Kitchen with a balcony: fresh ideas for a unique design
The balcony in the kitchen is not a problem, but an additional opportunity for the embodiment of a spectacular kitchen A balcony in the kitchen can be very useful if it is used rationally and competently. This article will consider all the possible options for using the balcony as an additional functional space for your kitchen..
The kitchen balcony is a great help for the hostess. There you can store food in the cool season or cool hot dishes, and also leave jelly and jellied meat to solidify, for which it is very problematic to allocate space in the refrigerator, especially on the eve of the holidays. The presence of a balcony is a disadvantage for the kitchen only if it is the only one in the apartment: then the kitchen becomes a walk-through.
The interior design of a kitchen with an exit to the balcony largely depends on how the balcony space is planned to be used.
Renovating a kitchen with access to the balcony is a more complicated process than renovating an ordinary kitchen. Such a kitchen is considered more convenient and in order to make it as functional as possible, many resort to the idea of joining the balcony space to the kitchen room. Also, the balcony can be used as a summer recreation area, and if it is insulated, you can equip a beautiful winter garden on it..
Options for using the balcony in the kitchen
A kitchen with a balcony is space, functionality and comfort
The balcony, like the kitchen, is a fairly multifunctional room. If you combine a kitchen with a balcony, you can win in the kitchen space by expanding the room, but lose additional space, which is so necessary.
Full glass door adds natural light to the kitchen
If you decide to preserve the integrity of the balcony, for full access to it, you will need to free up space, which is invaluable in a small kitchen. Installing a sliding door to the kitchen balcony instead of a traditional swing door can help save usable space..
To make a kitchen with a balcony as functional and aesthetic as possible, you need to remember the following:
- Thinking over the interior design of the kitchen, instead of the window of which there is a balcony, it should be taken into account that the movement of cold air from the front door to the balcony will create discomfort. Therefore, if possible, it is recommended to arrange the dining and work areas in such a way that cold air currents pass them and people in the kitchen do not stay in a draft..
- If the balcony is insulated, it can be used as a cellar for storing blockages, you can equip a pantry on it with a small workshop for the owner of the house or a winter garden. If your apartment is not small and there are enough rooms in it, an uninsulated kitchen balcony can become an excellent summer heat of relaxation..
- When renovating a kitchen with an adjoining balcony, use the same type of materials to decorate them in the same style. This is advantageous in that even if the rooms are separated by a balcony door, they will look like an addition to each other. In addition, in this way you can visually expand the area of a small kitchen..
- For the design of a kitchen with a balcony, the correct selection of curtains is of great importance. Washable canvas roller blinds attached directly to the balcony door and window will look stylish and elegant. The functionality of Roman blinds will further save space. If you have chosen fabric curtains for your kitchen, they can be made in different lengths: on the balcony door – to the floor, and on the window – to the level of the window sill. This will make the ceilings in the room visually higher and will hide the balcony door..
It is desirable that the style of the balcony be identical to the kitchen – only in this way the overall design will be perfectly balanced.
- If you plan to include glazing and insulation of the balcony in the renovation of the kitchen, you can significantly save on installing the balcony block by dismantling the old structure and installing a bar counter or countertop in place of the window sill. In addition, this opening can be designed in the form of an arch or a semi-arch..
Relaxation area on the balcony
A recreation area like this can become a favorite place in the house.
The kitchen balcony can be turned into a small recreation area for the hostess by installing a tiny sofa, a cozy floor lamp and a TV.
You can make a balcony a full-fledged place to relax by arranging its interior design in an oriental, Chinese or Japanese style. Such an unusual interior for a kitchen balcony will go well with a modern or classic kitchen.
A balcony with a cozy seating area will perfectly complement the interior design of any kitchen.
If it is not planned to include balcony insulation in the renovation of your kitchen, you can install a table for tea drinking on it in the warm season. Morning coffee or evening tea in the fresh air will become more enjoyable if you make the open balcony aesthetically pleasing by taking care of the exterior wall decoration and installing wrought iron handrails and lamps.
Balcony in the kitchen – winter garden
Winter garden in a small balcony? Why not!
A well-insulated kitchen balcony can become a wonderful green garden, pleasing the eyes of the owners throughout the whole year. Not only ornamental plants can be grown on the balcony. Lovers – gardeners may well use the balcony as a winter greenhouse, growing vegetables, roots or greens on it.
If your choice has settled on the arrangement of a winter garden in the kitchen balcony, and you have not yet started repairing the kitchen, the balcony can be completely glazed. This will add more daylight to future plants. A transparent door from the balcony to the kitchen will provide light to the room adjacent to the balcony. For the kitchen, a transparent door to the balcony will give the effect of the presence of plants in the room.
If the area of the balcony allows, you can install a dining table or a table for tea parties on it..
Balcony – storage room
A balcony as a storage room is one of the most popular solutions
On the balcony adjacent to the kitchen, if it is insulated, you can make racks, of which there are not many for storing utensils, canned preparations or fresh vegetables and fruits.
In small apartments, as a rule, there are not enough storage rooms for storing things or working tools. Therefore, you can also install closed shelves on the kitchen balcony for storing small items. To close the shelves with tools and various things, it would be more rational to install a wooden or plastic accordion door or sliding doors like a wardrobe.
A closed cabinet looks more neat and aesthetically pleasing than open shelves with tools.
Balcony – workshop
Workplace on the balcony – unusual and very efficient
In small apartments, very often the owner has no place other than at the TV. The insulated balcony adjacent to the small kitchen can be turned into a fully heated room. If you equip a workshop on the kitchen balcony, harmoniously thinking over the details of its interior, this will brighten up the loneliness of the hostess standing at the stove and add wonderful moments, which are often not enough in families for the communication of household members. It will be much more interesting for his son to design a model of an airplane with his dad in the workshop, watching his mother prepare a delicious dinner.
In order for the workshop to harmoniously combine with the style chosen for the kitchen design, the following points must be taken into account:
- The working table in the workshop can be equipped in the form of a sliding wardrobe with closing doors, which will allow you to hide the “working clutter” in the absence of the owner.
- It is better to make shelves and hinges for storing tools closed..
- It is better to choose facades for cabinet furniture in the workshop the same as on the kitchen set.
Balcony – addition to the kitchen
If you combine a kitchen with a balcony, you can get a lot of space and comfort. Such a balcony can easily replace the dining area of the kitchen.
You can move the working area to the balcony adjacent to the small kitchenette, almost completely freeing the room from the kitchen equipment and leaving only the dining table there. The complexity of such a movement in the transfer of communications and a small area of the balcony, which will only allow you to compactly install the equipment. It is much easier and more rational to transfer the dining table to the balcony. If the balcony area is small, you can install a folding table with folding chairs there..
In order that a small kitchen with a balcony does not seem cluttered, you can install most of the kitchen appliances on the balcony. If you remove only one refrigerator from the kitchen, the room will become much more spacious, and on the balcony the refrigerator will be in a small niche, and will not create the illusion of piling up. Having taken care of the electrical wiring in time, you can transfer a microwave oven, an electric oven, a coffee machine, a multicooker, a bread machine and a double boiler to the heated balcony.
Union
The ability to combine a kitchen with a balcony will significantly increase the usable area of a small kitchen, but a prerequisite for this is the insulation of the balcony and the installation of a heating system. By combining the kitchen with the adjoining balcony, you can significantly expand the working area or install a dining table in the resulting cozy corner near the window.
The opening remaining when combined can be decorated with an arch, semi-arch, left unchanged or refined with decorative columns – it all depends on the design of your kitchen.
If you do not demolish the window sill, you can install a countertop or a luxurious bar counter with hanging elements for storing dishes on it..
A kitchen with a balcony is an excellent field for action when overhauling a room. In fact, there are more than enough options for the rational use of the balcony in the kitchen. Someone equips a study there, someone – a living corner. The choice may depend on the needs of the family and your imagination..
Examples of a kitchen with a balcony (photo)