When I was a girl growing up in the north of England, dining alfresco was sheer luxury. My area has the highest rainfall in Europe, and even though this allowed us perfect rosy complexions, outside rooms were not the norm. As soon as the sun poked through the clouds, my mother would drag out the kitchen table, throw on a checkered tablecloth and shove a bunch of garden flowers into the milk jug. Nothing was better than having lunch outside.
Now, wherever you visit in the world, the millisecond the weather even suggests summer, the patios, balconies and terraces are full. This trend for relaxed outside entertaining has evoked its own lifestyle, and with it the choices for furnishings and accessories are nearly as vast as for our interiors. (more…)
