Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Balcony Ideas To Make The Most Of A Small Balcony

Balcony Ideas To Make The Most Of A Small Balcony

Make the most of a small city balcony, and make it a space you'll enjoy spending time.

Add a hanging chair or a rocking chair to lure you outside to enjoy your balcony's view. Prefer to have an area for al fresco dining? There are plenty of compact, foldable table and chair options that won't take up too much space but can still have you eating outdoors on sunny days.

With a bit more space you could surround your balcony with potted plants to make it feel like more of a garden, and we've seen terraces with vegetables patches and even ponds. For something ultra chic, built-in planter boxes around the edge can look clean and slick, and you could even make them double up as built-in bench seating too.

Planting long grasses is a clever way of making a balcony feel more private, while also adding lush, low-maintenance greenery.

As we become more aware of the food we eat, there’s been a large increase in growing herbs in city gardens, especially on balconies. These carefree plants are easy to look after and they come in handy for cooking. 'Try basil, rosemary, wild strawberry or chives to start a herb garden of your own; the herbs are also visually pleasing, perfect for a stylish space', say experts at Gardena.

Making the most of the vertical space on your balcony is important, transforming brick walls into a place for growing your own has been a big trend so far. You could even plant herbs and vegetables in a vertical wall planters which can be either wall mounted, or hang from a wall or even stand on the floor.

'Even painting one wall can transform a balcony - a deep green wall, an industrial window mirror & some faux plants set in front can create a wild & lush greenhouse inspired space; a blush pink wall, round mirror and some grey bean bags a calmer and more scandi inspired zen look', offers Dani, Director of Buying at Cox & Cox. A window mirror can give the illusion of extra space, and hanging Festoon lights can create a New York rooftop party vibe.

Colour Block


                                

walls are getting punchy thanks to sophisticated renders. Deep colours can bring drama to outdoor spaces like this Sao Paolo patio garden owned by set designer Michell Lott, which is featured in the book Plant Tribe (£25, Abrams). The plum wall works brilliantly with the burgundies and purples of the plants, which include Euphorbia cotinifolia, dark philodendrons, begonias and coleus.

URBAN OASIS


                                

An abundance of potted plants make this city balcony feel more like a garden. Get the look: See more of the designer Pol’s work at pandtinteriors.com. Find outdoor and balcony plants at Patchplants.com.

CHIC AND SIMPLE


                                

Modern furniture and a simple olive tree keeps this London roof terrace looking chic and simple. Get the look: The outdoor furniture is from John Lewis & Partners.

PRIVACY



                                

Low maintenance potted grasses cocoon this roof terrace, giving privacy and a pop of colour. Get the look: The bench was brought back from Bali. Try Liberty for a similar garden bench.

Mobile Meadow


                                

We all dream of fields full of flowers but Isabelle Palmer, @thebalconygardener and author of Modern Container Gardening (£16, Hardie Grant), has a way to get the look in miniature. She cuts circles of wild flower turf (from pictorialmeadows.co.uk) to fit compost-filled pots. ‘The turf is easy to establish and these containers will attract bees and butterflies,’ says Isabelle.

VEG PATCH


                                                    

Who said you can't have a vegetable patch in a city dwelling? This New York roof garden has raised beds full of vegetables and extraordinary views out across Manhattan.

BUILT IN


                                

Built-in planters against the wall make sure there's still plenty of floor space for lounging on this London balcony. A 19th-century advertisement on a now listed wall provides a historic backdrop. The challenge was to create a calm environment that doesn’t impinge on the presence of the wall. Simple, shady plants are kept to a minimum, so there’s space for all to roam. Get the look: The garden was landscaped by Alexander Armstrong Garden Design. For an updated version of this outdoor chair, see the Ixtapa at CB2.

pond in a bowl


                                

No garden for a pond? A large urn or pot filled with water can create a fun feature, especially with additions like water lilies and pretty pond plants, live fish or a water feature / fountain. Get the look: The Peacock chair is from Dandy Apple Vintage on Etsy.

GAMES SPACE


                            

Got a long, narrow or wrap around balcony? Make the most of it with a fun games space for entertaining. Design firm Angel O’Donnell created this shuffleboard area on a London city balcony, perfect for outdoor entertaining.

ROCKING CHAIRS


                                

Simple wooden rocking chairs and a handy side table offer the perfect spot for gazing at the view.

The Pot Colony


                                

A collection of containers is the new way to garden, but there are tricks to make it work. ‘Sticking to either angular or round pots leads to a coherent finish, as does limiting the materials,’ says Tom Harris, author of Pots for All Seasons (£20, Pimpernel Press). Here, Tom combined spiky cordylines and phormiums with soft Japanese maples for a low-maintenance scheme.

views for days


                                

This Danish property features floor-to-ceiling sliding doors onto the balcony, so the view can be enjoyed from inside too.

NEON POP


                                

This space leads out to a tree-level balcony, where chairs inspired by husks of corn add vibrance. Get the look: Marc Thorpe’s Husk chairs are part of Moroso’s M’Afrique collection. The kitchen is by Boffi.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×