Outdoors in the sunshine

A cool getaway… in sizzling colours. Comfortable indoor-outdoor living that is also ‘responsible’.

Byr Caroline Guiol

This spring more than ever, people want to stretch out the days and the season’s rituals. This year, the Pantone colour chart is spotlighting two colours: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, which are described as “mouse-grey that looks good everywhere, and sunny yellow for energy, dazzle and light.” As for materials, stone and wood are back, echoing the Mediterranean and its simple art of living. “Take Opus Incertum, for example. This irregular laying of sandstone, limestone and marble slabs first appeared in ancient Greece. When used on terraces or walkways, or for floor-to-ceiling or low walls, Opus Incertum’s rough character goes wonderfully well with a uniform white concrete floor”, says Elodie Wehrlen, an outdoor decorator from Marseille. She and Cédric Vito have developed six frank, velvety colours for La Bonne Peinture, colours that whisk you away to Brisbane, Santorin, or Lanzarote in a single stroke. Fermob, the first to bring colour to gardens, certainly has the wind at its back. Its website has exploded, and the virtual casting of its Colorarium has bolstered the success of practical yet playful items such as nomadic, festive lighting, small casual furniture, modular furnishings, chairs made of technical fabrics and light-weight aluminium, etc. Today, the garden spirit knows no boundaries: it can be integrated and annexed everywhere, with greenery grafted onto walls, rooftops and all around. 
Landscape architect Thomas Gentilini, creator of unique gardens, also explains that “with the lockdown isolating our clients from the outside world, we have become a light shining in the darkness. People have refocused on their properties; they have fallen back in love with their bits of the garden of Eden.” Indeed, gardens have become a saving grace: people find an exotic world right outside their windows. Listed gardens have become widespread and new vineyards are being planted on fallow lands. As for gardens near the sea, they are increasingly botanical, home to exotic plants, collections, and experiments, and to plants that thrive in our region’s micro-climate. Fresh-water fans can also assuage their love of nature by selecting a pool that brings the natural environment closer: the sunken beaches, waterfalls, and creeks created by Jacques Brens using sprayed concrete have an authenticity that resonates with the landscape and turns all eyes toward the azure sea, to be contemplated to the heart’s content.

coteoutdoor.com labonnepeinture.fr
fermob.com
creation-jardin.com
piscines-jacques-brens.com