Before and after: Small Balcony

I love to sit on my Moroccan poufs and see nothing of the busy world outside, just the mini-garden. When I bought the apartment, my tiny balcony was already enclosed with glass and had a built-in that provides much needed storage. It was perfect for the Romanian winter blizzards, not so perfect for my intentions. I found the real-estate listing pic, it's just horrible!

Dark gloomy atmosphere and horrible clashing colors. The tiles were a dirty grayish blue and the storage was brown shelves and green cupboard doors. Also my ever growing plant collection needed a proper place to stay.

Step one: Paint every wall white. This single step made the whole difference, already. You can see that I've saved the cabinet for last. I'm sorry but these are the only pic I've got, I hope you get the idea.

 

Step two:  Prepare the floor. I wanted to create a zen garden, so I chose wooden slabs and marbles. The wooden slabs were raw wood, so I stained them in 3 coats of "nut tree" finish.

  

Step three: Make a large shelf under the windows. Making holes in the concrete walls took a whole day and was very painful, so I had no time for pics. The shelf ensures the right amount of sun for the plants and provides lots of storage space beneath it.

I ended up with a vegetation jungle, because: A. I love the look of savage English gardens. B.I can't stop trying various things. There are scented herbs (basil, savory), some flowers and some decorative green plants. C. There have to be many, many pots jammed on the shelf, so that my cats won’t be able to climb up and destroy the pots.

 

Yuuupeeee! I'm so happy to tell you that I've been featured at Polish The Stars, Tatertots And Jello, A Diamond In The Stuff, Blissful and Domestic, Too Much Time On My Hands, Destination: Craft, Me And My Boysand Addicted2decorating! All my gratitude goes to you, lovely ladies :)