How to make a balcony

More recently, the balconies and loggias did not attach much importance. These rooms were often used as storage rooms, where all unnecessary things were kept, and few people thought that the balcony could be used in some other way. Now, in the age of introducing fashionable technologies and design solutions, everything has changed. Apartment owners seek to make from their balcony a cozy, comfortable room for work and leisure, or a summer bedroom, a greenhouse, a mini-gym and even a children's room for games. Today it is very important, so in this article we will describe how to decorate the balcony in the apartment inside and outside with your own hands, consider the various options (flowers, furniture, etc.).

Do I need glazing?

If the balcony will be used as a summer garden, it can be left open, and in all other cases, glazing and insulation are provided.

For glazing balconies and loggias use aluminum, wooden and galvanized frames. But metal-plastic frames remain the most popular, because they are strong enough, tight, easy to care for, they are durable, aesthetic, and there is the possibility of matching the color according to the interior. The installation of metal frames is simple, which means that installation can be done independently.

Interior finish

When choosing materials for interior decoration, it is important to remember that the room used requires high-quality insulation due to exposure to temperature fluctuations and the formation of mold. In this case, plastic panels are a good option. They are inexpensive and resistant to temperature. In addition, due to the smooth surface they are easy to care for.

A good design solution is the cladding of the balcony with wooden clapboard. But it should be noted that it needs periodic treatment with an antiseptic to prevent the formation of fungus.

What to make the floor?

Practical materials are used to finish the floor. Since moisture, moisture, and temperature drops are unacceptable for wood, linoleum and laminate, it is best to use ceramic tiles for the floor of an unglazed and unheated balcony.

Layout

As practice shows, some owners decide to combine the balcony and a small room. To do this, it is enough to remove the windows and doors between the balcony and the room.

And if you combine a balcony with a kitchen, then in the resulting space you can fit bulky appliances, such as a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a food processor, and shelves with preservation can also be placed there.

If you try hard, the balcony will look like a continuation of the kitchen. Then the room should be warmed, and the walls and ceiling should be decorated in tone of the room or kitchen.

Design office

In a small apartment it is often not possible to retire for work, and in this case it is very appropriate to re-equip the balcony for a study, for which you will definitely need to warm this room. It is better to decorate the walls, as in the office, in strict colors, using plain wallpaper or varnished wooden boards.

On the floor will look good carpet or parquet. The room decorated in strict tones will adjust on productive work, and promote good mood.

To create a working environment, you need to install a small table, chair, shelves for papers and, of course, a computer and accessories to it. It is also important to take care of the proper lighting of the workplace. To do this, you need to hang a lamp above the table. To protect against bright sunlight, it is best to hang the blinds, which also perfectly complements the interior and gives the room an office look. For the floor is better to use carpet or parquet.

Ideas for an open balcony

Few apartment owners rush to glaze a balcony or loggia, deliberately leaving for themselves an open space. Options for creating an open balcony also exist.

If the balcony is small, you can use it as a bar in the warm season. Then the walls and the floor must be finished as for the street: plaster the walls and paint them with bright colors or make a decorative finish. The floor can be laid out durable stoneware tiles designed for street work. This tile has a rough surface that serves as protection against falling on a floor wet from a rain.

In all cases, it is important to take into account the permissible load on the balcony, since the layer of concrete screed and the laid ceramic granite tiles may exceed acceptable performance.

Furniture can serve as a plastic table and chairs - economy version. Often on the balcony you can see folding chairs that can be removed for the winter in the pantry.

If you prefer a chic setting, then you can order forged furniture - it is also moisture resistant, it only requires regular anti-corrosion treatment. To save space, it is possible to attach a folding table to one of the walls, preferably under the window. The room can be decorated with houseplants.

Balcony Gym

After completing the finishing work it is necessary to hang curtains or blinds on the windows in order to hide from curious neighbors and from the scorching sun. The design of such a room can be made in a nautical style using blue-white-yellow interior items.

You can install a simulator, a music center that will play your favorite music, and in such an atmosphere there will be an incentive to do exercises, exercise on a simulator, work out with dumbbells, swing a press.

Restroom

The design of this room can be made in a certain style. Oriental style means organza curtains in the interior. Also, this style is inherent in crimson-orange color scheme with oriental ornaments on the walls, with a wide bed and a lot of pillows (if the dimensions allow).

The room, made in the style of country, adjusts to the village life, allows you to escape from the bustle of the city. Used old things and utensils. As decoration used natural stone, wood, brick. Country style tones? light pastel. The furniture can serve as a rocking chair and a small round table on which a tablecloth, a vase with wild flowers and several items of a tea service will look very relevant. A pleasant atmosphere can be created using the nautical style, which implies the presence of blue-white-yellow flowers in the interior. Photowall-paper with a field or rural landscape will look beautiful.

Children's room on the balcony

A small room is not suitable for the equipment of a children's room, because the children's room should be filled with the necessary things and furniture for the child. Best of all, if the improvised nursery will have a desk for doing lessons or drawing, shelving or shelves for toys.

Optionally, you can equip area for sports, for example, by installing an exercise bike. And if you install a TV and DVD-player, the crumb can watch cartoons. To make the room bright and fun, you need wallpaper with a colorful pattern, however, if you have the ability, the walls can be painted with bright colors. Be sure to need curtains, and you can put a bed for daytime sleep.

When setting up a children's room on the balcony, you should mainly take care of the safety of children. It is unacceptable that a child has access to an open window! Be sure to install metal windows on the windows, which will protect against falling from the balcony. Moreover, the size of the lattice cells must be such that the inquisitive child could not stick his head there.

Whatever the well-thought-out protection, it is best to periodically observe whether everything is in order with the child.

Flowers in the design

For decoration of the balcony with flowers you need a competent approach. Interior gardening in our time is becoming increasingly popular. Since indoor flowers improve the environment surrounding a person, they have a positive effect on the microclimate of the room, enriching it with oxygen and exotic plants decorate not only apartments and houses, but also rooms such as balconies and loggias. Among other things, plants have a beneficial effect on the emotional state, their beauty, various forms and rich colors can help relieve nervous and physical stress.

To decorate the balcony interior with flowers, you first need to take into account the sensitivity of these delicate plants to the room temperature and the need for good lighting. Such an option, as easy to arrange flowers in all empty corners, is far from the most suitable. To indoor plants do not interfere with each other, and in general the room had a decorative appearance, it is impossible to allow their crowding. In this case, there are many ideas for placing flowers. You can use the stand, making it possible to place at different levels, gratings for climbers, shelves or hanging pot for plants with hanging shoots.

When choosing plants, one must proceed from the size of the room, its lighting and personal preferences.

On the balcony should not be placed large boxes and bulky tubs, but rather give preference to abundantly flowering plants with a small root system. Balcony space can be used as a mini-garden by placing hanging boxes with parsley, ornamental vegetables, strawberries and curling beans. These plants look great at different stages, like seedlings, in the process of flowering and, of course, when they begin to bear fruit.

Exquisite design can be a Japanese bonsai garden. To do this, acquire dwarf trees growing in small containers, and fleshy succulents in flat bowls. A pink petunia in hanging pots can play the role of cherry blossoms. Curtains with such landscaping is better to choose in the Japanese style with a print in the form of hieroglyphs.

However, not all plants are suitable for landscaping a balcony. In the case of an open balcony, it should be remembered that some of them are not adapted to the wind, the sun and to significant temperature differences. Their use as a design can be episodic. But in the glazed room you can use begonia, cyclamen, violets, pelargonium and many others.

Climbing plants will turn the balcony into an abundantly flowering garden arbor or some English courtyard entwined with ivy. In addition, in the vicinity of the ivy will look beneficial multi-colored petunia and other bright flowers.

Making a small balcony

Not all tenants of apartment buildings own large balconies and loggias. If you have a small balcony, then you need to avoid cluttering up large flowerpots and containers, but rather use small boxes with an abundance of flowering plants in them. It is better to arrange such flowerpots from the outside of the balcony. It is also appropriate to use one or two pots under the ceiling with hanging greens and flowers.

Furniture is best to install folding - stackable plastic chairs and a folding tabletop.

As you can see, to make an attractive balcony in an apartment, you need a great desire, a well-thought-out approach, imagination and a few things at hand. And then such a room, decorated independently, will become a favorite place for households and guests, and the atmosphere will contribute to the positive microclimate of the family.

Video

In this video you will see how the design of the open balcony can be done:

Watch the video, which provides an example of the design and landscaping of the balcony:

A photo