Creating Privacy On Your Balcony With Style

Welcome to modern apartment living. Sleek apartment complexes, modern glass facades - oh they look fabulous. Many modern apartment buildings have glass fronted balconies which means great uninterrupted views. My apartment overlooks the beautiful Glebe Park in Canberra and I also get to watch hues of pink and mauve as the sun rises. However, glass fronted balconies can also mean a lack of privacy, either from the street below or other apartment dwellers. My beautiful apartment complex is curved so privacy can be an issue on the balcony.

Unfortunately for some apartment dwellers, the balcony is a place to store mops, buckets, dead plants and washing lines (please  I don't want to see your undies drying. P.S. washing dries perfectly well indoors on a clothes horse. P.P.S. I also don't want to witness a car accident when your towels you have draped over the balcony fall onto the cars below). On the other hand, some apartment dwellers have outdoor lounges and cushions that I drool over and I am desperate to scramble over the balcony to ask you them where they got them from.

In all honesty how do you create privacy on your balcony? Plants are a great way to start, however you need to consider their weight as most apartments have rules about total load on the balcony. My balcony is only 17 square metres but I often have drinks and nibbles outside for friends. I had several large plants but they died! I do have a green thumb but it seems that the local magpies that frequent my balcony are carrying scale. So I resorted to artificial plants, hedges and screens with a fabulous result. In all honesty, the cost was less than large plants that can die. To create the look in the photos I used the following:

• Artificial hedges - I got this from Early Settler
• Hedge tiles - From Bunnings
• Artificial plants - These came from IKEA

I also placed my outdoor lounge with the back of the lounge against the balcony glass and then scattered large outdoor cushions on them. This created a private oasis so when I sit out there to read I can't be seen by other apartment dwellers.  

I clipped several hedge tiles from Bunnings on the glass front of the balcony to give me privacy from neighbours. I only partially covered the glass so I can also see the view of the beautiful park and Mt Ainslie. I doubled the hedge tiles (back to back) so that they looked nice from my balcony and from the street. Then I used cable ties to attach them to the balcony hand rail. 

So for under $800 I created my private oasis on the balcony while still keeping stunning views.