This year, I set a personal goal to spend more time out on my balcony. Here are some ways you can also do so with your balcony, patio, deck, or other outdoor space.
How To Maximize Your Balcony/Patio/Outdoor Space
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Tag Archives: Gardening
How to Makeover Your Patio Furniture On the Cheap
One of my favorite past-times is to make over something, especially with paint. I’m a sucker for any activity involving a paint brush. This mission to redecorate involved my balcony, a lovely space I consider as another room in my home.
The issue: the colors of my patio furniture no longer coordinated with the colors in my living room. I like to coordinate the colors in each of my rooms to create a sense of flow. They aren’t all decorated in the same colors, but they do each share a common color. I chose to extend this decor flow out to my balcony.
Several years ago, I scored a couple of outdoor sling chairs from Walmart for my balcony. They’re made of mesh and are fairly comfy, and were a decent golden yellow, not too bright like a lot of patio furniture. At the time, these warm colors matched well with the purples I had in my living room.
Before, 2010…
Last year, I tried working with the yellow and incorporated it into my indoor color scheme of turquoise and red. I sewed these pillow shams and painted a lotus design to tie the colors together:
Before, 2011…
I dug the gold/turquoise/red color scheme, but I just didn’t love it. So, I decided to coordinate ALL the colors on my balcony to those in my living room,which now includes mint green and makeover those yellow chairs:
…After, 2012
The new color is also great because I can mix and match decor between the living room and balcony. There’s no tutorial since it was a pretty easy process. Here’s how I did it with latex paint:
7 Tips for Creating a Balcony Garden
My parents have more gardening knowledge than I do (which I utilize!), but for the last few years, I’ve specialized in gardening in a tricky spot: the shaded balcony. These tips are helpful to follow even if you don’t have a shaded balcony & instead have another outdoor space such as a patio, deck or sunroom.
How to Repurpose a Trash Can Into a Planter
Last year the idea came to me to repurpose plastic containers from the Dollar Store into planters. As I was recently shopping for planters, this idea came back to me as I was hesitant to spend money on even the cheapest large pots. (Sometimes I’m a tightwad.) I headed to the aisle with small trash cans and bins & found a basic white one for $4, score! The can is nothing special, although it is larger than most office trash cans you see in stores:
Wondering if the plastic used in trash cans was a different variety than the plastic used in actual planters, I did some research. Someone suggested that as long as the plastic is the food grade (#2 or #5), it should be okay. So, make sure you check out the bottom of the container for the number inside the recycle triangle first if you’re using your trash can planter for an edible plant. Continue reading
DIY: Bookshelf Curtains
Slowly but surely, I will be caught up in posting all the little changes I’ve made around here. This one is quite simple, and you can find several tutorials out there but they really aren’t necessary if you have basic sewing skills. And believe me, my sewing skills are über-basic.
A while ago, I went a little bookshelf crazy and ended up with more than I needed, so I started using the extras for storage in my closet and placed one outside on my balcony. At the time, I didn’t mind if it became damaged from the elements so I didn’t seal it or anything else for protection. I used this bookshelf to display plants and also store my gardening tools, pots and soil. This wasn’t the most attractive display so I used some leftover teal fabric and stitched up some quick little curtains. I purchased a small tension rod from Big Lots and was good to go.
Balcony Garden: 2011
Finally, the seemingly eternal rain lifted & I could start my garden & decorate on my balcony. I’m still working on some decorating out there, but here’s a quick comparison of the balcony last year and today:
BEFORE: 2010
AFTER: 2011
Check out what I did after the jump… 
Continue reading
Reminiscing: My Balcony
I’m one of those people who roll their eyes at others complaining about winter. It’s not even March yet, so the snow and ice really isn’t uncharacteristic for NW Ohio weather. Shoot, we could have snow and ice even in April. Even though I love spring, I truly enjoy all seasons, so winter just isn’t that big a deal to me. Of course, I also work from home, so I have the lovely option of deciding when to clean off my car.
But even with my acceptance of winter, I very much look forward to spring. The upcoming change in seasons will be the second spring in my current home and the second spring with a balcony. I will be so happy for the days I can spend time out there: reading, eating, online, meditating, even napping. Join me as a I take a moment to reflect on last year:
Snapshots From My Balcony Garden
Today I discovered my transplanted morning glory has finally rebloomed! I was pretty excited about that. Really, it’s the little things that make me happy sometimes.
I’ve also been watching some of my other plants grow. It’s crazy how large my Boston fern has gotten. I didn’t even know this was possible! It’s starting to look like it has tentacles. This has been it’s growth in 3 months: Continue reading
