What Shape Is Your Outdoor Patio Umbrella?

Getting Your Patio “In Shape” with the Right Umbrella!

More than ever, especially with what is going on in the world, people is spending time at home. And as we movie into summer, for many, it’s time to give your patio, balcony, terrace, veranda some love. Maybe you already have outdoor furniture or maybe you just got your delivery and are in the process of setting up an outdoor living room – either way – often, the last purchase is a shade product – an umbrella or in some cases, an outdoor pavilion.

There are all sorts of decisions to make when choosing the right umbrellas: size, material (aluminum, wood, bamboo etc.) style (center pole or cantilever, also known as offset), canopy color, and of course: shape! Choosing the right shaped umbrella while seemingly and easy decision can be a little confusing. So we set out to explain the 4 basic shapes of umbrellas and recommend a few of our best sellers in each category.

The four basic umbrella shapes are: 

• Round, sometimes referred to as an octagon
• Square
• Rectangle
• Oval

There is no right or wrong when it comes to deciding which shape umbrella to get! Most often the shape decision is based on the area of your patio to be shaded!

So if you are trying to cover a table, typically the shape (and size) is based on the size of the table. If your dining table is round, and you are using a table umbrella you usually go with a round / octagon umbrella that is large enough to shade the entire table and chairs.

If you have a square table, more popular in commercial settings like an outdoor seating area at a restaurant, but square tables are sometimes used in residential applications, a square umbrella is typically the choice.

The same consideration applies to rectangular and oval dining table settings and fortunately our manufacturers have a plethora of great oval and rectangle umbrellas

When shading a seating area such as an outdoor living room or chaise lounges the same considerations apply and the simple rule of thumb is to find the right shape to cover the area being shaded. So for example, if you were trying to give overhead shade to two side-by-side chaise lounges, a square umbrella with the right base placed in between them would likely be a good choice. If you had 3 or even 4 chaises, a larger rectangular umbrella would provide greater coverage.

Shading on the side: one of our most popular shade solutions is an offset umbrella also known as side pole or cantilever. These versatile umbrellas allow you to shade multiple areas by using their rotating and tilting features. Similar considerations to a dining area apply.

A good example would be that a properly placed offset umbrella could shade a dining area and then be rotated on its axis to provide shade for either a seating area or some chaise lounges and the right shape to choose would be determined by the configurations of both settings. And like center pole umbrellas, offset / cantilever umbrellas come in round / octagon, square and rectangle.

Here are some of our best sellers – and remember – the outdoor experts at UmbrellaSpecialist.com are standing by to help you with all your shade questions. We love helping our customers make their purchases so give us a call at 954-376-3766.

ROUND / OCTOGON / HEXGAON UMBRELLAS

We all learn shapes as children but choosing a “round” umbrella can sometimes be confusing because different manufactures refer to their umbrellas using a different description for the same shaped umbrella.

Here is the best way to explain it.
Round Umbrellas, depending on the size either has canopies with 8 or 6 panels or sides. So geometrically speaking, “round” umbrellas are actually octagons (8 sides) or hexagons (6 sides).

Are you confused? Don’t be! Whether the manufacture calls it a “round” umbrella or an “octagon” – it is the same thing!

Round Umbrellas come in sizes from 6’ all the way up to 13’ round. We offer Round Umbrellas in both Center Pole varieties, which can be used in a table or as a free-standing umbrellas and Round Offset or Cantilever Umbrellas.

Here are some of our best Round / Octagon / Hexagon shaped umbrellas: