apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would get outdoor curtains
http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&partNumber=WE-PRODr568&retainNav=true&parent_category_rn=&cmsrc=SCH&parentId=curtains

and put them around the balcony, and string up white lights along the rail. Then maybe hang some ferms (it is my understanding they don't need direct light and grow big) or put them in pedestal pots. That should give you some privacy and some greenery.

Good luck!

Perhaps tall plants in rectangular pots lined along the ledge? Once that's done you could get outdoor seating positioned in a conversational set up (facing each other as opposed to out) with a firepit in the middle.

i suggest planter boxes (herbs, low light plants, etc.) on the balcony wall secured to the metal railing with some natural material (bamboo, reed, etc.) roll down blinds that can be adjusted to fill the space between the ceiling and the plants for those times when you want just a bit more privacy. a taller potted plant (ficus, money tree, etc.) on the floor in the corner as pictured in the first photo might also be nice.

or you could train a beautiful flowering vine up the railing from a pot.

Something tells me that your space was never meant for hanging out with a glass of wine to enjoy the view, but for hanging out clothes to dry...

I have the exact same situation/problem with my balcony. Ours came with pigeon screens installed all the way around, though... and we just sit out there anyway, and let the neighbors gawk if they want.

You COULD string a whole bunch of christmas lights all around in layers, so that you could still see through them, but when you plug them in, it becomes a light-filled bubble??? Or that might be too ridiculous.

Anyway, we ended up putting in two chairs and a table, and strung up some tacky Tibetan prayer flags, and along with a little potted plant we're enjoying the space quite nicely.

I agree with whoever said "hang curtains." I live in the country where it's hard to find a bad view, so maybe I'm overreacting to that crappy-looking tin roof across the way, but I'd want to block out all of it.

My (cool) grandmother put fake grass on her balcony. It created a sense that there is a garden outside, when you're on the inside. It also makes it a bit nicer to go out barefoot and enjoy that cup of coffee.
I'm also with the sheer curtains people. you could pull them back and tie them to the white verticle poles- softening those as well.

I can tell from the stepstool that you evidently have an IKEA nearby. I saw a post on here about all the neat-o things you can do with IKEA fabric. Maybe hang panels? I'd like that.

If you put up curtains, you are going to feel a bit claustrophobic, I think. The space isn't very big after all, but it will feel smaller closed in. If you want to do curtains for the "glamour' of it, I'd go with white sheers gathered to the posts (full across the top, pulled into a triangle near the bottom...) Add some shade tolerant plants, maybe some hanging colored-glass candle lanterns between the curtains, and a couple of small chairs and bistro table. Maybe a small bench with colorful cushion at the other end. It's a fun space, very NOT-American, which is refreshing!

i agree with liam. roll up blinds would be better than curtains. how cool is the tiling on that balcony?!

ferns are great for shady spots.

Wow those tiles are amazing!

Magnetic giant chess on the wall? Hopscotch on the floor?

Sheer white curtains the whole way along, tied with great big ribbon to match the tiles & the flutter in the breeze?

You could paint the pipe to match the tiles as you'll have trouble hiding it - maybe make it a feature.

Window boxes the whole way round, attached to the outside of the balcony (the tiled bit, not the rails) would extend it into a garden and keep the airiness.

What fun! Good luck :-)

Don't know how much sun you get, but tall, decorative grasses in pots on the railing would block the view somewhat but let light in. I would make sure that the pots are secured. That low railing is scary. Maybe the pots would also make it a bit safer.

My thoughts exactly on the flowering vine. I don't know if they grow in Turkey, but scarlet runner beans grow like crazy, like 10 or 12 feet in a few months, and have pretty red flowers. It's an annual so if you don't like it you don't have to feel bad about ripping it out because they only last a year anyway. Plus, you can eat the beans.

If you do like it, you can replace with a hardier perennial vine. I'm sure there are all sorts that would work in your climate and light conditions. You'll probably want to invest in rigging up some sort of trellis as well.

I would try to probably soften it up somehow with a bunch of cushions or a daybed of some sort -- a real lounging spot, with some gauzy sheers that maybe don't completely surround the balcony, but "muddle" the view a bit. Maybe some lanterns & one or two BIG tropical plants that you could move indoors on the very cold nights.

I would embrace the view, though, too. You live in a great, thriving city. I would love to sit out there on a cold night & drink some sahlep!

Sansevieria trifasciata is tall, shallow-rooted, hardy and is very content with low light conditions (I grow them indoors very successfully). Give them water and fertiliser and they should grow up to 5 ft tall. Put these in pots along the wall under the railing and they should screen the balcony very nicely.

For added colour use bromeliads, which can cope with full shade and yet come in spectacular colours.

I was going to say the same about using plants to distract. Get some ivy or some other climbing plant and make your porch a little vine-y curtain.

Wow! These are all great ideas! Now, if only the sun will stay out for more than 30 minutes this weekend, I can get to work! I love the idea of roll-down curtains that I can lower and draw up when I want to. Some of you said that panels might make the space feel claustrophobic and I think you may be right.

Maybe I'll go to the grand bazaar this weekend and find some Ottoman throw cushions and a rug. There IS an Ikea nearby...maybe I should check that out again too.

Hahahaa, I love the idea of hopscotch! The tiles are crazy! As a matter of fact, they are ALL OVER the kitchen too, which has a kind of dizzying effect when you first see them.

Oooh! Window boxes! That's a GREAT idea!

I'm so excited! You can check out my progress on www.turkishmuse.com!

I would think that a trip to Istanbul's grand bazaar would be so inspirational that you'd hardly need our comments! (I recently read Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul" and got such a sense of the city I feel like I lived there--although, of course, I can't go to the grand bazaar and am filled with envy--)

Wow, it really is a narrow balcony. I agree with comments about planters on the low wall--they'd be easy to fasten on. Then, at each end, I would build in deep seating (facing the front of each, perhaps, with small, antique tiles in colors compatible with the big ones already there). I'd make the seating areas into alcoves with curtains around the backs and sides, and I'd stuff in lots o' gorgeous Turkish pillows to lean back on. Then I'd put an ottoman in front of each seating area, and a tray on top of it, so it could be used either as a little table or another seat (tray removed). Hanging candelabra on the alcoves over the seats? Ooohhhh, that grand bazaar. . . .

As others have mentioned, I too saw some windows a couple summers ago where the owners had created curtains by training flowering vines to grow up over their windows along strings. Morning Glories perhaps? It was beautiful.

Your balcony is very Alice in Wonderland!

Maybe a long, narrow bench that can function as a daybed, and a folding table that attaches to the rails and can be used with the bench as seating. The balcony looks extremely narrow---about 3 feet.

interesting question what do with crowded and close outdoor space. put up something that will screen if off but u get to feel out doors. or bambo ..but then it takes away the outdoors feel. maybe tall plants..

I think that if you got a custom-made hospital curtain track to outline the ceiling of that area, your white sheers would have a lot of options for how to be opened and closed, depending on which way the sun was rising or setting, or depending on which neighbor was sun-bathing nearby.

My first thought was like Blandwagon's - the sanseverias. It would block some of the view but not lose all of the light or the sense of space. Horsetail reeds or papyrus/umbrella sedge might also work in lowish light.