Metal Design Furniture visits Grand Designs Live
This weekend, Metal Design Furniture went on an outing to the ExCel centre in London to have a look around the Grand Designs Live exhibition. Packed to the roof with fantastic ideas and innovations for your kitchen, garden, living spaces and bedrooms, the show was a must for anyone with an interest in making their homes as beautiful and functional as possible.
We were especially taken with these handy outdoor tables, which had spaces that could be used as either a cooler for wine or a BBQ pit. One could quite easily imagine passing the long summer nights sitting around one of those with friends and family, a tipple in one hand and a hot dog in the other. We also enjoyed sitting in some amazing chairs that hung high in the air and had a gentle swinging action, reminiscent of a hammock, but with a little more structural integrity… and better cushions!
Over in the kitchen section, we were blown away by the amazing Vitamix blender, which can make everything from soup to ice cream within seconds. A very charismatic man explained how it worked, chucking in ingredients and producing restaurant quality dishes while we watched. After tasting his amazing soup, which went from ingredients to the hot finished product in the flash of a, well, blender, it took quite a lot of convincing to get Mrs Metal Design Furniture to leave without one tucked into her handbag!
We then ventured into the design section where we cooed over affordable art, relaxed on crazily comfortable chaise longues and were dazzled by pet jellyfish, if you can believe that. This is definitely a treat for anyone who loves amazing home living… and we know all Metal Design Furniture fans are in that group. See you there next year?
A closer look at garden gazebos
From BBQs to birthday parties, from music concerts to family meal times, everything is better when it can happen outside! The children can run barefoot on the grass, and we can all enjoy the sun on our faces. However, whether you need to shade from the sun or hide from the rain, a gazebo will always make an outdoor gathering a little more weather proof.
Gazebos are picturesque structures set outside, usually in parks or other public spaces, and often octagonal or turret-shaped. Amazingly, they have been around for several millennia, having been traced back to some of the earliest gardens in existence. They are mentioned in the early literature of China and Persia, and were common in Egyptian gardens of some 5,000 years ago. Some Egyptian royalty even considered their gazebos to be earthly paradises, which they wished to take to the afterlife with them.
Some of the early Persian gazebos were very opulent structures, boasting two floors, marble columns and even streams running through them to keep them cool. Impressive stuff! France and England joined in the gazebo craze in the 14th and 15th centuries. Famous British gazebos include those at Montacute House in Somerset, and Eton Hill in Nottinghamshire, both of which are worth a visit.
Of course, gazebos look great in private gardens as well as public spaces, and there’s a wide range of high quality, gorgeous gazebos to suit all price ranges available from Metal Design Furniture.
The Paris Gazebo is a particularly luxurious and elegant piece, which has the option to include a stylish wooden bench. Or if you’re tastes are a little simpler, why not go for the simple Classico Pergola, which you could use to create a green, growing roof over your garden. Whatever your tastes, there’s a Metal Design Furniture gazebo for you.
New pet that could make your Metal Design Furniture garden complete
You may have heard of Labradoodle – a dog breed that is made from a mixture of Labradors and Poodles and that came into popularity in the 1980s when it was discovered that they were allergen-free. You may even have heard of Ligers and Zebroids – crossed lions and tigers, zebras and horses respectively. They might not be quite such friendly pets as Labradoodles, but they’re pretty amazing looking animals!
However, one new animal hybrid you might not have heard of yet is the Rabella. This amazing new creature, bred for the first time in Argentina last year, is a combination of a miniature Fallabella horse and a giant rabbit. These hopelessly cute critters are starting to make it over to the UK, where they have quickly become popular pets amongst the rich and famous.
Fed on a diet of hay, carrots and barley, Rabellas are said to make friendly and curious pets who are equally at home outside in the garden or inside your living room. Easily house trained and naturally gentle with children, these curious creatures will soon be everywhere, so get hold of one quickly if you can.
Their only downside is that they have been known to have a bit of a gnaw on the furniture until they are trained out of it – but we think our garden sets could stand the challenge of the Rabellas teeth. What better way to set off your fabulous new pet than to give him her the run of our Paris collection to shelter beneath. Or you could even snuggle up next to your new friend on one of our Classico sofas. You will be the talk of the town!
Stylish new line of outdoor mental benches revealed
A hot new line of colourful and stylish outdoor benches are coming to Metal Design Furniture. Available in bold black, vibrant blue, striking red or peaceful green, any of these benches would make an elegant and practical addition to your garden. The benches boast a contemporary, funky design which could add a splash of colour to the decking in a minimalist garden, but would be equally at home nestled amongst an array of plants in a more traditional space.
As well as being at home in personal gardens, these benches could be used to great effect in schools, parks, church grounds… anywhere that has open space and lots of visitors. Made from laser cut sheet steel, they are hard-wearing as well as eye-catching, so would be hardy enough to support boisterous school children and pretty enough to attract more mature dog walkers! Starting at £280, these benches are a bargain that are bound to attract a lot of attention, so snap yours up quickly and be the envy of your friends. Just one alone would make a bold statement, and a set of all four colours would be impossible to ignore.
Keep an eye out on the website, as they will be available very soon…
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