Apartment Balcony Makeover From Basic to Oasis

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After moving into my Texas apartment, I was so excited to finally have a balcony. After finishing decorating the interior of my apartment it was time to tackle the balcony. I wanted to keep this project under $100 and something I could accomplish in just 1 weekend. Here’s what I came up with!

I started by measuring the entire balcony to see what would fit. I then took a trip to IKEA and purchased this bathroom shelving until that was super easy to assemble. Since it was made for the bathroom which has humidity and moisture, I figured it would be able to withstand the elements outside.

Next, I went to Lowe’s and purchased a pice of board that was the same width of the shelving top. I would use this to make a murphy bar top. Since I live in an apartment and have limited power tools, I had the board cut to size at the store which was super convenient!

After letting the stain dry for 24 hours, I grabbed a piano hinge that was a little bit shorter than the length of the shelf top. I screwed this to the underside of the shelf and then to the bottom of the board.

Then, using a 1 1/2 inch dowel and two 1 1/2 inch PVC connectors, I made a leg for the tabletop. These both were an extremely snug fit so there was no need to glue them on but you could if you wanted to.

Using some gorilla glue I attached the top lip of the PVC connector to the underside of the table. Once this dried, I was able to remove the leg when I wasn’t using it, but keep it sturdy when the tabletop was up and in use.

With a few more touches like a faux grass runner, fun pillows and plants and these awesome solar powered Chinese lanterns from IKEA my balcony was finished!

I LOVE how it came out and I’ve already spent so much more time outside. The table swings out for more room if I wanted to work out there or even eat dinner. It also holds all my gardening supplies that I don’t want to keep indoors.

source:hometalk.com by Kara S.