Making A Simple Cozy Spot

This is the rental home I live in. If you look upstairs you can see a small balcony. That balcony is just outside my office area upstairs. There are two double doors that lead out to the balcony. It actually wraps around to the side of the top floor, but the front is covered by a roof.

I have always wanted to make it more cozy and inviting to use for guests as well as myself.

Last week I started working on some curtains to hang on my balcony. I wanted to be able to close them if I wanted to or have them open as well. I always feel like curtains make a space warm and cozy. I have always said curtains are like hugs. They just wrap around the room and make it feel so warm and inviting. There's something comforting and cozy to me about curtains blowing softly in the breeze.

I purchased 4 queen size flat white sheets from Wal Mart. Very inexpensive. I found plastic grommets at Hobby Lobby in packs of 4. You simply use the template included with the grommets and mark where you want them. Cut out the center as instructed and simply snap the plastic grommet sides together to make a sturdy hole for the sheet/curtain tops. I then used simple silver shower curtain hooks that I put in the grommet holes to be able to hook them on the nails I put in the back of the wooden beams on my balcony.

I originally wanted to use spring curtain rods and just grommets and slide the curtains, but I could not find spring rods long enough for the front part of my balcony that is 12 feet wide. I then went to Lowe's and brainstormed some ideas. I could not find dowel long enough to make my own curtain rods so I then decided to use plastic coated wire and eye hooks and string the wire around the three sides. After I added the grommets to the sheets I was so excited to just see how they would look so I grabbed some large nails and a hammer and spaced the nails evenly with the grommets on the sheets and hung them. I am pretty happy with it just as it is. I don't have to worry about the wind blowing the curtains and having to slide them back, etc. I don't have to worry about the wire getting loose and having to tighten it. For now I am going to use the nails.

I like the white bed sheets because I used the top wide hem of the sheet to be the bottom hem of the curtains. There was no sewing involved. They looked finished just as they are hanging now.

I grabbed two wicker chairs from my porch downstairs, added some pillows, a quilt, a small table and lantern with candle and I now have a cozy, welcoming spot to sit and read and relax. I think my guests will find it inviting as well.



When it's windy or I am not out on the balcony, I can tie them back with ribbon. I also purchased one king pillow case that matches so I can make some matching tie backs eventually.

One thing I wish I would not have done is used grommets. Grommets are so permanent. Clip rings could have given me the freedom to use more or less, depending on how I wanted to hang them, I could make them shorter if I needed. I could have also used the sheets for something else later if I wanted.

The great thing about using sheets for something like this is you can just throw them in the washing machine and wash them whenever they need a good cleaning and if for some reason they get stained or torn, you just have to purchase another inexpensive sheet.

To make it even more cozy, I added a nice rug, a magazine holder with some favorite magazines, and coffee cups for two and the paper (WSJ) for the perfect start to every morning.

Be Inspired! -Karol :0)