Outdoor Fabric Ideas for Creating Your Own Personal Oasis

One of the best kept secrets in a beautifully decorated home is the subtle use of fabrics that serve to complement furniture, windows, floors and accent pieces. Choosing the appropriate fabrics for any space in the home will help bring a room together through consistent themes and patterns. The following outdoor fabric ideas apply this same concept to the design and plan of your outdoor space, helping you create an open-air extension of your home with all the style and function of the indoors.

Regardless of how you plan to utilize your outdoor space, your choice of color and fabric can help enhance the area and transform an outdoor living room into a colorful oasis. The key here is to incorporate any outdoor fabric ideas that help complement the space rather than overpower it. We could spend hours talking about our favorite ways to incorporate fabrics and color into an outdoor living space, but we thought we would just highlight a few of our favorite and inspiring outdoor fabric ideas that other people have used in their personal outdoor spaces.

Colorful Retractable Shades

Probably the 'biggest' of all the outdoor fabric ideas, one that addresses both function and fashion, is the retractable shade. These have become widely available and are quickly becoming a must have for any home. The products are made in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Homeowners typically install them over their outdoor living areas to get the most out of their space. Rain or shine, the retractable canopy has got you covered. Retractable shades are made of either waterproof or water-resistant materials. Most canopies have outdoor fabric that is available in an array of different colors, offering homeowners an option to stay consistent with a particular color theme or add a personalized pop of color to their outdoor space.

Pillows and Cushions

The growing popularity of outdoor living over the last decade has encouraged designers to develop new lines of outdoor fabric from ‘all-weather’ material. As a result, there has been a growing trend toward developing indoor fabric lines with an all-weather counterpart. You should try finding outdoor fabric that compliments the interior of your home, this will help ease the transition from the inside of your home to the outside. To give your outdoor area a refined look, think about upholstering cushions with an outdoor fabric designed in your favorite color, along with pillows that both complement and enhance the design. Also, consider throw pillows as well, they have a unique way of completing the look of any room and can add that extra bit of comfort. On top of all that, pillows can be affordable pieces that give you the freedom to create different color schemes for your outdoor oasis based on the season or your mood. Probably the easiest of all the outdoor fabric ideas, pillows and cushions should definitely be considered when trying to change your outdoor space.

Cabana Draperies

When I think of outdoor draperies, I am transported to a tropical cabana with billowy fabrics gently floating in the warm ocean breeze. This relaxing, idyllic thought can be re-created in your own personal paradise by using cabana draperies as your outdoor fabrics to adorn an outdoor structure or pergola. Cabana draperies can add both style and polish to an outdoor space, as well as defining the area by creating a flexible ‘room’. Whether you decide to go with solid colors or playful patterns, draperies help to add your own personal touch. A couple of things to remember when deciding upon cabana draperies is to make sure that the fabric material is all weather. Also, be sure to have ‘tie-backs’ for your drapes, on days when the wind and rain are too strong, you can ensure their longevity by anchoring them to your structure. Lastly, when attaching your drapes to a structure, use rust resistant hardware to avoid future repairs as long as possible.

Design Your Own Colorful Oasis

These are only some of the many fabric ideas that people are using to create their own personal outdoor space. Be creative, remember this is your space, you will be spending the most time in it, so use the type of fabrics and styles that make you happy. Get creative and design your own colorful outdoor oasis!