Small Balcony Ideas for Space Planning | Week 2 of the ORC
We're already in week two of our small balcony project and this week, we're going to take a look at the design we landed on. What kind of small balcony ideas do I have?
One Room Challenge
For those of you who are not familiar with the One Room Challenge™ , this fun event is held twice a year. The mission statement is:
The One Room challenge™ will provide participants with a supportive, enthusiastic forum in which to share the process of transforming a room. The ORC is not a competition, but rather a celebration of creativity, inspiration, and original ideas.
The ORC™ is in its 19th season and I was a participant a few years ago when we designed and built our new main bathroom prior to our son coming home from college. It was a fantastic experience which is why I am doing this again.
Better Homes and Gardens is the media partner and this season, there are 20 featured designers that partner with brand sponsors, along with hundreds of guest designers and bloggers, and ‘grammers’ (Instagram). Each week we will be writing about our process, progress, and perhaps some pitfalls. We will all provide and link the posts to the One Room Challenge website HERE where you can follow along and be inspired! I hope you will follow along!
Small Balcony Project
Last week, I introduced you to my One Room Challenge and you can read that here.
Small Balcony Ideas
61 square feet. That is ALL we have! What kind of small balcony ideas do I have?
As we all know, an outdoor space is what everyone is craving. We've had another long winter and it feels so good to be able to be out in the warmth without a parka on!
While this space is only 61 square feet, I am creating 2 zones for her:
- A relaxing/work zone
- A 'coffee' zone
A relaxing work zone
Do those two words even go together? Why yes they do! Since my daughter is working full time (as a legal assistant) and finishing off her degree in Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies while also preparing for law school, there is a need to have a workspace that also doubles as a relaxing area.
I chose the West side of her balcony for this area. For this area, we are going to use a love seat and a coffee table. As she has a very large window that looks onto this side of the balcony, it will give her a little bit more privacy. The direction of the love seat also faces East so she'll be able to have her morning coffee while watching the sun rise.
In addition, the small coffee table will assist her with her papers, her laptop, etc.
As you can see, the love seat can not be longer than 54" and the coffee table is also on the small-scale size. Oh boy, I have my work cut out for me!
A coffee zone
Ok - I'm writing that's it's a coffee zone, but I feel like this may be the '5 o'clock somewhere' zone. For this area, I chose to use the East side of her balcony. First of all, the sliding door is really close to this area so we can not impede in the walkway space. Secondly, I chose this space as the furniture will face West. My daughter loves the heat of the sun so while having her coffee (or beverage of choice), she can enjoy the sun setting in the West.
As it will be like the love seat, the chair can not be an overly large piece of furniture. I've also specified a side table to set the 'coffee' down.
What's Next?
Seeing that we have an additional two weeks (the One Room Challenge has gone from six weeks to eight weeks), I am now loving the additional two weeks. While I am feeling good about how this space is coming together, I know the minute I feel like that, a curve-ball will be thrown at me!
Next week, I'll let you in on my own curveball I threw at myself. Yes, you heard that right. I threw a great curveball at myself. As I am often hearing myself say, "What the hell was I thinking?"
See you next week!
Small Space Shopping
Small spaces are not always easy to shop for. I've pulled together some small space ideas that you may find useful with our home.
The items below contain affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, are most appreciated and make this blog possible.
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