Our pretty roof terrace at the Kings Road showroom is home to Manutti’s Zendo corner garden sofa  – and with the recent hot weather it’s been receiving plenty of visits! However, we lost it for a few days last week as the garden design team behind a garden at the recent RHS Hampton Court Flower Show asked if they could borrow it.  We were delighted.  And guess what, the garden won a Gold Award!

Hampton Court Flower Show

The prestigious show is held in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace every year and, if you’ve never been, make a note in next year’s diary.

Breckland Beauty Garden was designed and built by Jody Lidgard, Nicholas Fryer and Tim Lidgard at Bespoke Outdoor Spaces. And it really was a beauty. Breckland is an area in Norfolk and the garden was designed to capture a ‘snapshot in time’ of the interchangeable Norfolk landscape.  It also included a pretty pond, inspired by ‘Pingo’s’, post-glaciation kettle ponds, one of many found in this area of Norfolk and home to lots of native wildlife. ‘Pingo’,in case you’re wondering, is apparently an Eskimo word for hill.  But these ponds are quite rare – created at the end of the last ice-age.  In this part of the world, they have been largely left untouched since that time. So if you’re finding a pond fountain, you can install one here.

The garden team set the garden within the grounds of an ‘old farmhouse on the edge of a village’,  surrounded by scrubby, sparse woodland. Despite the crowds it was incredibly tranquil.  Above all that was down to the stunning plants, including aromatics with contrasting textures and forms. To find out even more about the garden you can check it out here.

As for our Manutti Zendo corner sofa – it looked just fab.

Manutti’s Zendo garden sofa

We think this shows just how versatile the Zendo is.  Perfectly at home in a Norfolk ‘wildlife garden’ in a rustic farmhouse, or sitting on the terrace of a Chelsea townhouse.  With credentials to suit both. It’s completely modular; create your own shape to fit the space you have.  It’s also weather-proof and covered in the same high tech fabric as used on smart yachts.  Then there are the super quick-dry, fast-draining cushions. And it’s as comfortable as any indoor sofa we know of.

Manutti are world experts in the design of outdoor furniture and they use only materials that are built to last for years. Seams that are welded as well as sewn for extra durability and cushions are specially designed so that any water will simply drain straight through.

Another of our outdoor sofas also went out to the team over at Romo Fabrics for a shoot.

Point’s Weave garden sofa

Romo chose the new Weave Sofa by our Spanish manufacturer Point for their summer 2018 catalogue. Weave romantically takes its name from the Baya Weaver birds who build their nests by precise weaving and knotting.  It was designed by the talented Vicent Martinez.  The look is superb and it was part of a big trend this year for hand-woven designs. It has a rust proof aluminium frame and is woven with a strong 8mm thick polyester rope.  It’s also sunlight and weather resistant, as well as being colour fast.

Romo’s imaginative location for their shoot was a disused swimming pool and they covered the Weave sofa with one of their new outdoor fabrics, Pergola, in teal.  As well as being incredibly practical and durable, the fabric range has a mix of  geometric, plain and semi-plain weaves.  You can see some of the colours and patterns on offer with the scatter cushions used to style the sofa.  Beautiful peridot yellows and azure blues. And a testament to how soft the material is – it can be used indoors and out. Check out the full Point Weave range here.

So, what a summer.  Long may it last… and if you nip over to our site now you can take advantage of our 15% off summer sale, including all garden ranges.