Shop Our Balcony Decor:
ICYMI: I’ve moved around a lot over the last few years. From my adorable little apartment in Arlington to my bachelorette pad in Philly to my spacious 2-bedroom in Charlottesville, I feel like I’ve spent the last five years constantly decorating (and redecorating) my spaces!
We’ve been in our Charlottesville apartment for nine months now, and since Tom and I have been traveling like crazy over the last year, we haven’t had much time to finish decorating our place. Now that it’s summer and we want to start entertaining our friends more and hosting overnight guests, we finally have the motivation to get our apartment in order.
The first “room” we were able to finish? Our balcony area. Out of all of the places I’ve lived in the past five years, this is the first apartment I’ve had with a balcony. I wanted to finish designing this space before Memorial Day Weekend, and we were able to so on a pretty modest budget. We’ve got a pretty good mid-size balcony, and we wanted our space to feel cozy and inviting.
If you’re looking to redo your patio or balcony anytime soon, here are a few tips and tricks to elevate your space.
Balcony Decorating Ideas
Add a Rug & Throw Pillows
We picked up our sectional from Wayfair last summer (ours is sold out, but here’s a great alternative!) but that was the only piece of furniture we had on our balcony for nearly eight months. Our balcony just looked kind of sad, empty, and very colorless for a really long time.
I found this outdoor rug at Target, and our balcony immediately felt more like its own room rather than a separate outdoor space once we put it down. We decided on a color scheme (orange/pink/rust) and then picked up some throw pillows and an ottoman that all had different prints, but stuck to said color scheme. Don’t be afraid to mix prints: it can give your space a playful, boho vibe!
Throw In a Few Plants
Another inexpensive way to make your outdoor space feel a bit more polished? Add in some plants! Last summer we did grow a few plants on our balcony, but we sadly learned that we travel way too much to keep any plant alive (even a succulent!) I still loved the idea of having a bit of green on our balcony, however, so I decided to place one of my favorite faux plants on our balcony to make it feel more like an oasis. Don’t worry. We bring the faux plant inside if there’s rain in the forecast or if we’re both going to be out of town.
Let There Be Light
We currently live in a rental, and there weren’t any light fixtures that came with the balcony, and it would have been too much of a hassle to install our own lighting. We added several candles around our space and wrapped these beautiful string lights around the railing to give our balcony a little more ~mood lighting~ after the sun went down. It makes our space feel a lot more cozy and sophisticated!
Shop Our Balcony Decorating Ideas: Similar Sectional | Outdoor Rug | Egg Chair | Throw Pillows (One, Two, Three) | Ottoman | Side Table | Similar Faux Plant | Similar Pineapple Cups | String Lights
Photos by Tom McGovern
