One of the more common forms of light is the Brella light. This fits onto the base of your umbrella, usually on products with a maximum diameter of nine feet, and adjusts accordingly to how high you want it on your furniture. The power cord also stretches up to six feet, ensuring that you are not limited to where you want to place the light. A similar model is the Brella Sphere, which boasts the ability to rotate on a 180 degree axis. This model is ideal for large gardens that have areas that are difficult to reach with standard lights, as the Brella Sphere can be manipulated to shine directly onto the areas.

photo credit: wka

LED lights are also an elegant way to light your patio umbrella. The lights come in strips that are then attached to the upholding spires of your umbrella. The lights often come with the manufacturer’s one year warranty, and an impressive 470 hours of life expectancy. Of course, as LED lights are rarer and often more expensive than normal bulbs, they need to boast this kind of longevity.

Of course, you may want to hang the patio umbrella lights somewhere other than your garden. Umbrella Harbor Lights use light bulbs that are more durable, the primary function of which is to withstand more abrasive weather conditions. There are more than twice as many lights as those found on LED strands (160 to 64), and the bulbs themselves screw into the umbrella’s ribs, ensuring a much stronger and durable frame.

There are a range of patio umbrella lights on offer for those who wish to light their outdoor space for the summer and with prices ranging from anywhere between $30 and $300, everybody can be sure that they will find the right kind of light for them.

But an Offset Umbrella not only provides a large shaded area, but it can cover basinets or sandpits, letting your children play outside without having to worry about the damaging effects of the sun, or think about a lovely shaded area over your pool, so you are able to relax in the under a fantastic shade.

They can be tilted in any direction so you can keep moving the umbrella along with the sun. Usually they are made from sunbrella fabrics in bright colors which are dyed to be more fade resistant and provide a high level of UV protection.

Side post umbrellas, which is what they might also be called by some people, make an elegant addition to any outside patio or deck. It is the ideal umbrella for giving shade to large rectangle shaped patio tables since there is no center pole in the umbrella to take up space in the shade.

Having the pole at the side of the patio umbrella instead of in the center lets you to use whatever kind of patio table or dining table you desire, and it doesn’t matter if it has a center hole or not.

You might also like to get rid of the table altogether and simply put a bunch of chairs underneath the offset umbrella for a pleasant afternoon outside in the shaded sun.

The cantilever umbrella is a unique way to shade your friends and family that brings a certain level of elegance to your patio, deck, pool side, or lawn, and ensures you are all protected from the sun’s harmful rays at any time of day.

Or maybe you’re camping and the sun is just too hot and you need a bit of shelter. Don’t worry; with a little bit of ingenuity and a couple of bits and pieces you can make your very own umbrella. It probably won’t win any design contests, but it should serve its purpose.

Firstly, you’re going to need a couple of things. For arguments sake let’s pretend you’ve got all these items packed in your backpack while you’re away camping.

What you’ll need

1. Material for the umbrella canopy – you can use a garbage bag (the thicker the better), a tarpaulin or solar blanket.
2. Duct tape
3. Framing materials – if you’ve got coat hangers – great! But I don’t know of many people that go camping with them, so you’ll be able to make do with a sturdy tree branch for the pole and about six smaller branches for the spokes.
4. Scissors or a knife – you’ll need something strong enough to whittle the branches and to cut the tape and material

Instructions

1. Now that you’ve got your materials together you’re ready (as you’ll ever be) to make your umbrella.
2. Have a look at your branches and decide how big you want your umbrella to be. Choose the biggest branch to be the center pole, then take the other six branches and whittle them down to the same size.
3. Take two sticks (of the six) and make them into a cross and secure them with duct tape. Take the center pole and tape it to the middle of the cross leaving about 3 inches at the top. Make sure you secure the branches well so it doesn’t fall apart.
4. Repeat the process with the remaining four sticks, making crosses out of them and then securing them with tape to the stick handle. Spacing them so they make spokes like a wheel. When you’re finished it should look like an asterisk with a stick poking up the middle.
5. Now cut out your canopy material in a circle several inches bigger than your frame. Next push the center stick through the middle of the material and tape up any holes that are left.
6. Tape the edges of the canopy to the spokes. Make sure you duct tape on the underside of the canopy so the tape doesn’t get wet.

And there you have your crude, homemade umbrella. Not pretty, but perfectly serviceable!

The weather was so hot and sunny the people, royalty mostly, got sick of roasting under the intense sun and the first umbrella was born.

They were originally made from silk or linen, depending on how much money you could afford, and resembled modern day parasols. It was quite some time before anyone thought to try and use a water proof material and make umbrellas useful for blocking out the rain as well as the sun.

These days there are many different kinds of umbrellas, from small personal umbrellas that fit in your purse to large golf rain umbrellas or market and beach umbrellas. They are made from numerous different materials depending on their use.

Here is a list of some popular umbrella types you can find.

photo credit: miheco

Patio Umbrellas

Most commonly used in people’s back yards, this is why they have the name patio umbrella. They are usually fairly large and can either be stand alone or as part of your patio furniture. They are very similar to beach umbrellas, but a little sturdier.

They also have a range of lifting and tilting mechanisms, and you can have lights installed which make them great to use when you’re having a night time get together out on the deck.

Beach Umbrellas

Very similar to the patio umbrella, the beach umbrella normally has a skirting or valance. They have a pointed pole so they are able to be stuck in the sand at the beach without falling over. They are usually brightly colored to match ‘beach themes’.

photo credit: garryknight

Market Umbrellas

Originally from Europe market umbrellas were used in European market stalls and cafes. These days you will find them in outside cafes and restaurants. Very similar to the patio and beach umbrellas, although they don’t have the valance and have quite a streamlined look about them.

A market umbrella is typically an outdoor wooden umbrella that is used in commercial environments such as outdoor restaurants, cafes, bars and basically any place that people congregate outdoors relaxing and dining. They originally came from Europe where they were used in outdoor cafes and markets.

Recently the wooden umbrellas have been replaced with a variety of aluminium patio umbrellas due to their strength and durability outdoors. Aluminium is much more weather resistant then their wooden counterparts, which is why you can now get a combination of both – a wooden pole with a steel rod inserted in the center of a drilled shaft. This makes the wood much more wind resistant and gives it added strength.

The main difference between market umbrellas and regular beach umbrellas or patio umbrellas is the missing valance, which is the skirting around the umbrellas edge. Market umbrellas have very straight lines and are quite sleek looking. They also have a wind vent in the top to prevent them from blowing away – something that ordinary umbrellas do not have.

Umbrellas were originally only used by ladies as a shade from the sun or rain. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that they became popular and rather main stream. An occasional market stall or cafe would put a large umbrella up in front of the stall to shelter their customers from the rain or sun.

Shopkeepers realised that their customers stayed longer and bought more when they were protected from the outside elements, so more and more shopkeepers started putting up umbrellas and they soon became known as market umbrellas.

Patio umbrellas sometimes go by the name ‘Market Umbrellas’. The are large umbrellas which a generally used for sun shades outside on your patio, deck or outdoor living area.

On average they range from 6-11 feet when open wide and normally stand about 6-7 feet high. They are mostly made from fabrics such as nylon, vinyl or a polyester blend. These synthetic fabrics make them easy to clean and keep stain free, they are also somewhat water resistant, although they won’t protect you in a deluge.

Patio Umbrellas are usually available with three different types of lifting mechanisms. Only one of these is very much like what you’d find on a handheld umbrella. This means the user has to push up the spokes of the umbrella at the bottom of the pole. There is generally a locking mechanism to keep the umbrella open just like you would find on a personal umbrella.

The second type is the pulley style is which often seen at pools, on beaches and in outdoor restaurants and cafes. This type of umbrella has a rope running from the top is pulled downward, allowing the umbrella to open. To stay open, the rope must either be tied off or there needs to be a peg that fits into the pole once the umbrella is at the right height.

Lastly, the latest and easiest umbrella lift is the crank style. You can simply turn a crank on the umbrella pole one way to open it, the other way to close it. Note that the first two types of mechanism are found pretty much found only on wooden patio umbrellas, while the crank is unique to metal (typically aluminum) umbrella poles.