Balconies offer the perfect transition between the indoor and the outdoor and allow you to bring nature into your home. However, getting a well-sized balcony is becoming increasingly rare in today’s day and age. With the rise in tiny houses and optimised apartment layouts, most of the balconies we see in today’s urban homes are small.
Here are 8 ways to tackle this space creatively and make your small balcony look bigger:
Take the Minimalist Route
The simplest way to make a space feel bigger is to keep it as empty as possible. Taking the minimalist route means being choosy and specific with what and how much you add to your balcony space in terms of patio furniture, shelves, and even plants. Choosing simple and classic pieces that are timeless and blend well with the rest of your house can make your small balcony seem larger and luxurious.
Free Up Floor Space
When the floors of small spaces are covered with furniture or other decor items, it restricts your free movement and makes it look visually cluttered and full. Freeing up your floor space by adding stools, chairs, or tables with slimmer profiles is a great hack to add that extra space for free movement. Also, using transparent tables or chairs that are less boxy-looking and easy on the eyes, lets you see the full floor space and makes the room look bigger.
Minimise Shadows and Dark Corners
Shadows and dark corners quickly define the extent of a room. We ideally want to avoid this situation to create the illusion of a wide, big space. Using lighter colour tones that reflect light and are easy on the eyes can help in creating this illusion. You can also add reflective elements to your balcony like small mirrors, glassware, metallic furniture, decor items, and more! Also, pay attention to your corner spaces and make sure you highlight them in these similar lighter tones and create a space that feels spacious and airy.
Go with a Cohesive Colour Palette
Carefully chosen cohesive palettes can elevate any space to make it seem to be thoughtfully designed and can add a lot of character to it as well. Balconies usually have a few plants and some outdoorsy elements. We want to make them look like they belong to the rest of the house and also give them their creative edge by designing them a little more imaginatively. Choosing a colour scheme that is derived from your house but also works well with the shades of nature will make your balcony the perfect transition between the indoors and the outdoors.
Use Your Wall Space
No matter how big or small your balcony actually is, how you tackle the wall space can create a huge difference to its overall look and feel. Adding a vertical garden, art, wall hangings, frames, and other wall-mounted pieces will draw the eye upwards and make the space look more curated and visually larger. Utilising the wall space effectively can also help you free the floor space and add more storage, which is a bonus functional advantage! A win-win situation.
Add Heights for a Visual Hierarchy
Every space has 3 dimensions, and very often, the vertical dimension is overlooked. Putting a little more thought into it can totally transform your balcony and make it look more spacious. The perfect way to do this is to add a visual hierarchy to it. Adding pots and plants at different heights around the space, adding side tables or shelves at various heights can make the vertical space more interesting and appealing to the eye. This visual hierarchy creates an illusion of a larger space even in compact layouts.
Work with the Layout of Your Balcony, not Against It!
Balconies come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s important to know how to make the most out of yours. For example, if you have a more linear balcony, it’s best to plan your furniture in the same linear direction. Putting a slim patio sofa along with a small coffee table that looks onto the balcony is a much better option than putting a full patio chair set with a big table in the middle. This option would work much better in a wider or square-shaped balcony instead! Understand what type of balcony layout you are working with and plan accordingly.
Give the Eyes Some Work to Do!
Yes, we’ve talked about taking the minimalist route and freeing up space, but by that, we don’t mean that you just put a couple of plants on your balcony and leave it bare and empty otherwise! When things look interesting to the eyes, we spend more time looking at each small thing, and that makes the space feel fuller and larger to us. By using interesting visual elements, colours, and sentimental pieces, you are adding that personal touch to your balcony which makes it look rich and full of character.
HomeLane crafts all its products with the changing urban needs in mind. We have a special collection of Space Saving Furniture specially designed for the modern tiny home. By designing your balcony with our 8 exclusive tips, you are giving it a personality while making your space more functional, effective, and of course, more aesthetic!
