How we decorated our small apartment balcony on a budget
When we moved from Brooklyn to Denver in 2016, I couldn’t wait to start spending time on our new balcony! We have a beautiful distant view of the mountain foothills and get some gorgeous sunsets in the evening. Such a big change from our dirty fire escape we had in Bushwick!
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to decorate it all at once because we had to get the rest of our apartment in order so we could start hosting our second bedroom on Airbnb.
We gradually started the decoration process by buying little things here and there, starting with the rug first. We used our Tommy Bahama beach chairs for the first several months so we would have somewhere to sit do it was definitely a hodgepodge look for a while.
So when my birthday came around during our first summer in Denver, I asked family for IKEA gift cards because I wanted to get patio furniture and also cash for a smaller gas grill. So that is where it all began!
I originally wrote this post last summer but now that we are moving into our new house with a GIGANTIC deck (mo deck, mo problems), so I figured I would go ahead and post this now. Soon we will now have a whole new challenge with our new big deck!
5x7 Outdoor Rug: We bought this beautiful 5x7 geometric shape outdoor rug for $59.99 from Target. This was actually our second area rug and has been the best quality of the two. Our first outdoor rug was from Wayfair but it got pelted by hail and the fabric started flaking off. This Target rug has held up to all the elements so far with no issues and it makes me happy every time I go outside!
Ways to to save money at Target:
Sign up for the Target Debit card for FREE to get 5% on all purchases and free shipping! It’s a debit card so it just links to your regular bank account and you just start raking in the dough!
Find discounts on the Target App. I often find coupons within the Target app by looking in the Cartwheel Offers section or I find coupons by tapping the wallet in the app and looking through the coupons. You can also scan items in the app while you shop and find even more savings!
Get cash back by Joining Rakuten (formerly ebates) and click the Target link via the App to get up to 1% cash back AND if you use my affiliate link, you get $10 cash back on your first purchase.
Outdoor Seating: Next we bought our two IKEA SOLLERÖN outdoor chairs for $160 each. We opted for two corner pieces because we didn’t have enough room for a 3 seater and spacing them out made it feel less crowded. We loved that these chairs had under seat storage so we could store our chair cushions in the winter. Sometimes IKEA will send out a newsletter with a coupon for larger purchases so you have to watch out for those!
Bottom Seat Cushions: We grabbed the FRÖSÖN/ DUVHOLMEN seat covers that fit our ourdoor seats for $35 each. IKEA stated on their website that “These are made of recycled PET bottles and dyed in a more sustainable way, which also makes the color last longer in the sun.” I love that these are made from recycled materials and they definitely haven’t faded at all in the time we’ve had them and so far I’ve only had to spot clean them.
Cushion Storage Bags: Although we have a storage area for cushions underneath the seats, there was still a way for dirt and leaves to get into that area. So we grabbed the IKEA TOSTERÖ Storage bag for pads and cushions for $14.99 each which fit perfectly inside the under seat storage area! It’s perfect for winter when it snows a bunch and keeps our beautiful cream seat cushions from getting dirty. We can even store most of our back cushions in there as well.
Decorative Back Cushions: When we first bought our IKEA patio furniture, we also ordered the back cushions that matched with the bottom cushions. But once we put them on the chair, they just looked limp and sad. We tried finding an outdoor throw pillow to spruce it up, but it just didn’t look right nor feel comfortable.
So I ended up running to Walmart one day to grab a plant and while in the garden department, I randomly noticed these adorable Ikat with stripes outdoor pillows by Better Home & Gardens on sale and they only had a limited amount. When I say limited, I mean the exact amount I needed for our patio! I snatched those pillows up so fast and took them home to see if they would work. I paid around $29 for 6 pillows - YES, you read that number correctly! I picked up 2 back pillows 24x24, 2 toss pillows 19x14 and 2 small throw pillows 19x19. Since it’s was August they were trying to clear out the summer inventory and they were super marked down. It pays to buy off season when possible!
I figured they would at least last a year and if they looked terrible after that, it wouldn’t be hard to find more but after two full summers and winters they are still looking amazing without any fading at all. Walmart definitely surprised me with the quality and style of these pillows!!
To save even more money at Walmart, you can sign up at Rakuten (formerly ebates) to get up to 5% cash back AND if you use my link, you get $10 cash back on your first purchase.
Outdoor Side Table: This was one on my most challenging purchases because we just couldn’t quite find the perfect table to fit the space. I envisioned a lower profile rectangle table to fit between the chairs but nothing seemed to strike my fancy.
One day I had some time to kill, so I ran into a Family Dollar Store. I ended up picking up a super cute metal stackable stool table to use as an end table for only $5. I wasn’t sure if it would work but for that price, it was worth a shot. It ended up being the perfect size for our space plus a great place for a small plant and a couple drinks! I couldn’t find a link to the table but found almost identical tables for $25 and up online so it made me excited learning that my $5 table was a pretty amazing steal!
Small Gold Animal Planter: I ended up finding this adorable gold animal planter at Target on clearance for $6.50 when they were clearing out the patio section to get ready for back to school. Is it a lama or deer? Who knows! But all I know is that it’s an adorable addition to the patio and the perfect succulent holder!
Corner Plant Stand: I’m a sucker for succulents because they are gorgeous and so easy to maintain! During the winter they stay inside but in the summer they thrive outside in the dry climate. Chris and I found this ASKHOLMEN Plant stand at IKEA for $20 that fit perfectly on our small corner.
Outdoor Poufs: This summer we added 2 poufs to our patio to use as ottomans as well as extra seating. After looking a TON we finally found these Threshold™ Outdoor Pouf Natural Woven at target and got them on sale for about $39 each, they are normally about $49.99 when not on sale. They are super lightweight, comfortable and really pull the space together!
Threshold Outdoor Lantern: The last thing I REALLY wanted for our balcony was a larger floor lantern. I was concerned about having an all glass lantern just because I was worried about keeping it clean and damage from our crazy Colorado hail. So I found this adorable 22” outdoor wood and rope lantern from Threshold™. It’s open air with a glass dome over just the candle so I don’t have to worry as much about cleaning or breakage. I waited most of the summer for it to go on sale and I finally grabbed it for about $42.50. I threw in this 4”x7” white pillar candle for $14.99.
Ultimately the whole patio set up over time cost about $676 which sounds like a lot but many items I purchased were on sale, I also used birthday and Christmas giftcards that I specifically requested to go towards these items, and occasionally got cashback through Rakuten (Ebates).
If you need to pull patio decor together all at once but don’t have that kind of cash to throw down, I recommend going to the thrift store and specifically a Goodwill store that is located close to a Target because they often get Target’s donations. You might be able to find some pretty cute decor there as long as you aren’t looking for a very specific style. My second favorite place to look for home decor on a budget is Facebook Marketplace. Often time you can find specific items or styles that people are trying to get rid of at only a fraction of the price.
So now that we are first time homeowners, we will be leaving our super cute apartment in less than 3 weeks and breaking down our perfect little decorated patio to take on the challenge of decorating our new MEGA deck + many other home renovations.
Stay tuned for more posts on our new home journey where we will be getting ready to take our Airbnb hosting to a whole new level with not 1, but 2 guest bedrooms. It’s going to be fun!