Room decoration
Before developing the design of a balcony in a Khrushchev-era building, you need to soberly assess the condition of the existing structure, and if necessary, then strengthen it.
Balcony slab is a structure clamped into the wall. Sometimes the opening in the outer wall is enlarged so that the balcony becomes like an extension of the living space. This cannot be done for a number of reasons:
- The mass of the wall is noticeably reduced, and therefore the slab is not sufficiently pinched.
- In some cases, it is necessary to move the heating battery.
- It is necessary to additionally attach the plate to the wall.
To restore working capacity, different methods are used, which depend directly on the condition of the slab:
- If there are minor cracks in the slab and you need to increase the load.
- In some places, destruction of the slab is observed.
The last option is the most difficult, because here you need to replace the slab or restore it by adding reinforcement mesh.
What is required for insulation?
If the balcony is intended as a place for regular long-term visits, it must be reliably insulated. For this you can use:
- Extruded version of polystyrene foam;
- Regular foam;
- Mineral wool;
- A foiled version of polyethylene foam with a metal part directed towards the inside of the balcony.
Glazing
Repairing a balcony in a Khrushchev-era building always begins with glazing - it’s crazy in the modern world when the balcony is not glazed.
How to glaze a balcony in a Khrushchev building? Classification of glazing: classic, when there is a blind area below, and panoramic. The choice is influenced only by the preferences of the homeowners.
Read here! Stained glass balcony - clever design! Options for beautiful glazing +55 photos.
The frame can be:
- Aluminum.
- PVC.
- Wooden frame.
Frameless glazing of balconies in Khrushchev, when there is a solid surface that transmits light. Depending on the further purpose of the balcony, it can be made either warm or cold.
A cold balcony perfectly protects from wind and bad weather, and a warm balcony gives you the opportunity to comfortably stay on the balcony in winter.
Decor and lighting
To add coziness and warmth, the balcony can be decorated with soft pillows or handmade accessories. The paintings will create a comfortable homely atmosphere. Decorate the walls with stencil designs or special stickers.
To highlight the style and design of a beautifully decorated balcony, we must not forget about lighting. It is not necessary to install a chandelier there, but LED strips with soft light and different color modes will make the atmosphere festive. For greater comfort, table lamps or small sconces are suitable.
Balcony design in the bedroom
Office for work - if you do not demolish the window, you can get a separate place to work. To expand the area of the office, it is worth removing the window and using the window sill as a table.
Wardrobe - if there is no space in the apartment, then the balcony becomes a small wardrobe, compact, with a full-length mirror.
It is worth considering several shelves for shoes, and a light chair is suitable for relaxation.
Design ideas
In this section we will try to figure out how to design and what to turn the loggia space into. When designating a loggia, you need to start, first of all, from your needs. Maybe you need an additional pantry or have nowhere to store pickles and winter preparations.
Greenhouse
Convert the renovated one into a greenhouse. Install a wide window sill before glazing. Make embeds from timber so that in the future you will be able to hang flowerpots.
Suitable for a group holiday
Consider using roller blinds or blinds to protect your plants from sunburn. You don't have to grow only indoor plants.
In spring, grow vegetable seedlings for the garden. The rest of the year, indoor flowers.
Tip For decoration, use modern wall panels made of wood or plastic. Modern plastic does a good job of imitating stone and brick without weighing down the structure. Decorate part of the wall of the house in accordance with the design of the loggia. When decorating a wall, you don’t have to think about the weight of the structure and use tiles or decorative stone.
To prevent the space from looking too small, do not clutter it with furniture. Prefer lightweight metal structures and a pair (or one) of chairs. This furniture is enough for relaxation and contemplation of the sunset.
Use fresh flowers
When designing a new balcony, think about insolation. Don't overcrowd the space with too many appliances, furniture and flowers. Do not block access to natural light into the apartment.
Rest zone
The main problem of choosing furniture for a loggia is the selection of furniture. Finished furniture has large dimensions, and it is almost impossible to select options from the catalog. The only way out is to make furniture to individual sizes. Contact a carpentry shop or make furniture yourself.
Custom-made furniture has many advantages. For example, you can make secret or hidden shelves for storing small items, choose materials and mechanisms according to your budget. The transformable chair will be a sleeping place at your request. At the seats, consider a hinged lid for storing useful items. Oriental style lovers can think about the floor covering and throw pillows on the floor.
Great place to stay
It doesn’t matter if you live alone in an apartment or with children, you can always relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or knitting. For a comfortable stay on the balcony, place wicker furniture made of rattan or wicker. It is light and quite mobile. And upon order, you will receive furniture according to your dimensions.
Mini office
A great idea would be to place your workplace on the loggia. The area will turn into a secluded office of modest size. Pros: Lots of natural light. At the renovation stage, you can install sockets and lamps in the right places. All that remains is to place a table and shelves for storing necessary papers and small items. If the office is no longer needed, move shelves for storing documentation to the loggia. There will still be room on the balcony to create a relaxation corner.
Comfortable, small office with a place to relax
Creative workshop
A warm loggia opens up new possibilities of use for household members. One use case is to create a creative workshop. A place where you can “relax your soul” and give vent to your creative impulse.
Place an easel and paints or prepare a special table with additional lighting for cutting and sewing. Even a small balcony can accommodate a cutting table and a sewing machine.
Laundry care area
Open balcony design
When decorating a balcony, you should use materials that are not afraid of moisture - furniture made of plastic, rattan, wood.
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To hide from views from the street and add coziness, you can use plants in pots - shrubs, trees.
If you choose all the materials responsibly, if you approach the decoration of the balcony wisely, you can get a warm, safe balcony, additional square meters in Khrushchev.
Kinds
If you decide to glaze your balcony, please note that this can be done in several ways. In addition to insulation, glass on a balcony can also perform a decorative function, making the room brighter, or diluting its design, the main thing is to install it correctly
Panoramic
The brightest will be a balcony with huge windows covering the entire wall. Panoramic glazing of a balcony involves the use of exclusively glass. In this case, no frames are installed, and the entire space from floor to ceiling consists entirely of transparent glass.
This design looks interesting due to the fact that it seems as if there is no glass at all, and creates the illusion of a completely open space. By expanding the space in this way, you will get an excellent room for relaxation or creating a small winter garden.
For panoramic glazing of the balcony, specially processed glass is used. It is coated with a special metal oxide. The glass itself should be thick enough or even double. In this case, it will not only not be subject to all kinds of mechanical damage, but will also hold out cold and noise well.
This type of glazing is often used in rooms with a non-standard design. A balcony treated in this way looks very beautiful. Classic balconies, as well as round or semicircular ones, can be glazed in this way. This design option is more often used in new buildings located in the city center or North-Eastern Administrative District, rather than in Stalinist or Khrushchev-era buildings.
You can find materials for glazing a balcony in this way using materials from Rehau or VEKA. Both brands produce not only Euro windows, but also high-quality double-glazed windows for the entire wall that will last you a long time. Here you can find both glass doors and full double-glazed windows used for glazing the front part of the balcony.
Frameless
Another interesting system is a combination of high-quality double-glazed windows with frames made of transparent aluminum profiles. This frameless glazing is very similar to the previous option, but cheaper and more practical.
Floor-length sliding glass, complemented by thin aluminum frames, looks good and modern. You can find materials for this glazing option from many Finnish or German brands. In addition, good seamless aluminum sliding profiles are produced by companies such as Avangard or Provedal.
Remote
By using external glazing, you can further increase the space of the balcony. Extended glass can be used both in new buildings and in standard houses of the KOPE series. For small-sized rooms, better known as “boat” windows from the SLIDORS company are optimally suited
If you want to support a domestic manufacturer, then pay attention to the Kaleva company
Speaking about the appearance of balconies, one cannot fail to mention the various types of decoration of glass surfaces. Glass can be decorated with tinting. “Bus” glass of this type can be ordered, for example, from. Tinting the glass will cost extra money, but the effect provided by such a coating is pleasantly pleasing: your balcony will be hidden from prying eyes, and the glass will acquire an unusual shade.
Another interesting option is stained glass, consisting of small colored parts. Stained glass can be a separate insert on the balcony glass, or even the entire window space. It all depends on your preferences and what your budget is. Professionals from many companies, for example, Stroy, can glaze a balcony in this way.
Photo of a balcony in Khrushchev
Making good use of space
We have a loggia that is cramped in size, and we would like to expand it at least a little. The simplest method is to remove the glazing. Additional space will not appear below, but there will be no constraint above. Another interesting method is the French balcony.
Use light-colored materials for decoration
High-quality repairs and interior decoration will help make the space cozy and functional. Dramatically change the functionality of the room and enjoy the useful use of space.
Pantry. In any apartment there are things that are only available during the season or on certain holidays. A pantry will help maintain external order in the house by hiding irrelevant things behind its doors. This is the easiest way to transform an area. You don’t need a large investment of money; it’s enough to build shelves for storing cans.
Recreation room or office. Repairs on the site will require effort, time and cash injections. High-quality insulation and glazing are required.
Combining the balcony and the adjacent room. This method will help increase the usable space of the apartment, but it is the most expensive method. If you are thinking about selling an apartment through a bank mortgage, then the merger requires approval of a redevelopment project. It is most advantageous to combine it with a kitchen, since kitchens in Khrushchev-era buildings have a very small area.
Choose compact pieces of furniture
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Installation of thermal insulation
Coziness and comfort depend on the temperature in the room. And it, in turn, directly depends on how well the thermal insulation of the balcony is done. If this work is carried out correctly, it becomes possible to effectively use this room even in the cold season.
Before starting work, it is important to think carefully about how to insulate a balcony in a Khrushchev-era building with your own hands and in what sequence?
Floor
The first stage will be working with the floor. If double-glazed windows are already installed on the balcony, you must begin laying the waterproofing layer on a flat concrete base. The material can be ordinary polyethylene film. It should be spread evenly over the entire floor surface. Then you should make the logs. The installation process is controlled using a level. All deviations from the norm are leveled out with support bars. Insulation should be placed between the laid joists so that there are no empty spaces or large gaps between the material.
Cover this layer with a vapor barrier membrane on top, and then make a subfloor using plywood or OSB sheets. The material should be secured to the joists with self-tapping screws.
Ceiling
Preparatory work should be carried out first. Remove old paint, and treat plaster or other finishing materials with a primer that contains antifungal substances. Allow time to dry completely. After this, proceed to pasting the foil foam. To do this, you need to use PVA glue and polyurethane foam. You can do without adhesives by using self-tapping screws with large heads.
Mount timber for the frame on top of this material. Before performing this item, it is necessary to provide in advance for the future placement of communication systems. If there is a need to carry out work on laying electrical wiring or other communications that will be located on the ceiling surface before finishing the coating, you should first lay them in the installation location.
Walls
Insulating balcony walls requires strength and patience, as this is the most labor-intensive process. Initially, a frame made of timber, 40x40 mm or 50x50 mm in size, should be attached to the surface of the walls. This depends on the thickness of the insulation. If it exceeds the thickness of these bars, then it is permissible to additionally install support blocks along the frame.
Vertical strips of sheathing should be made at a distance from each other of no more than 100 cm, and horizontal strips no more than 50 cm. Horizontal parts can be positioned at your discretion, but it is better to install them in those places where pushing of the sheathing will most often occur - this is a knee rest or shoulder.
Place polystyrene foam in the resulting squares of the frame, which will be adjusted to size. For fastening, you must use special glue or foam adhesive sold in cans. Cover this layer of insulation with a vapor barrier film on top, which will protect the material from the influence of condensation.
Finishing layer
This process largely depends not only on personal preferences, but also on financial status. If lining will be used, then it should be fastened to nails using a stapler. When choosing plastic panels, the fastening element will be “liquid nails”
When installing MDF panels, which are the ideal choice in this situation, it is important to consider that they are attached to clamping plates. However, it must be remembered that this material tends to absorb moisture.
After completing the insulation and finishing work, install window sills, decorative skirting boards and other elements. The end result will be a cozy, visually attractive, and most importantly, warm balcony.
Balcony accessories
Soft pillows as chairs will be an excellent decor.
Flowers in pots, especially on the railings of an open balcony, will decorate and enliven the space. Hanging gardens are very impressive, they take up little space and hide the walls.
An atypical element for a loggia (balcony) is a mirror, which will add a pleasant variety. Reflecting light, in addition to beauty, will effectively expand spaces.
Now you know how to arrange a small balcony. If you follow the advice of professionals, it is not difficult to create a cozy compact relaxation area for a romantic evening.
Check out the various ideas in the photo of a small balcony.
Removal on the windowsill
When choosing this option, the floor size does not change. The room is enlarged by moving the glazed frame outward (the distance corresponds to the width of the window sill). The extension can be frontal or cover all 3 sides.
Glazing of loggias is done in a similar way, but side extensions are usually not done. In such an extension, it is most appropriate to push the boundaries along the window sill. Removing slabs along one side on slanting loggias in some cases helps to adjust the geometry of the room (give it the correct rectangular shape).
The window sill border can be moved to a distance of up to 300-350 mm .
This method is widely used in panel buildings. It allows you to install a full-fledged convenient window sill, make a shelf for plants or books.
This design is absolutely safe to use: you can lean on the windowsill and place pots with indoor flowers on it.
Residents of new buildings often order retractable glazing for a 6-meter loggia.
Removing the balcony along the window sill can have another variety. This is the so-called “butterfly”. This reconstruction option does not require registration, regardless of the room parameters. When implementing this project, only the sides are moved back.
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On the windowsill
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By slab/floor
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