Advice about balcony

[doadeer]

I live in a flat with my partner and our 14 month old- we have a balcony that we haven't really been using. It's really large and given we aren't leaving the house I'd to start using our outside space.

Would love some inspiration and ideas for how I can make it look lovely and maximise the space.

I'll try to attach photos( the photo with items on is a neighbours so you can see the size)

Thank you

do you have any ride on toys for your dc? thats a great space for them to ride up and down. i have also seen people with similar sized balconys have a toddler swing that folds up, so they can store it indoors when not in use. like your neighbour, you could attach some window boxes along the balcony railings and grow your own plants etc, and attach a mirror in between the boxes for your dc

Can you hang the troughs on the outside of the rail, so you get more space on balcony. Hanging baskets rather than pots, wall hung herbs or trailing plants. We used a small sandpit in a corner with patio table and chairs. You could put some fake grass matting or interlocking foam tiles down to soften the surface for dc to play.

Yes. The judo tiles would be ideal for playing on. It's a lovely big space. Make sure that your little one can not poke toys through the railings or drop them over the edge.

What a lovely balcony space! The scuttlebug is a great ride on toy for that age which takes up very little space. If you can get a bit of board (even cardboard) you could attach it to the railings and use it like an easel for painting etc.
You can grow seedlings in plastic pots that would usually go into your recycling - you can cut down plastic milk bottles for this or use cut down tetrapaks etc. Just put drainage holes in. If you don't have seeds just grow things from kitchen scraps e.g. a squashed cherry tomato or slice of larger tomato, red pepper seeds. If you don't have any compost or soil you can grow carrot tops, celery and spring onions from the ends that would usually be thrown away. Just put them in a saucer of water.

I'd agree with more hanging troughs on the outside of the balcony and any space you can spare that gets sun.

I'd grow herbs and easy growing crops- radish, spring onions, beetroot, tomatoes, dwarf beans etc. I've grown all these is pots on a small roof terrace with success.

Another idea is a small worm farm. Out local council give them away for £5 (usually alot more!) Makes great casts for your pot plants and you can use up food scraps.

Great Ideas, thanks everyone. What could I put on the ground, it's like this black tar material it gets really hot, would fake grass look silly or would that be good?

There's a bit of a gap at the bottom of the railings that then goes over the edge and we are quite high up - is there some sort of screen I could put down or a trellis - sorry I feel like I don't know the right words for things something to protect the bottom bit so that my little one doesn't throw things off or try to squeeze under

You shouldn't hang troughs on the outside of balcony rails in case they fall off.

You can get bamboo screens or fine netting to stop your toddler throwing things off. A bamboo screen would also act as a windbreak.

Outdoor rugs are an alternative to fake grass. Ikea sell them or they are easy to find online. You can get fold down tables to attach to railings or the walls to save space.

I have a similar width balcony. I have an armchair and footstool (the modular garden ones) at the far end. It makes a lounger for one or you can split it so 2 people can sit out together. They have storage in the base for cushions/outdoor toys.

You should be able to get fine mesh from a garden centre but it needs to be fixed taut otherwise it can be used as a foothold to climb. Alternatively use perspex sheets to line the balcony railings. Colourful foam tiles can be bought in bulk from likes of poundland, with number and letter inserts like a jigsaw. Or use fake grass on a roll.

Your balcony looks similar to ours. Are you in Muswell Hill? Anyway it's a lovely space!

We used these cheap lock in tiles from Ikea. They are unbelievably easy and you just start in one corner and clip them in. Took about 30 minutes! I didn't have a jigsaw to cut into them, so where there was a pillar to go around and it could potentially get fiddly I just filled the gap with pebbles and then lined the edges of the balcony with pot plants. It honestly looks so smart and everyone asked how much we paid someone to do it!

@EasterEggz hahaha yes I am! Are you on the same street?

Great I'll get some of that bamboo stuff!

Someone down the road has tomatoes growing! It seems ambitious but a goal 🤣

@EasterEggz sorry meant to say do you have that ikea link? Or is it obvious?

These are the tiles- I meant to include the photo earlier- sorry! I suspect they only sell one or two versions of this.

Oh they look brilliant! I'll have a look 👍

What a lovely balcony.
I’ve got one of these tables . I’ve had it about 7 years and it’s still going strong. Perfect for a ‘picnic’ and folds down flat easily when you’ve finished. I have plant pots that hook over the balcony and I hook them facing outwards so they don’t take space from the usable part of the balcony. I have fastened bamboo screening up for privacy,

Try these Elho flower bridges, they take up minimal space and very safe as they have fixings underneath so cant come off the railing.
www.webbsdirect.co.uk/elho-corsica-flower-bridge-60cm/

Could also consider artificial grass as creates a really nice space for little one to sit outside and is like carpet so can be vacuumed.

Thanks everyone I've started some improvements! But all deliveries are super delayed so table not arrived yet (not complaining... These are hardly priority items!)