 |
A crispy fern flanked by a flapping towel and a bike with two flat tires—sound like a balcony near you? As close as your own French doors, perhaps?
If what you really want is a cozy place to barbecue, or an enchanted and enchanting retreat—no problem. With just the tiniest bit of attention and effort, you can transform even a swath of bleak and cheerless concrete into almost anything. |
|
| First, figure out what kind of weather your balcony has to withstand, said Elizabeth Blome of Open Window Designs in Houston. A northern exposure will limit plant choices to shade-tolerant varieties, while a west-facing patio will be hard on decorative objects like wreaths and topiaries, which can crack and fade in the hot summer sun. |
|
As for that bike—you get to keep it.
"Our feeling is that if you want something, we can make it work," Blome said. "So if the bike is a part of your life, it stays—behind a screen or a lattice or a nice big plant." |
|
| Decide how you want to use the space, said Helene Schultz, an interior decorator who recently tackled a patio in New York and a balcony in the Virgin Islands. And have fun. Whether you're making a private retreat, an outdoor dining room or dividing a large area into several rooms, an outdoor space should spring from your imagination. |
|
 | Jimenez built an Asian garden for moments of reflection.
"In some ways, the space in a balcony or patio is a bonus, it's unexpected," Schultz said. "You can go with something as simple as plants and a few chairs, or you can unleash your fantasies and be bolder or more playful than you might inside the home." |
|
Bold and playful were Edward Jimenez' bywords when designing the spacious balcony of his Los Angeles condo over the course of six years. At 11-feet wide and 25-feet long, Jimenez had a space large enough to be daunting. He solved the problem by dividing it into rooms—one for dining, one for a garden, another as a sitting room.
|
"I wanted it to look like it had always been there, that it was a place that had been cared for by a family over a period of years," said Jimenez, a hair stylist and makeup artist with a large celebrity clientele. He started with a tree and several plants, then added a seating area. When something didn't work, he gave it away and tried again.
|
| "I went through so much furniture," Jimenez said, and laughed. "My family loves it—I keep giving them stuff that doesn't fit or doesn't work." |
|
| Trial and error have given Jimenez a patio that keeps evolving. This summer, guests can relax in an Asian garden complete with bamboo and a statue of Buddha, visit the koi pond, stroll through an Italian room decorated with leafy plants and a Florentine fountain, or rest in an English garden hung with ivy and bird houses. A welcoming dining area is perfect for weekend barbecues or a morning cup of coffee. |  |
|
| "It's like a little playground, a place of fantasy," Jimenez said. "The most important things about a patio is that it reflect your taste and your lifestyle; when you go out to water the plants or sit in the evening, you should feel completely relaxed and at home." |
|
| Balcony basics |
| Make a sun/shade map and plant accordingly. It will save your time and money to know your full-sun balcony would be a death zone for to shade plants like ferns and philodendrons, or that the sun-loving rose bush you've fallen for won't survive your northern exposure.
Once you settle on function—dining room, book nook, romantic retreat—define the livable space. Then you can add furniture - maybe a porch swing, a chaise longue, a wicker rocker, a bistro table and a couple of chairs. |
| |
|
Next step—style. Staying within a design parameter will give a sense of order and you'll wind up with a coherent space. Wicker and chintz give an English cottage garden feel, while statues, fountains and a tapestry or two have an Italian flavor. Choose one or more focal points to anchor the space. A seating area, a fountain, an arch or even a beautiful potted tree will give the eye—and mind—a place to rest. |
|
|
| A simple color palette that repeats throughout the balcony or patio is easier on the eye than a riot of shades and hues. Use throw pillows, potted flowers or a piece of art balanced on an easel to add a unexpected splash of color. Mix textures. Concrete paving stones can mask a bland cement floor. Add a small rug for warmth and luxury. |
Massed plantings of pots filled with the same shrubs or flowers—bamboo, ficus, decorative grasses, daisies—add the illusion of abundant space. Add privacy with a strategically placed tree, a few panels of lattice or linen curtains draped over an arbor. Mix and match lighting—candles for the table, a spotlight for a piece of art, an up-ight to add drama to a tree, strings of tiny white lights for romance. |
|
| If something doesn't work, get rid of it and try again. A balcony or patio is the perfect place to try out your sense of style and give in to flights of fancy. Most of all, enjoy. |
|
| Veronique Kipen is a Los Angeles-based writer who has written frequently about home decorating.. |
Make your ceilings seem higher by placing Chinese porcelain urns or a basket filled with dried hydrangea on top of your tall bookcase or armoire angled in a corner. If you don't have much of a view, check out the faux, trompe l'oeil prints offered in catalogs like Spiegel and Homedecorators.com. They feature charming watercolors of outdoor beach scenes, a harbor or cottage lane, providing a "window" to the outdoors when hung in a strategic place on the wall. |
| |
| Walls, windows and floors |
The designer's motto is: If your walls, windows and floors are well taken care of, all else will fall into place. You'll be surprised how attractive curtains, a tasteful arrangement of artwork and thick, quality rugs on your floors really make your room feel warm and complete. Put these on your shopping list:
|
| Collection of a series of old botanical prints, maps, paintings of animals or ceramic plates
Curtains or shades in colorful, quality fabrics
Architectural salvage to create a "built-in" dimensional feeling
Paint on the walls, if your landlord agrees
Large area rugs in living room and bedroom, even placing on top of wall-to-wall
|
|
| Style tips |
 | Make good use of unique scatter rugs for kitchen, hallways, bathroom. Whether braided ovals, flat dhurries or bound Wilton remnants from your local carpet shop, rugs add warmth and color while absorbing noise. Be sure to use a quality pad.
|
|
| Curtains are apartment essentials for privacy in living room, bedroom, kitchen and bath. Make yours full and dramatic in olive velvet, shapely and natural in burlap or muslin, romantic and ruffled in chintz. Curtains let your personality shine through and suggest a polished finish. Create a custom look with highly-styled designer curtain rods and finials. Look for elegant gold-brushed artichokes, acorns, lions' heads and abstract geometrics. |
|
| Tricks of the trade |
| Search for four tall, old shutters at a garage sale or flea market. Prop them up on the windowsill, gently leaning their tops against the window frame to create a fitted wooden "curtain." |
| Create a "wallscape." Instead of hanging one lonely picture, cover your walls with six botanical prints arranged in rows, a collection of rich green majolica plates, 12 black-and-white art photographs framed with extra-large matting. A collection is better for filling the big expanse of walls often found in newer apartments. |  |
|
Use old architectural salvage crafted from wood or iron. Find an interesting piece the width of your door and hang directly above it to fake a molding or door surround. Seek out interesting, carved pieces featuring fruit, eagles, cherubs or iron grillwork.
Not enough can be said about the power of color. In many states, a landlord is required by law to paint an apartment before any new tenant moves in. Ask him if a pale shade of blue, salmon, yellow or cream could replace the stark "apartment white" (paler colors are easier to paint over later). Painting even one wall gives a room an immense lift and acts as a mood enhancer—it's worth asking your landlord.
Use storage solutions that do double duty as display. Hang eight attractive hat hooks in your tiny entryway to show off your straw and woolen hats. An iron pot rack hung from the kitchen ceiling displays your basket collection. A coat rack in the boudoir turns into an elegant display of lacy lingerie and silk robes. Use tables that have shelves beneath for holding books, magazines and pottery.
Jill Davis is a New York City interior designer and writer specializing in home decoration and the visual arts. Her work has appeared in Window & Wall, Bedroom & Bath, Traditional Home and Victoria. |
|
|
