Monday, June 14, 2010

Our new balcony!

I'm so excited this weekend because we just got a new balcony!

Well, I say new balcony, but I really mean a "new" balcony, since obviously when one stays in apartments, one can't just get a completely new balcony.

Anyways...

Our balcony used to be pretty messy and used somewhat as a store "room" for things that can last the wet and cold winters. Big rubbish bin, ladder, buckets, empty plant pots, outdoor broom and other not very pretty odds and ends.

I've always wanted a really nice balcony to enjoy, especially as our balcony is rather sizeable compared to other parts of the house. What made me rue the state of our balcony even more was that our next door neighbour has one of the nicest balconies on our whole street, and definitely the nicest in our view. Seriously, it's like a year-round garden there, with cushioned sofa and plants hanging everywhere.

So, finally, Schrobbenmaster agreed to start the balcony project with me and we headed to the garden centre yesterday. After walking for a bit, we found our perfect set of furniture, and then decided to also get a plant to give the balcony a warmer feel.


Chose a modern black pot for it and named the plant, Bess.

I'm so thankful we have a car now, because without it, many things wouldn't be possible!

Unfortunately, we don't have an assigned parking space, so we have to park wherever we can find the space, and in this instance, it was a little far and we both had heavy things to carry.


Anyway, we made it, and brought everything out to the balcony to fix up. A couple weeks ago we had gone to IKEA to buy some shelves and knick knacks. We now opened the box for the new balcony shelf and here's me making it.


We bought a white shelf cuz most of our furniture is white (except in the living room and office), but in the end we realised that forward planning would have been a good idea, as a black/grey shelf would have matched better. But oh well. I DID want a black and white balcony after all.

Now to unpack the main event, the 'bistroset'! The two chairs and a table.


It wasn't difficult but a little tricky putting together.


And, voila! The end result...


I'm so happy with it! It actually looks nicer now because at the time of photo-taking, Bess was still on top of the white shelf, whereas she's actually supposed to be on the wooden table. Try to picture it in your mind, since it's dark and grey skies now and I don't feel like taking a photo.

Now I just need to start collecting black pots, ornaments and whatever other outdoor decorations I can find to fill the top two rows on the shelf. Whoever wants to bring a gift for me, here's an idea! :D

Today, we had lunch outside, naturally.


It was really lovely at lunchtime because it was cool with only a light breeze - winds just usually spoil everything as it becomes too cold to do anything. I was telling Schrobbenmaster that that moment was really perfect because I was experiencing all the important things at the same time - European weather and greenery, and eating Asian food (I haven't had noodles all weeeeeeeek!).

Later in the day, we took a little impromptu road trip to Zeeland, 1.5 hours away from Rotterdam so that Schrobbenmaster could pick up his newly bought iPad from Alejo. The journey was beautiful, but the place itself wasn't very exciting. The town we went to, Terneuzen, near the Belgian border, was pretty dead, the only highlight being that the country's biggest 'coffee shop' is there. I have some photos, but they can wait for another time, if I ever deem it interesting enough to write about again. Haha.

1 comment:

frachely said...

I thought the noodles were cereals -_-