoor living? Eventually the trend of colour reaching interiors will flow to outdoor spaces too. In the meantime, if colour brings you joy, one of the most effective ways to bring your outdoor space alive with colour without sacrificing elegance is through your outdoor umbrella canopy.
The two ways to work with bright colours outdoors are contrast and blending. Both will look harmonious and can significantly increase feelings of happiness and wellbeing when you are in your outdoor space. To underline the colour choice, adding throw-pillows, flowering pots, or glazed ceramics can subtly carry the canopy colour throughout the rest of the space.
Riviera and Milan umbrellas with turquoise canopies
If going with contrast, Yellow and Orange are the most popular of the brightest colours, bringing vibrance and zest to outdoor spaces. For blending, popular choices are blues and greens, such as Navy Blue and Pistachio.
Riviera Premium 3.5 black mast Yellow canopy
If bright colours just aren’t your thing, whether blended or contrasted, Shade7 has a gorgeous palette of neutrals including four designer colours. And Black/White stripe has become an increasingly popular choice for those wanting something striking without being colourful.
Riviera Premium with designer canopy colour Salt
Shade7’s most popular ‘evergreen’ canopy colour is Charcoal. Traditionally paired with a standard anodised silver aluminium mast, Shade7 introduced black anodised aluminium Riviera masts to better suit the trend towards black exteriors, and the preference for black masts increases each year.
Why is Charcoal so popular as a canopy colour? With dark and light threads running together, the varied weave gives it great versatility; it seems to go with everything. In direct sunlight the effect is of a pale silver-grey. It can appear soft taupe in warm light, and mid to dark charcoal when in shadow. And, thanks to the light and dark threads, it is extremely forgiving of dust and dirt, making it much lower maintenance than light-coloured canopies.
Riviera Premium 4.0 silver mast Charcoal canopy
If you are considering incorporating an outdoor umbrella into your landscaping design, choosing a Shade7 umbrella will ensure that replacement umbrella canopies are readily available if ever you want to try a new outdoor colour scheme. And of course, using a Shade7 cover bag will double the life of your premium canopy.
To test colours in your own space, Shade7’s configurator , a handy tool that lets you upload a photo of your outdoor space, put the umbrella of your choice into the space before clicking through every available colour to test the effect before buying. To see what each colour in the Shade7 canopy range might look like on your umbrella, visit the configurator tool , contact the friendly team for colour samples, or call into the beautiful Shade7 showroom at 1096 Great South Road, Mt Wellington.
