If you’re lucky enough to have an apartment with a balcony, here’s how to make full use of your outdoor oasis.
Out of all the amenities you can get with an apartment, an outdoor balcony is one of the most desirable. If you’re lucky enough to have snagged a unit that comes with a private balcony, you’re likely the envy of all your friends. Not only does a balcony give you a little extra space and access to fresh air and sunshine, but it hopefully comes with a wonderful view as well.
But you don’t want to let that extra space and lovely vista go unused or appreciated. From being a cozy sanctuary to hanging out and relaxing or serving as extra living space, you want to make the most of having a balcony at your disposal. But how do you optimize the space and customize the style to fit you? These outdoor balcony ideas will help you transform your balcony into whatever you want.
Optimize your open-air space with these 10 outdoor apartment balcony ideas
Whether you want to turn your balcony into a jungle with all your favorite plants or create a cute space to host friends and family, these ideas for how to decorate and optimize your outdoor balcony will come in handy for making your vision a reality.
It’s important to note that when making changes to your apartment, be sure to get the approval of your landlord. Going forward with major changes or alterations without letting your landlord know could result in not getting your deposit back when the lease is up. However, all these ideas are renter-friendly and can be easily removed or undone come moving time.
But the most important thing of all is to be creative and have fun with it. The first step? Read our outdoor balcony ideas and see what most inspires you before getting started.
1. Spruce up the floor
Outdoor balcony floors aren’t always the prettiest or the cleanest because they’re exposed to the elements. Luckily, there’s an easy way to both make the balcony floor look better and completely transform the space. You can purchase fake tiles or peel-and-stick floor stickers to put over the floor.
This allows you to customize the balcony’s colors and vibe and instantly gives the space a facelift. Just be sure to get tiles or stickers that can be easily removed and won’t damage the floor.
Not looking for something even less permanent? You can also choose fun and festive rugs to put down as well.
2. Put up a privacy wall
Sometimes, your apartment balcony isn’t the idyllic private paradise perch you envisioned. Sometimes it’s a shared balcony along an entire floor, with minimal partitions between units. Sometimes it directly faces another building. Or maybe you live in a city where you feel uncomfortable knowing that anyone from the surrounding high rises could be looking at you.
Whatever the reason, you can still make your outdoor balcony a more private space. Privacy walls can be purchased at a number of different retailers in different styles. The benefit of privacy walls is that many models can be easily expanded or contracted, allowing flexibility to fit any kind of space. You can set one up to block the view into your neighbor’s balcony or set it up along the long, view-facing part of your balcony to protect your balcony from the prying eyes of strangers.
3. Add some seating
One of the best ways to ensure that you actually use and enjoy your balcony is to make it as comfortable as possible. That calls for seating.
You can’t enjoy your morning coffee outside or ask friends over for drinks on your balcony if you don’t have somewhere to sit and relax.
You can find tons of balcony and patio-sized furniture at many major retailers like IKEA, Wayfair and Home Depot. Available in many different styles, you can choose small couches and chairs to fit the small parameters of your balcony. With some comfortable seating, you’ll be more inclined to spend time out on the balcony and get more bang for your renting buck.
4. Turn it into a mini-living room
If you like the idea of adding seating to your outdoor balcony, you can take it even further. In addition to putting out chairs and couches, you can organize the space to include small coffee tables or other small tables.
These can serve two purposes. For one, you can add decorative elements like plants, figurines or magazines on top as you would on a living room table. For another, you can choose a table with storage inside to maximize the storage capacity of your balcony furniture.
Throw in a rug, some blankets and some pillows, and you’ve got a cozy place to hang out with friends or simply go and unwind on your own. But be sure to stow anything that could be damaged by bad weather away. The last thing you want is for your nice pillows and fabric cushions to get destroyed by rain or blown away by the wind.
5. Hang out outdoors…literally
Adding a hammock or hanging chair is another great idea for maximizing space and comfort on your outdoor balcony. Not only does it give you a comfy place to lay back and relax, but it adds an element of whimsy and fun to your balcony. It also frees up more floor space. But make sure that the ceiling of your balcony can support something that big before hanging it.
6. Go high
Horizontally, balconies have a finite space. There is only so much you can squeeze into the floor space. But when you consider the unused vertical space of your balcony, all kinds of new possibilities open up.
If you have walls along your balcony, make use of them. One great strategy is to install a vertical garden. These ladder-like installations allow you to hang or grow plants up the wall of your balcony, giving you more space to enjoy the space while also allowing your plants to flourish.
7. Use it for stylish storage
Not a big plant person? Not to worry. The same basic principle can also work for both decor and storage convenience. Using a simple grid of wooden planks, you can affix a trellis-type feature to your balcony wall. Using the beams of the trellis as support, you can add decorative elements like pictures or fun hanging lanterns.
Using some kind of trellis support system or not, you can also add hooks to the wall. You can use these for all kinds of storage options, from hanging a bike to simply putting up a bucket full of gardening supplies to get it out of the way.
8. Outdoor balcony ideas for seasonal decor
Do you love decorating for holidays or the seasons of the year? Your balcony is a great place to express yourself. Deck it out in colored lights, garlands and maybe even a miniature tree for the holiday season.
Hang red, white and blue banners for the Fourth of July. If you like switching out your decor according to the season, you can do that too. Choose bright and colorful cushions and decorative items for spring and summer, then swap them out for earthy colors, fake leaves and seasonal gourds in the fall.
9. Make it into your own private jungle
If you’re a plant parent, a balcony can be a terrific extension of your plant-filled apartment. From hanging plants to potted plants, you can decorate the balcony with plants big or small depending on how much space you have.
Soaring palms add an element of the tropical to your outdoor space, choose fun succulents in cool pots or plant some seasonal flowers to make your balcony bloom. You can even use planters to do an herb garden or plant vegetables that you can use in your own at-home cooking.
However, it’s important to be aware of what plants you’re putting out on the balcony. Do your research to know what different kinds of plants need in terms of temperature, shade and water.
10. Get creative with the lighting
Depending on where your balcony is, you may need to add extra lighting. You can hang lanterns from the ceiling, set up lamps on tables or use string lights to customize the space.
Candles are also a cozy lighting idea, but be sure to monitor them at all times and never leave them unattended.
Make the most use of your apartment’s balcony
Having an apartment that comes with a balcony is a real find, so don’t take it for granted. Optimize the space and take full advantage of having access to this much-sought-after amenity.
Looking for an apartment that comes with a balcony? When using Rent. to look for apartments in your desired area, use the filters to search for apartments with balconies, patios and decks.
Source: rent.com