A balcony is a room in miniature, a useful space that can be used in different formats. It can be open or glazed, insulated or cool, a relaxation area or a study, in the old fashioned way - a smoking area or a flower garden-greenhouse for relaxation, a mini-garden, a storage room, a dressing room, a dining room - each of the ideas has the right to exist. The main thing is to decide for yourself why you need a balcony in your apartment. In this article we will look at the most popular design themes for balconies that will be appropriate in your apartment.
Bar
This idea is ideal for smokers. Are you tired of constant reproaches from your family regarding your bad habit? Make your balcony a place to relax and unwind. To do this, you need to insulate and, if necessary, glaze it. You can also lay down a carpet, install a bar counter and, if space allows, place a small sofa. Don't forget about lighting and all the little things you need. Done, enjoy your cozy corner.
Danger
You can fall from the balcony. We are talking about sloppy actions or relying on old, rusty railings of an open loggia. The latter can also fall on the heads of passers-by when the building is completely dilapidated.
Collapse of an old balcony
Advice! If you glaze such a balcony, it will look quite strange, cumbersome, and sometimes ugly.
Dining room
“Why does an apartment need a balcony in the kitchen?” - you ask. Everything is elementary, the ideal solution is to convert it into a dining room - a room for eating. First, insulate your balcony; if you wish, you can remove the partition and door, if any, but this is not important. That's it, all you have to do is put a small table or make a long tabletop and install it along the windowsill, lay down a carpet and hang curtains.
Uselessness
Often, various rubbish is taken out onto the balcony for storage, which then lies there for years and becomes covered with dust. A cluttered open balcony looks especially unsightly when all things become visible to everyone.
Trash on the balcony
Important! Some people prefer to smoke on the loggia. Unfortunately, smoke can reach neighbors, which has an extremely negative impact on health.
Workshop
If you are a creative person and have a small balcony in a Khrushchev-era building, then you have the opportunity to turn it into your own small workshop. Surely you are tired of hearing reproaches and dissatisfaction from your relatives about your handicraft: how much space it takes up and why everything is constantly scattered. Don’t despair, convert your balcony into your own cozy workshop for creativity. To do this, you need to put a small table, chair or armchair, hang shelves, etc. In general, everything in this case is individual and depends on the type of your occupation and hobby. However, imagine how comfortable you will be on your converted balcony, without anyone bothering you or distracting you.
Difficult cleaning
A lot of dust always accumulates on the balcony. Even with glazing, dust particles from the street inevitably settle on all surfaces. This space needs to be cleaned more often than the rest of the apartment. It will be especially difficult to maintain cleanliness if there are a lot of unnecessary things on the balcony.
Experts call buying a home with a large glazed terrace a good alternative. You can install a table with armchairs on it, create a real relaxation area or dining room. This way you can get a really useful room, without wasting precious squares and without getting a lot of extra hassle!
Mini gym
Naturally, you are unlikely to have a full-fledged gym, but this room will be enough for you to maintain physical fitness. It is ideal for aerobics, yoga and other simple exercises. The main thing is not to forget to lay a soft small rug on the floor. Also, if necessary, you can put a couple of boxes for sports equipment.
So, now you have found out why there is a balcony in the apartment, as well as what ideas for converting it can be implemented. The choice is yours, use the balcony practically and usefully, do not collect useless things that clutter it. This article does not list all the ideas, so use your imagination...
Before you start getting creative...
Before you start choosing the interior design of an apartment, it is important to understand: a balcony and a loggia are different concepts, although they are often used as synonyms. In an architectural and design sense, everything is different: what is ideal for a small balcony is inappropriate for a spacious loggia.
Professional builders call a balcony a structure attached to a building as an additional element. The loggia is built into the wall. Therefore, a nuance arises that plays a key role when choosing a method for remodeling a balcony extension.
Considering that most balconies are not able to withstand enormous weights, converting them into full-fledged rooms is risky. Although this does not mean that these few meters cannot be turned into something more beautiful. There are quite a lot of options - everyone can choose their own version of the “update”.
What is a loggia for? Open option
When it comes to glazing, insulation and finishing of a loggia, the answer why it is needed suggests itself: To repair it! But it was necessary to find it before starting repairs. Almost everything depends on the purpose of the room: its layout, choice of materials, degree of insulation, size of double-glazed windows, interior design, availability of lighting and heating. So what are the possible application options without isolating the loggia from the environment:
Observation deck
In this case, you don’t have to deal with glazing and finishing. Anyway, being in the fresh air comes down to viewing the surroundings using the parapet as a support for your hands. The walls and ceiling of the loggia are visible only at the very last moment, when the “walk” ends.
Arrangement can be kept to a minimum: Paint the floor to prevent cement dust from flying. Place a wooden or rubber grate on it. This solution will keep your feet dry no matter the vagaries of the weather. All the dirt will also remain under it, and not on the slippers. The second necessary element is a gunwale on the parapet for convenience and cleanliness of the forearms. Impregnation of wood and paint coating will preserve it for a long time. And for smokers an ashtray is required! Caring for others brings satisfaction.
Summer terrace for relaxation
It is very pleasant to be in the fresh air at a comfortable temperature. Maybe even sunbathe during the day or read a book in the evening, wrapped in a warm blanket. In this case, the eye level will most likely drop below the loggia fence. The sky with all its clouds and celestial bodies will be perceived as a landscape, and not nearby houses. This is where the finishing and furnishing of the loggia becomes important.
In order for the place to relax to be pleasing to the eye and not require constant financial investments, it is important to choose finishing materials that are resistant to atmospheric influences. This could be tiles, stone, wood that is resistant to external influences, impregnated or painted properly, plaster for exterior decoration, etc. This composite decking board could be a good choice. The main thing is that these materials tolerate changes in humidity and temperature well, as well as prolonged exposure to light.
Furniture for an open loggia should have the same properties. Wicker from rattan, forged from metal, cast from plastic - in short, everything that is not afraid of water and falls into the garden furniture section.
Particular attention should be paid to waterproofing the load-bearing slab and some inclination of the floor to prevent precipitation from accumulating. It would be correct to provide outdoor lighting and at least one waterproof electrical outlet.
Potted plants will greatly enliven such a recreation area during the season. If you don’t have much experience in gardening and gardening, you should give preference to unpretentious flowers, for example, petunia. It is easy to buy seedlings of such flowers during the season in almost any supermarket in a big city. Some of your favorite flowers can also move from the windowsills to the open air for the summer. It is necessary to provide pots, shelves and hangings for them.
Stock.
No. And again no. If you need a warehouse, then it would be better to buy an apartment with a storage room or glaze the loggia and equip it with a storage system. Anything located on an open loggia very quickly becomes unusable due to moisture and temperature fluctuations. In addition, items get dirty and fade in the sun. If, after all, there is no other way out and something has to be left outside for a while, you need to take care of covers or other protection from the environment. And one more point: cluttering an open loggia creates a fire hazard, because not all those who like to smoke in the open air have a beautiful ashtray where they are used to extinguishing cigarette butts.
A beautifully and well-designed loggia will give you pleasant moments of relaxation without requiring much effort to maintain it in good condition. This will help with the correct selection of finishing materials and planning of repair work depending on the purpose. Options for using this part of the apartment in a glazed form are the subject of a separate discussion.
Balcony with canopy
An extension with a canopy can be classified as a separate category. To equip it, you need to use pipes from the profile, which will be used to assemble the frame, and materials for the roof.
Balcony with canopy Source big-projekt.ru
Often, sheds are built from slate, ondulin, polycarbonate or metal tiles. The optimal solution is to use polycarbonate. Its installation is simple, in addition, it perfectly absorbs noise, has a long service life and is protected from the harmful effects of sunlight. Slate and ondulin have a lot of weight, and their installation is quite complicated.
There are the following types of visors:
- Single-pitch. The simplest and most economical solution. A uniform angle of inclination is obtained using triangular-shaped brackets, on which the roof is mounted.
- Gable. A more complex variety in the form of a gable roof would be an excellent solution for a corner brick balcony or loggia. Such a canopy will be more protected from various precipitation and will eliminate the problem of snow accumulation.
- Visor "Marquise". The advantage of this type is the impossibility of accumulating icicles and snow during the cold season.
- Dome. Not a very common solution, since its construction will require a lot of time and money. The advantage is its attractive appearance, which can decorate any garden plot.
- Arched. It is easy to use and easy to install. It also has a rather attractive design and expanded functionality during operation.
Canopy installation process
To install the visor you will need the following tools:
- Welding equipment for canopy formation.
- Hammer.
- Screwdriver.
- Level and pencil for measurements.
- Hammer.
Balcony with a canopy “Marquise” Source makebestphoto.ru
Installation consists of the following steps:
- The first step is to accurately mark the fastening of the supporting frame, and also determine the locations for making holes for dowels. The exact line and level of placement of the extension is set.
- Using a drill, holes are made to install the frame dowels.
- The frame is fixed. The anchors are clamped and tightened with appropriately sized wrenches.
- Between the load-bearing elements of the frame, stiffening ribs from a similar profile pipe are placed. They can be welded or bolted on.
- This stage assumes that the base has already been installed; all that remains is to install the roof. The roof is attached to the stiffeners using self-drilling screws.
