Inspiration #57: Modern Shade Sail
While I’m grateful to have a giant tree in my backyard that provides shade to the new deck, I regularly dream of having a modern shade sail for the extra sunny days and long summer nights. More common in Australia and parts of Europe, shade sails are picking up in popularity in modern new builds and renovations. This week, let’s look at some modern shade sail inspiration in use in different settings!
This is the latest in a weekly post of residential architecture inspiration. If you want to see past weeks, you can go here. If you want to see them curated on my pinterest (sometimes before they even hit the blog), go here.
There are a couple of logistics if you want to go this route in your own backyard: sun path, structural needs, and drainage. Understand where the sun moves throughout the year and where/when you want shade. Shade sails require tension (hence, structure) to stay safely in place, making them more permanent through the season than, say, an umbrella. You can’t rely on moving it around, which means you have to consider where you want sun and where you don’t throughout the season and time of day. It also needs to slope to drain, and you need to consider where that rain collects and falls to once it makes its way off the sail. Ok – let’s get to the fun stuff!
This modern shade sail is providing a great mix of coverage and sun for this lower deck, anchored to the metal vertical post of the fence and two other locations out of view.
A patio renovation added a modern shade sail to this backyard. Here you can see some of the structural needs, which vary based on climate, wind, and size of the sail.
How bohemian – this modern shade sail is paired with string lights to give a relaxed and fun evening feel to this backyard. The sail works in tandem with the groundcover change to define different uses of the space, without making it feel small.
This Scandinavian backyard is incorporating a modern shade sail for a little seating nook that looks perfect for an afternoon nap or devouring a book. This look proves that sails don’t have to be intense to be effective.
A layering of sails here provides depth to this home courtyard space. It’s modern, fun, and functional.
Lastly, you can find me here….or at least daydreaming that I am. This Mediterranean backyard fires up all of my senses: the smell of sea salt air, the warmth of sun on my skin…This modern shade sail is the perfect summer addition to this beachy backyard.
