Simple Ways To Use Your Apartment Balcony
What can you do with your balcony? No matter how small it is, you can turn that space into something nice that supports a variety of activities. Here are some ways you can put your balcony into good use...
Your Reading Area
If you love to read, then consider your balcony to be a quiet outdoor getaway where you can read a new book or a favorite magazine. Take out a chair, place some cushions on it. Make the place cozy enough so that you will not get cold from a breeze. An outdoor reading area like this is ideal for apartments with the balcony facing away from the road to keep the noise down.
Your Herb Garden
If you love herbal tea or cooking with fresh herbs, you don't have to go to the farmer's market to get fresh herbs. Get a small planting pot, with holes in the bottom, fill with soil, and plant whatever herbs you would like. Assuming you water and care for the plants, you should end up with a variety of herbs growing out on your balcony. Now, whenever you need fresh herbs for your meal, or you crave some herbal tea, you can simply go out to your balcony garder and get what you need. If your balcony is tiny, you might be able to use hanging pots. Before you start planting just make sure this does not go against any of your apartment policies.
Your Nap Area
If you love taking naps, maybe during the afternoon or evening, turn your balcony into a comfy nap area. Perhaps you can hang some hooks and install a hammock. Like with the reading area, this will be a better choice if the balcony does not face the road since that will be further from the noise. Such a nap area can also be quite enjoyable if you want to watch the stars at night. Have some pillows and a blanket handy to cover yourself up if it gets chilly. Of course, you can also put a rug on the floor and cover it with cushions and pillows, making it more comfy for star-gazing.
Your Tea Zone
Your balcony can be an ideal place to have tea with friends. If you have a book club or any other type of club, you can turn your balcony your outdoor meeting place. Get some comfy chairs, a small table, and some pillows for the chairs and this will be a very good place to enjoy tea. You can also place potted plants around to give it the feeling of a garden tea party.
Cooking Area
Though a balcony can be small, there are actually barbeque grills you can attach to the balcony railing. If you love to entertain on weekends, there's no reason to be limited by apartment living. Get a balcony grill, and you can have a nice barbeque with friends any weekend. Of course this might be prevented by your apartment building policies, so check into that first to make sure it's allowed.
One Final Thought
Get some mason jars and put candles inside them. When you light these up at night they will create a very lovely outdoor area. This can be a place where you can sit and sip your glass of wine after a long day.