Indian Balcony Garden Decor

Indian Balcony Garden Decor 

A lot of you wanted me to post a video on 'Balcony Decor', 

so here I'm with some pocket-friendly ideas to give your balcony a quick makeover. 

In this video, I'll show you how a balcony can become a cynosure of all eyes with some small changes and easy steps. 

We'll take one step at a time and will decorate just one corner of the balcony today and in some other post, I'll show you how you can give a makeover to the entire balcony. Since I'm talking about Indian Balconies, all the elements I'm discussing here are quite traditional and ethnic Indian. 

The first step is to clear the clutter and just remove everything so that you can plan and picturise what exactly you want. 

Next comes the step of adding a splash of colours. And that you can do without spending much. All you need to do is paint the pots in colour of your choice or if you already have painted pots then consider painting them in a different colour this time and you'll be amazed to see the result.

Now if you have a plain wall in your balcony then perk it up. You can put up wall planters, artwork, shelves, masks or just paint some art like Warli, Madhubani or anything you like. I chose to put up wall masks and I found king & queen mask at dirt cheap price. You can see the makeover of these broken terracotta masks in my video. 

Now let's move on to next step of arranging the pots. Pots placed next to each other or arranged in a row looks like they are standing in a queue and waiting for something to happen. I always find it boring to arrange the pots in a linear fashion. My tip here is- create levels. How? Well, just choose the pots and planters in different sizes and then club them together. Or you can place an empty pot upside down and make it a pot stand.

Also, make the arrangement of pots standout by choosing the plants that have leaves of different shades and shapes. See the image below for reference. 

In the last, let's accessorise the balcony garden. There are so many garden accessories available these days and you can easily pick the ones of your choice that go well with the theme of your balcony garden. I placed pebbles in the pot, one with Warli painting to add a pop of colour.  Terracotta figurines can never go wrong when it comes to accessorising a balcony garden. 

Below are the two looks I created with some small little changes in arrangement and accessories. In look one below, I used a terracotta camel as an accessory to give this corner an ethnic punch. Plants of all types like creeper, climber, herb and succulents are creating a balanced look. 

In look two below, I created a zen corner by placing Buddha head in the centre and lush green plants all around him. Did you notice how effortlessly I transformed the ethnic Indian look of this corner into a zen corner. Now let me show you how it looks at night. 

Have a look!!!!

Don't you love this. It looks so dreamy and oh so beautiful. 

By  the way, I used my favourite LED string light. It works fine outdoor as well as long as its USB cable is protected from water.  

I am happy with this makeover and will be spending my summer evenings here soaking in the beauty of this lovely zen corner in my balcony. Hope Y'all liked it too. To read more blogs on 'Gardening' click here. 

I'll be on leave for a month. See you all in April. 

Indian Balcony Decor: Preeti Deshmukh

Indian Balcony Decor

In our fast-paced life, all we need is a space in our homes where we can relax and unwind. Tiny or huge, our balconies can serve that purpose very well. Balcony does more than just add to the aesthetics of your home. It gives you the opportunity to maximize your living space, it can be a romantic nook, another dining spot, a place to relax, read or chill with friends. 

I have a guest on my blog today who not only utilized her balcony space wisely but also turned it into a small retreat. Preeti Deshmukh from Nashik is with us today and she'll be telling us how she transformed her balcony into a beautiful relaxing spot and that too on a low budget.

"It was my dream to have a big balcony in my home so when we were planning to buy an apartment, well-ventilated rooms and a space for relaxation was our first priority. We were fortunate that we found a spacious flat with a huge balcony attached to the living room and a separate utility area attached to the kitchen where I can hang clothes to dry."

The first thing that Preeti decided was the theme of her balcony and it was "traditional Indian". Next up was a seating arrangement and Preeti had an astounding idea of putting up a swing. She adds,

"Since the theme was traditional, swing or Chaupala was a perfect addition to my balcony. So I got it custom made and added beautiful cushions to create a  pleasing and comfortable sit out on the balcony."

Next step was to perk up the dull looking walls and keeping the traditional Indian theme in mind, Preeti decided to do Warli painting on the walls. But executing this idea wasn't that easy for her. This is what she shared, 

"The idea of painting Warli art was quite fascinating but I wasn't confident enough to do it myself so I asked my sister-in-law who not only paints well but is a skilled calligrapher too. She liked the idea and was ready to help me."

"We knew nothing about Warli art so we did a lot of research, read about the art form on the internet, visited some places where Warli was done and took photographs for reference. But then we didn't know anything about what kind of paint we should be using. Then my cousin Shweta Deshmukh who is an architect and lives in Pune came to our rescue. She gave us all the technical knowledge which was necessary to start our Warli project and we were good to go now." 

As you must have read my previous blogs on Warli or might have watched my video tutorial on Warli painting, I have mentioned that Warli painting depicts the social life of Warli tribe. So keeping this fact in mind Preeti and her sister-in-law painted day-to-day activities of village people. 

"We painted Sun, Vasudev, Tulsi puja to illustrate morning scene in a typical village on one wall and painted moon, men returning to home from fields, a lady cooking food etc.to portray the dusk hours on another wall."

"As Warli painting also depicts celebrations so we decided to paint a scene of a wedding ceremony on another wall where we showed a groom mounted on a horse and a coy bride sitting in a palanquin and everyone else is dancing and enjoying. Painting Warli on the entire parapet wall and a part of balcony wall was really a tough job but then my family and relatives helped me a lot through out the painting project." 

After the Warli project was done, it was time to add accessories and to make the entire balcony come alive. Preeti shares,
"I bought accessories like masks, lamp, parrot and giraffe planter for my balcony from an exhibition. Hanging bells I bought from Pune."

Preeti is a plant lover and has a big green thumb. She has planted a variety of plants in her balcony. She even created a fairy garden.

She is so creative when it comes to reusing, recycling or up-cycling a stuff. Using her son's broken study desk and some pebbles, she created a beautiful piece of art that you see in below picture. Now you know you just need to look around with your keen eyes to unearth the hidden treasure that you already have in your home.

With a proper plan and careful execution of it, Preeti was successful in creating the most relaxing and dreamy balcony space for herself that she had dreamed of once upon a time. 

Transformation of a dull and stark balcony space into an irresistible outdoor retreat was not an easy task for Preeti. She tells it took nearly a year to turn her balcony into a lush looking sanctuary. Now she feels proud of herself every time she gets compliments from guests.

Preeti believes that the process of transforming a house into a home takes a long time and you should try to enjoy every step along the way.

This was all about decorating a balcony space in a traditional Indian way. I hope Preeti's balcony inspired you to create your own calming retreat. Thanks Preeti for sharing the lovely images and the balcony transformation story with us. Wish you and your family love, luck & sunshine.

Dear readers, if you are looking for some more Balcony Decorating Ideas .

I'm shooting one more video this week so stay tuned!