With summer comes the desire to spend more time outdoors. Outdoor relaxing spaces aren't just for people with large gardens. City dwellers who have balconies, as well as homeowners, can create their own outdoor space where they can sit and drink wine at the end of the day or cozy up on those long, hot summer days. You can make your balcony cozy without much effort, just with a little imagination and some creative DIY ideas.
DIY outdoor pallet sofa
Luckily, building an intricate DIY pallet couch is really easy. As long as you know how to use a drill (and maybe a saw), you should have all the skills you need to get started. We show a few different methods for building pallet loungers.
Make your own pallet bed without tools
The first method for theMaking a pallet sofais the easiest as it requires no tools (assuming your pallets are already sanded). However, you will need to paint/treat the wood, so make sure you have the materials on hand.
Materials required:
Pallets (6 pieces make a two-seater couch)
Rope
Waterproof stain or exterior paint
Procedure:
- Stack 2 pallets to form the seat for the sofa. Do this twice to make 2 units.
- Place a pallet vertically behind each base. It should look like the back of a sofa.
- Where the vertical and horizontal pallets meet, tie them together with rope. Wrap the rope 3 or 4 times and tie it with a regular knot. Tie the rope to all available spots on the vertical pallet.
- For decoration, you can either paint or stain them (you can do this before you start construction).
Make your balcony comfortable: make a pallet couch
This is the standard pallet sofa design and requires a few tools.
Materials required:
Pallets (6 pieces make a two-seater sofa)
Electric screwdriver
Brackets
screws
Paint or wood stain
Procedure:
- Paint all pallets before construction as it will be easier to reach the small gaps before screwing everything together.
- Stack 2 pallets on top of each other to form the base of the couch (you can always use 3 pallets if you want a taller base).
- Use the clamps to connect the pallets together (use one clamp for each block - up to 6 for each seat).
- Position a pallet vertically for the back of each seat. Fasten the pallets with screws, for which you need long screws.
- If you are making 2 units for a longer sofa, it is helpful to attach them with brackets and screws.
- Decorate with pillows, throws or whatever you want.
You can also have a small oneSet up the outdoor area, by making the seating area or sofa quite small, even from a single pallet. Nevertheless, you can achieve a beautiful design in the outdoor area, and small balcony furniture can also be comfortable and create cosiness.
Homemade outdoor lights
You can make your balcony cozy,by decorating it with lights and candlestransform into a cozy oasis where you can sit with a glass of wine and enjoy the warm summer evenings. Here is a simple and beautiful light craft that you can use to illuminate your balcony. You can never have too many hanging mason jars! Hanging fairy lights from mason jars for the balcony are almost free to make. All you need are recycled mason jars, a few wires and/or wire hangers from the dry cleaners.
Materials and Tools for Making Mason Jar Lights:
- Mason jars
- Needle-nose pliers and wire cutters for shaping and cutting. Important: safety glasses! Since wires can break from your hand, please wear eye protection glasses!
- Wire hangers from dry cleaning are suitable for the entire project. You can also use a softer wire to shape the edge.
- Candles: Real or LED tea candles are a good size for mason jars.
Step 1: To make these hanging lights, start with a piece of wire about 35cm long. Using needle-nose pliers, make a loop in the middle of the wire and wrap the wire around the neck of the mason jar until the two ends meet on the opposite side of the first loop. Twist the ends together and make the second small loop. Cut off the excess wire at the end. The trick is to shape the wire so that the ends point inward. This looks better and is safer.
Step 2: Make handles for your hanging lights out of mason jars. A clothes hanger from the dry cleaners makes a great handle because it's flexible but stiff enough to hold its shape without being pulled down by the weight of hanging jars. Cut the hanger as shown. Take the straight piece, use the neck of the glass as a guide and bend the bracket in the middle. Use needle-nose pliers to form a curved hook at each end. Hook the handle into the two wire loops on the neck of the glass. Close the hooks.
Create privacy on the balcony
Some balconies are simply too public to be a place of peace. If you feel like your neighbors are leaning over the railing and asking you for a glass of wine, consider hanging a curtain to give them some distanceprovides privacy. You may be able to hear them, but at least they won't be able to watch you reading your magazines all summer long.
If your balcony is quite close to your neighbors, a railing protector like a bamboo screen is a great way to create a little more privacy. Besides thatcan tall plants, a parasol or hanging lampshades help to make the balcony less open and more comfortable.
