My Great Outdoors: cocuklaHayat's Turkish Balcony

Name: cocuklaHayat Location: Istanbul, Turkey Type of space: Apartment Balcony Tell us about your outdoor project and how you enjoy it: We live in a nine story apartment overlooking skyscrapers of Istanbul. It is a great view, especially when the sun sets behind tall buildings. Our balcony is under the bright sunlight from noon till sunset. We enjoy gardening and playing in our balcony. My 5 year old daughter has a lot of fun with buckets and pots of water without leaving the house and me worrying of her slipping in the spillage. Our guests appreciate a drink by sun down overlooking a pretty view.

How did you create it? We have ceramic flooring, which reflects the heat and light into the living room. This was very disturbing, since it gets very hot in the summer. Two years ago I discovered wooden tiling, which gives a warm feel and double duties as airflow that our golden retriever appreciates on hot summer nights . We cut some tiles into shape to fit our area. Since this is not a big space, I mounted a collapsible table, that also provides some shade to the basil. These plants not only smell good, they repel mosquitoes and are great for our salad dressing. This year I've also drilled some holes into a galvanized bucket to create drainage for cherry tomatoes. Our geraniums are three years old now. I like to preserve them in the winter and am prouder as they get older. Some low energy lighting is ideal to set the mood in the evening.

Recommended store, site, product or resource? Wood tiles, galvanized bucket, light features, collapsible mounted table were bought at our local IKEA store.

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So this is globalism, a view that could be any city, anywhere.

posted by ChrisToronto on June 5th 2009 at 4:08pm
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I like that fabric

posted by LoriSF on June 5th 2009 at 4:13pm
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Beautiful! and I am jealous of your tomato plant...

posted by sassydo on June 5th 2009 at 5:11pm
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The wood floor on this balcony is so beautiful. As Chris Toronto pointed out....this could be a city anywhere. Posts like this show us how much we are all the same and makes the world a closer place.

posted by baileyb on June 5th 2009 at 6:30pm
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Beautiful pics! Istanbul is one of my favorite cities! I was only there for a week, but I loved the outdoor eating areas, use of cushions, and making the most of rooftop/water views of the city, Bospherus and the Sea of Marmara.

posted by poweredbytofu on June 5th 2009 at 10:21pm
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Your use of the Ikea folding table is really clever, plus eye catching and practical, too. And I so LOVE those wood tiles! (I've employed a few of those in my space...) They sure look great out your balcony. Wow, it is CRAZY how that cityscape could be anywhere... I mean, I saw the skyline and your design theme and was like, hmmmm...what makes that Turkish? Then I saw it was actually IN Turkey... Crazy.

One question: Wherever did you get that ingenious watering can / mister combo? It is stylish and oh so practical, too...

posted by bittergaymark on June 6th 2009 at 1:46am
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You've made the most of that space, and it's lovely.

posted by Brandyjane on June 6th 2009 at 9:11am
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Great colors and great view

posted by nick0326 on July 29th 2009 at 11:35am
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