Balcony Refresh

Our apartment balcony took a hit this winter. The wind, snow and general sub-zero temps blew the place apart. In honor of spring arriving on Saturday, we rolled up our sleeves and went out there for the first time since November.

Priority #1 Declutter. This glass table and two orange folding chairs were just taking up space. We’ll take them to Block Island, clean and repaint them so they can take up space there!

You can see them better in this picture. Not adding any value. Priority #2 Clean. We pulled everything off the balcony and started from scratch, only putting back what made sense.

Mrs. Meyer’s had a key roll in this. I cleaned everything, including the floor.

The wind here is vicious, so I got zip ties to secure all of the cushions. No more blowing around the place.

We had this black metal patio furniture in Rye and it fits well here. I found an old Dash & Albert rug in our linen closet and threw it into the wash in hot water. If they are not too big, I always wash indoor/outdoor rugs in the washing machine. It gets ALL of the dirt out and is so easy. No drying necessary. Two little gray folding chairs are tucked into a nook for extra seating.

New coffee table I bought for $130.00 online. We need one out there for entertaining.

Not bad! Fits the space perfectly. Now, I need to add color to this monochromatic palette.

Two pillows, one orchid, a candle and whatever that weird ball of shells is ~ definitely helps to brighten up the space. The two round black side tables on either side of the loveseat are from Target.

Behind the main seating area is a little space to read or nap. We had this chaise, pillow and little white table in Rye and reused it here. This evergreen somehow survived the winter. We never watered it….

Priority #3 Enhance. There is no light source on the balcony, so if we want to come out here at night, it’s pretty dark. It is a big space ~ roughly 7 feet x 30 feet ~ so it makes sense to use it as often as we can. Basically, an extra room in our apartment.

I bought two packages of these string lights at Crate & Barrel to put around the balcony railing. Command has these little clips to hold lights and they are removable too. Tim put the lights on a timer, to go on at sunset and off at 10pm so we don’t completely alienate our neighbors!

You can’t really see the little Command clips, which is great. Back Bay and the Charles River in the distance.

Here it is at night.

Ok, now it’s time to enjoy the space. Cheese, crackers and cocktails. Come over!

Nice sun out here in the afternoon. Rhino likes it too.

Cheers to Spring everyone!

the wry home