Creation of designers, Grazio Mozo & Renato Pigatti, the Queen of Love" chair is one of those fantastic contradictions...

A traditional Baroque style outdoor chair fashioned from recyclable linear polyethylene (UV stable for garden use), the chair is available in a range of very modern colours.

Available from SAW Italy, we think the Queen of Love chair would look equally striking in classic or contemporary gardens. A couple of moulded plastic Chesterfields might work well too..!

More & more of us are working from home... As technology improves and commuting gets worse and more expensive, the home office is no longer the preserve of those with own business/too much space..!

Trouble is, while working from home home is becoming an option many more employers are happy to offer, the chances are they won't be offering a vast pay-rise in the same breath and for most of us, working from home means sacrificing a room (if available) for an office. Sitting in front of the TV with your laptop rarely works well..!

So for those of us without a spare space in our homes (or the pay-rise required for a bigger place!), London-based OfficePOD seem to have come up with a brilliant solution.

The OfficePOD is designed to be placed in available garden space and turns an area many of us don't use for much of the year into a home office.

The OfficePODS are obviously fantastic - just go and have a look at the OfficePOD site - but what's truly great about this solution is the way it divides the home and work space - something new 'Homies' can find very difficult..!

For us, the other fantastic OfficePOD advantage is in the fact you're sitting in what must be the most healthy and relaxing environment to inspire you getting on with work... Your garden!

A brilliant solution.

Recent newcomer to the grow your own market, Polanter has launched a fantastic new product designed to make vertical gardening simple and easy.

The Polanter vertical gardening system is based on simple vertical tubes with planting holes distributed along the length. The clever bit is in the irrigation system (simply connect up your garden hose for 15-20 seconds) and the brilliant way the tubes can be joined together to create longer planting tubes for more produce/larger displays.

The great thing about the Polanter (and other vertical gardening systems is the way they enable growing and planting in small urban and contemporary gardens, where space to grow is often minimal.

The great news is the Polanter vertical gardening system is now available here at Bau Outdoors. For a bit more information have a look at the Polanter Vertical planters here. The perfect gift for keen or beginner gardeners this spring.

A recent polytunnel customer sent us in some fantastic shots of the build process at their allotment plot, so we thought we'd post a couple here to inspire.

With a good, deep trench and a beautifully tensioned polytunnel cover, this is one of the best build we have seen so far, we sent out a box of FIGO connectors to say thanks for the shots. For any tunnel-build or grow-your-own triumph shots we get, we'll send a little something in return, so get snapping!

Anyone interested in growing a bit more for a bit longer this year should take a look at the polytunnel range... The tunnels come in three sizes depending on how big your plot/how brave you are!

We can't help but dream of a garden office as beautiful as the one Casa Na Arvore Director, Ricardo Brunei works from...

Ricardo's company, based in southern Brazil creates tree houses that remind us of the fantastic Ewok villages in Star Wars movies... They're that good!

These beautiful tree houses can ascend to over 20 metres and are designed to be built around trees without cutting away any heathy branches.

While Ricardo's tree houses are a little ambitious for us, the company also creates stunning garden furniture using natural wooden forms.

The Casa Na Arvore site is well worth a look... Although a full English version is not available yet, the photography of finished projects is incredible...

Using only reclaimed wood, Canadian collective Loyal Loot have produced the beautiful Log Bowls - each crafted from turning and gloss-finishing sections of unfinished tree.

We loved the contrast between the highly finished bowl-core and the raw log outer.

Available in a wide range of colours and sizes, the bowls can be found at the Good Egg Shop. Should fit well into any garden dining setting!

We wanted to mention a fantastic product from US company Vers, that bring a welcome touch of 'analogue' to an otherwise very digital market!

The beautiful iphone/ipod cases are fashioned from US walnut, cherry or bamboo and Vers suggest they're the most environmentally 'thoughtful' on the market.

A few interesting bamboo facts on the Vers site suggest the bamboo version the pick of the range in terms of sustainability. Apparently, bamboo is actually a grass and can be harvested (or mowed!) many times over, without harming the plant itself.

Add to this, the fact that bamboo produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent area of trees and reaches harvestable hight in as little as 3 months (as opposed to 40-60 years for typical hard-wood species) and it would seem like a fantastic choice of material for this type of product... We wonder what else could be fashioned from bamboo where plastic is currently the norm?

The cases look to be a little difficult to get hold of here in the UK at the moment. Hoping that changes very soon.

Bau Outdoors.

We were so impressed by Horace Burgess's tree house, we thought we'd post a few images.

We doubt many of you have the garden space for something quite on this scale, but if you ever get the urge, these pictures should give you an idea.

Using tons of reclaimed wood, Horace Burgess built this 10-story treehouse around the foundation of an 80-foot White Oak tree!

The treehouse is so large - Horace estimates in the region of 8,000-10,000 square feet(!) - it even has it's own basketball court.

Inspiration came in the form of a vision back in 1993, where Horace saw God telling him if he built the treehouse, he'd never run out of materials..!!

With December fast approaching, we've had notice from Figo that their fantastic frame connectors will be here for early december...Just in time for Christmas!

A perfect present for the keen gardener in your family, Figo have posted a few videos of the connectors in action... Keep an eye out for our first stock!

UPDATE - the Figo Connectors are with us & in stock!!!

Had to post an image or two of the stunning Mariposa garden chairs from Kate Rider, recent graduate of the Edinburgh Collage of Art.

We spotted the Mariposa garden chairs on the Contemporist site earlier (brilliant site - well worth a look) and can't see much info anywhere on the chair's construction, but they look like coated steel, so should be happy left outdoors. This is good news, as the Mariposa chairs look fantastic as stand-alone pieces of garden sculpture... The striking shadows cast by the lace-work style chair frames really add to the effect.

We'd love to see this furniture in production!

Bau Outdoors