The Easiest Way to Shade Your Patio Home Decoration Home Garden Home Improvement by Diana Smith - December 22, 2014 The Easiest Way to Shade Your Patio Your gorgeous yard with that wonderful patio furniture is probably one of your favorite places on earth. You use it to enjoy, relax, and entertain your friends and family during those nice summer days and nights. Unfortunately, the problem with any yard is that, if it’s not properly shaded you can’t enjoy it at all! That’s probably the reason you are on this blog and I’m going to make it worth your while. My wife and I have gone through what not to think of ways to shade our patio so that we can blissfully enjoy the beauty of our yard and this is pretty much what we have come up with. Hope you’ll find it useful! Image Credit – https://c2.staticflickr.com Natural shade DUH! Of course natural shade is the answer to the problem, but the thing with growing trees is that it takes years. So, in the meantime what you can do until the trees grow is to plan some small bushes, shrubs and small trees. You can also buy plastic trees and plant them so they give shade until the real thing grows. Or – the easiest way to go with is to build a simple pergola above your patio furniture. Naturally, you’d plant fast-growing vines over it and before you know it you’ll have a good-looking, natural covering to shade your patio. Umbrellas If for some reason you are not a fan of natural shades or they are simply impossible to grow properly in your climate conditions, huge umbrellas are a great option, too! A cool thing is that you can practically get them in any type of pattern, color or design and make your yard colorful and interesting! Tents Yet another cool option are yard tends. They are stylish, are usually made in white so they deflect light and can give your yard that charming and romantic vibe. They are not particularly expensive yet are really practical! They can be custom made so you can opt for any color or design you like if you want to give your yard a particular tone. Image Credit – http://pixabay.com/static String Along Since you are on the budget you don’t want to look at huge investments. Yet, this doesn’t mean you can’t create something gorgeous and fun, yet practical! Here’s an idea – thread a wire through the grommets of curtains. Then, rig up to a pulley system and you’ll get an unusual protection from the sun. Create with Canvas You can always find your inner DIY wizard and do amazing stuff with the materials you’ve got in the house or spend a few bucks to buy. To create shade, drape lengths of fabric or canvas between the joists To get a more transparent look, space out the pieces of fabric and add lights to illuminate the space at night. Awnings This is a bit more expensive solution yet pretty awesome and practical. You can get them in various patterns and colors which is, again, a great advantage. It’s mostly made of vinyl or fabric. If you want to have them installed by a professional, they’ll cost a bit more while installing it yourself is a cheaper option. Easy shade You’ll probably laugh at this one how easy it is – but it’s amazing! All you need is a square, rectangular, or any other shape you want outdoor fabric and buckets of cement concealed posts. Make as many buckets of cement concealed posts as you wish, depending on the size of the yard and the shape you want to get. Then, attach the fabric to the posts. Voila! Awesome, right!? Shade sails This one is definitely our favorite! It does resemble other options we’ve mentioned up yet it’s in a way more practical and so unbelievably practical! Plus, they are so easy to install like you wouldn’t believe! Great thing about shade sails is that they reduce heat, provide shade and block about 95% of the Sun’s harmful rays. Getting the protection from the sun in your yard can be a tricky business but as you can see – it doesn’t have to be. Now that you’ve heard our suggestions, what’s going to be your option?