Home Decor is your twenties is kinda tough – still a girl, not yet a woman if ya know what I mean. I’m not sure about everyone else, but not yet having a lot of money and still wanting your place to feel sophisticated and inspiring can be tough, so I wanted to share my little outside oasis.
This is a little bit of a starting point of my apartment balcony, not completely put together, but definitely starting to feel a little more like home. I’d like to keep you guys updated on the latest, and share my home and hopefully give someone a little bit of inspiration for their own apartment balcony.
So let’s go back two years real quick, I was living in Orange County and had absolutely nothing on my balcony besides an old Christmas tree stand and occasionally my yoga mat if I was really feeling inspired. It felt cold and sad, and I wanted to make my home feel like a getaway, not something that made me feel like somewhat of a loser.
When Matt and I moved to Los Angeles I told him I needed a balcony – maybe someday I’ll go into full detail the bullshit that we went through when we left out OC apartment and moved to LA (spoiler alert: it was a god damn doozy). Long story short: I got my balcony, mostly for my dog, Moose, but also a hell of a lot for me too. I love being outside, I love being barefoot, and I love being a few feet from the fridge. What can I say, I love the comforts of my own home.
We left the balcony empty for a year. A year. I reached a point where I said, “Fuck it, I’m buying balcony furniture.” We definitely didn’t have the money for it, but I figured creating a space where I felt inspired would help get everything else in motions too – my thoughts, my creativity, my motivation. Here we are, I’m literally writing this post on my balcony right now, so I guess it worked. However, when you barely have any furniture inside your apartment, it’s hard to justify furnishing outside, but being comfy outside in the Summer just felt right, so I did it. And I’m so glad I did.
The vibe: Parisian cafe – romantic, sophisticated, minimal and clean, but inviting.
The price (so far): $645ish – I’ll break it up down below for cost of certain pieces.
What’s missing: Small features, a little side table for the love seat, maybe some lights, plants, privacy.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen a lot of my balcony because I’m always out there with my dog. Go check it out, @thekcorinne. I’ve also been using the marble bistro table as a backdrop for a hell of a lot of my photos recently… I mean, how could I not? It’s perfect. So, let’s start there.
Marble Bistro Accent Table | $169.99 $130
I shit you now, this was the absolute worst buying experience I think I’ve ever had. If you order anything from World Market I highly suggest you just go to the store and pick it up because my experience with buying this online and trying to get it was hell.
I ordered this online with a 30% coupon, and chose to pick it up next day down the street from my apartment. It said there was only one left in store so I wanted to make sure I snagged it while I could using the coupon. I ended up getting it for around $130 after taxes. The day I was supposed to pick it up, Sunday, I got a call from the manager saying they made a mistake and someone already picked up the one I ordered… cool. She said she’d have to cancel my order because it couldn’t be fulfilled, and she’d put in a new one honoring my coupon, and we could pick it up that week. Fine.
Week goes by, no call. Matt called to confirm our order and they said it’ll be there in a few days. Ugh. Few days go by, no call. We call again, they said WE NEVER MADE AN ORDER. The manager had told me to cancel the order and re-order which is what she did for me, but the associate was saying there was no order with my name. I was furious at this point. We called again, Matt was angry this time, and probably could’ve been nicer, but we were pissed. Apparently they put my name as Kristine or something instead of Kristen…. even though I ordered online and damn well wrote my own name correctly. Anyways, it’s a shit-show ordering online from them. Get it in store or not at all.
Regardless of all that, this table is exactly what I was looking for when I searched for a table. I’ve realized that trying to find a sturdy, marble table is 1). very difficult and 2). expensive as fuck. This was priced so well, the base will absolutely hold up, and I think you should run to the closest World Market if this is your vibe too.
After the hell of buying it I’m so glad, I look at it every day in love. The only con about it is that is stains very easily. I have some marble coasters that I already had in my living room that I put out here to blend into the table. I’m telling you, I want that minimalist, clean feeling out here – no crowding the table. I bought this baby vase at World Market as well for probably $3, and I snag flowers from the front of my apartment or while walking the dog. Shhh, don’t tell!
Safavieh French Bistro Stacking Chairs | $230
This is another purchase that was so hard to find for a decent price. I know, $230 is not cheap by any means especially because I wanted the colors to be opposite, but I just went with it. I wanted the grey to be more muted and the white to stand out, but I could not find any that were not going to cost me my entire arm to buy a set. Amazon came through. I love the style of these chairs, and I swear once you’re on the hunt for these you see them at every single restaurant. It’s like when you become interested in a certain car and see them everywhere on the road. I love, love, love the style of these paired with the marble table so friggen much!!
They’re much sturdier than they look too. I wouldn’t suggest standing on them, but they don’t feel like you’re going to fall through. The “wood” on these is actually metal, which is awesome.
Black and Cream Reversible Outdoor Rug | $20
This was the very first thing I bought for the space, and I still don’t know if I’m in love with it, but I don’t hate it so I think it’s going to stay for a while. I wanted something that could easily be cleaning with a hose, and wouldn’t snag or anything like that.
It gets a little hot in the sun because it’s basically made of plastic (think of the fold up beach mats,) it’s the same kind of material as that. So, whenever Moose is lying out in the sun I make sure to throw down a little blanket for him so he doesn’t burn himself.
So far, so good, no real complaints with this one, and only $20 for a 4′ x 6′. It’s actually on sale for $10 right now!
Henning Patio Loveseat | $330 $260
You guys knew Target would be in the mix, right? How could it not be? I fell in love with this love seat at Target when Matt and I were just window shopping for ideas before we bought anything and the balcony was still bare as hell. I sat down on this, thought it was perfect for what we needed, but noticed it was almost $350, and I really didn’t want to spend over $300. We didn’t even spend that much on our couch in the apartment. So I knew it was a no-go. I looked at it again online and it was on sale for $260, and I’m pretty sure we got an additional $10-$20 off by using the honey app on my browser! (seriously, if you’re not using that you’re missing out BIG TIME).
My only problem with this white couch and having a big old dog is that it gets dirty very quickly. If you don’t have animals/don’t let them on your couch then I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll have to get some carpet cleaner or something, as of right now I leave a blanket we don’t care about out on the balcony and cover it up for when he wants to lay out here (sometimes he jumps up before I have time to cover it, oh well). This love seat might be his favorite place in the entire apartment.
Right after I bought this I noticed a couple different Influencers I follow on Instagram we’re buying it as well, people who’s home decor style I loved so much and that made me even happier with the purchase. If people who can afford way better outdoor furniture were excited about this, then it had to be a good buy!
We broke down Moose’s crate a few months ago because it was taking up a lot of space in the kitchen and he doesn’t use it often, and we couldn’t find a good space to store it. We ended up moving using the crate bottom to hold pillows and blankets under the love seat, and store the crate itself behind to make it look more uniform from other side. It actually worked out perfectly, and if we wanted we could put a little slab of wood behind the couch and put some plants.
Note: I found a very similar, cheaper one here.
What now?
As of now I’d like to add a small, round, low-to-the-ground wicked accent table near the love seat that can hold drinks, laptops for outdoor snuggles, or even double as an ottoman if need be. I’d love some privacy over the couch as well, but still trying to figure out how to do that. I’d also like some cute lamps out here as well with the black industrial feel that I have going on with the love seat and table (as well as in the apartment). We, like everyone else, thought about string lights, but I just don’t see how we’d get them on our ceiling. It’s so hard to drill into, so I think I’m going with a more romantic lantern vibe out here. We’ll see!
What are some of your ideas for this space?
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