Apartment balcony inspiration

Taking in the city skyline from your apartment balcony is an enjoyable way to pass the time. Whether your balcony "Apartment balcony inspiration"

Apartment balcony inspiration

Taking in the city skyline from your apartment balcony is an enjoyable way to pass the time. Whether your balcony is open or closed, small or large, you can style it and make it functional for many different pass times. Here’s some apartment balcony inspiration.

wooden flooring apartment balcony
Source: Pinterest

Beautiful apartment balcony gardens

Having some greenery on your balcony is magic; it’s good for the soul and looks beautiful. You can get very creative with designing an apartment balcony garden that suits you.  Having vertical gardens, planters that hang on balcony railings, potted plants and mini urban vegetable gardens are some great ways to achieve a sense of nature. Succulents are big right now, and the cactus is making a comeback; you’ve got so many options!

Airtasker have fantastic garden experts available to help you design, establish and maintain your apartment balcony garden. Also, if you’re into growing your own vegetables and herbs, check out our advice on apartment vegetable gardening.

apartment balcony garden inspiration
Source: Pinterest

Create some privacy

If you can see straight into your neighbour’s apartment, they can probably see right into yours. The addition of a privacy screen will give you a little extra seclusion, especially in built up areas. You can purchase privacy screens, or create your own stylish aesthetic by planting bamboo, building up a vertical garden or training crawling jasmine around the edge of your balcony railings. Leave a little space so you don’t completely block out the sunshine, or have your screen mobile.

apartment balcony privacy
Source: City Farmhouse

Designated ‘chill zone’

We love the idea of positioning a comfortable little day bed on your balcony so you can relax and unwind in your own dreamy balcony enclave.  There are some beautifully made weatherproof day beds and outdoor sofa options around. Style your ‘chill zone’ with the addition of a little side table or drink holder, some scatter cushions and a soft throw. It’ll be the perfect place to get into a good book, or admire the horizon on sunset with a glass of wine.

apartment balcony day bed
Source: Sea of Shoes

Laze back in a hammock

Alright, this probably belonged in the ‘chill zone’ section, but who can beat a hammock? If it’s not possible to be strung between two coconut palms on a tropical island, then why not on your balcony? If you really wanted the whole resort style shebang, you could have a little wading pool on your balcony too.

apartment balcony hammock
Source: NORD no.27

Create an entertainer’s nook

All you need to create the ultimate entertainer’s nook is a drinks cart, along with a little mountable bench or table for nibbles, and some fun lighting. Invite your guests to take a seat on your carefully chosen outdoor chairs, or scatter some cushions around so they can lean back against the wall and look up at the night sky while taking in the intelligent conversation. If you’ve got the space, a small BBQ will fit right in too!

apartment balcony entertainer's nook
Source: BLOGLOVIN’

Bring the backyard to the balcony

Have you got a boring cement slab balcony on the second floor?  You don’t have to feel limited to working with what you’ve got; all you need is a little inspiration!  You could liven it up by creating a ‘patio’ with some temporary wooden flooring, or by laying down some faux grass (this is very trendy according to every rooftop bar there ever was in Melbourne!).

apartment balcony grass astro-turf
Image credit: nellygoing via Buzzfeed

We hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas, and would love to hear more suggestions from you on how to redesign and fall in love with your apartment balcony.

Summer gardening tips

It's hot and dry or humid and wet. So how do we look after our garden in summer?

Summer gardening tips

Summer is almost here! Your lawn is probably growing like crazy already, and staying on top of maintenance at this time of year can be time-consuming. Here are some tips to help make Summer gardening a breeze.

Water your garden efficiently

In most regions of Australia, our Summers are a little on the warm side. Heat and evaporation rates are at their peak during the middle of the day, which can cause your plants to stress and wilt. It’s best to water your plants and lawn either first thing in the morning, or later in the afternoon. This way, the water will have a better chance to soak into the ground, instead of evaporating straight away. Giving your thirsty garden a decent drink at cooler times of the day is also an efficient use of water.

summer gardening watering
Source: Homestructions

Bee-friendly summer gardening

A lot of fruit and vegetables in your garden probably require bee pollination. This Summer, attract bees to your garden to pollinate your fruit and vegetables by refraining from using harmful pesticides, and by planting bee-friendly flowering plants – this will help bulk their food supply up. Not only will your crops grow, but you’ll help save the bees!

Set up an irrigation system

Setting up an irrigation system is a great afternoon project, and can be very cost effective when you do it yourself.  You can tailor your design and materials to best suit your garden needs; options include sprayers, sprinklers, drippers and more. The very brief version of the instructions is that you would start by measuring out your garden and map out your irrigation system design. You’d then choose your materials, measure out your water flow and start assembling. To make your irrigation system easy and water efficient, you could add an automated timer attachment to your tap so you don’t miss (or forget) the optimal watering timeslot.

Bunnings have some great tutorials for planning your irrigation system, and installing your irrigation system. If you’d rather not spend your weekend installing polytube, there are plenty of Airtasker garden maintenance professionals available who would be happy to do this for you.

summer gardening irrigation
Source: Gardener’s Supply Company

Weeding the pavers around the patio and pool area

How frustrating is it when the pavers around your patio or pool area get overgrown with weeds in the warmer months? Most people put gap sand between pavers to prevent this (and set pavers in place), but after a while, weather can wash it away and weeds creep back up. Environbond suggests a step-by-step way to resolve this issue when it occurs:

  1. Start by removing any large weeds by hand.
  2. Use a rough broom or pressure washer to brush or blast the smaller weeds out.
  3. Follow up by applying a solution of white vinegar and boiling water to help kill any remaining roots.
  4. Allow the area to dry then fill the gaps in-between the pavers with sand to prevent weeds from re-sprouting.

summer gardening pavers
Source: manoswelt

Cut your lawn a little longer

Grass grows at a much faster rate in Summer and you may be tempted to mow it as short as possible to avoid having to do it so regularly, but your lawn will keep in much better condition if cut a bit longer. Having your lawn a little longer will actually suppress weeds and bindi growth (Coleby-Williams, J.).

We hope you enjoy these summer gardening tips. Once you’ve got your garden in its Summer prime, you’ll want to have guests over, so have a look at these summer outdoor entertaining ideas.