The balcony or loggia in the apartment is not just a beautiful and convenient area, you can also equip a full and roomy pantry there. It is on the balcony that most housewives can store their preserves and other preserves for the winter. Very often you can store those things that are currently not particularly needed, so the best solution would be to make a cabinet with your own hands on the balcony.
Why is the closet worth making on the balcony? In the reviews, the masters and landlords confirm that simple shelving with shelves, although they need less to create them, do not look so aesthetically pleasing, for example, as a full-fledged cabinet with closed doors and shelves. It will be the most optimal and attractive option, especially if you yourself have a hand in its creation.
What types of cabinets are there?
Two main categories can be distinguished - this is a freestanding or built-in wardrobe inside the balcony. A separate cabinet is assembled in a single system, has hinged doors, and also does not occupy all the free space inside the loggia. You can make a built-in wardrobe on the balcony with your own hands or a sliding wardrobe is a great option for the home. Made according to individual projects, such furniture can fit on a balcony with a different area, size, and breading.
According to reviews, before you build a cabinet on your balcony with your own hands, you need to consider several key aspects:
- Shelf load. It is very important to first decide what exactly you will store in your closet, pick up boards of the required thickness and strength.
- Material. The cabinet can be made of various materials, however, the best options are either wood or a sheet of drywall.
Advantages and disadvantages of these materials
Wooden cabinets on the balcony, made with their own hands, are distinguished by a more aesthetic appearance, as well as excellent strength characteristics. This plays a very important role when installing boards in the wall of the balcony. However, one of the key drawbacks of a wooden cabinet is the complex assembly of parts (compared to freestanding cabinets), as well as their fastening. A tree is heavier than drywall, due to which the load will be much higher.
The advantage of drywall is its simplicity in processing, very quick installation and assembly, low weight, almost zero deformation during fastening, the use of metal frames. The main disadvantage of this material is its low impact resistance, it is significantly less than that of a tree, and also its insufficient ability to withstand loads.
Cabinet appearance
Do not forget that the appearance of furniture must certainly be in harmony with the entire interior of the loggias. So do not forget to consider this aspect. Nowadays, due to the availability of various technological solutions, you can assemble such a cabinet that will fit perfectly into the whole concept of your room.
The only thing you will need to pay attention to is the area of the balcony on which you will put the closet. On not very wide balconies, it is most often provided for the installation of built-in cabinets at the end of the room. They can be decorated with several sliding doors, which will significantly save free space on the balcony. If the ceiling height makes it possible, then you can equip a cabinet with several doors, as well as mezzanines. However, on wide loggias, a freestanding wardrobe with rounded side shelves will look more beautiful. You can put various trinkets there: a nice photo and other beautiful accessories that you have, including potted plants, will do.
An additional charm in this interior will be the cabinet finish, matching the tone of the balcony frame, flooring or to the doors. The choice of material, design development, creation and assembly of the entire cabinet lie entirely on the shoulders of the responsible owner.
Recommendations for the closet on the balcony
How to make a cabinet on the balcony with your own hands step by step? First you need to carry out preparatory work directly on the balcony or on the loggia. If the balcony has not yet been glazed or insulated, it is very important to do this. Why? Even the furniture, which is the most resistant to frosty temperatures, will lose its beauty significantly by the next spring: the walls will be deformed, the doors will close much worse. You can process the windows with silicone sealant, so there will be much less drafts on the balcony.
Next, you need to determine exactly where your closet will be located, how the doors will open and the shelves inside. To do this, you can make a small sketch, taking into account all the sizes, as well as the size bindings.
If you want to make a corner cabinet on the balcony with your own hands, then leveling the floor is not a prerequisite. However, for a freestanding cabinet you still have to do the alignment, as this will allow you to correctly and evenly put your furniture.
Depending on the size of the balcony, the wardrobe can be very large or compact, very tiny. However, do not get carried away too much with dimensions: very bulky furniture can take up living space on the loggia. It will create a significant load on the balcony slabs, which is important to consider.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that for the built-in wardrobe on the balcony (making it yourself is not at all as difficult as it seems), it is also necessary to align the walls. If you want your cabinet to look attractive, don't forget about it. Yes, and fasten the cabinet frame on a flat surface will be much easier for you than a curve. It is also important to prepare the drawings for the cabinet on the balcony with your own hands, so that you understand the entire amount of work.
Making a drywall cabinet
The simplest, cheapest and easiest option on how to make a cabinet with your own hands on a balcony is to make a sliding wardrobe based on drywall with a metal frame.
The whole workflow is conditionally divided into several processes: this is the preparation of the zone for installing the cabinet, the layout for future fixtures, the preparation of the material and all necessary tools, the creation of the frame, its collection, installation. Then come the finishing work, that is, painting, wallpapering and other processes, if necessary. For the manufacture of a cabinet on a balcony with your own hands, step-by-step instructions are described below.
What tools will be needed:
- drywall sheets;
- metal or wood profiles;
- hacksaw for metal;
- hacksaw for wood;
- screws, dowels and other fasteners on concrete;
- level;
- marker;
- drill, screwdriver.
Initial Stage: Preparation
Our balcony is insulated, the windows are treated with sealant, the wall near which the cabinet will be installed is flat and smooth. Now you need to make a markup relative to the received sketch, indicating all the required sizes, as well as bindings. Next, you can start manufacturing the cabinet itself.
We make a frame for attaching drywall sheets
The frame can be made of wooden or metal battens. If you use plasterboard sheets to create a cabinet, it is best to have a metal profile. If you decide to work with chipboard, then wood slats will do. Both metal and wooden profiles must be installed to the wall according to the marking using self-tapping screws or dowels. Then the suspensions are mounted, vertical rails will be placed on them, which are installed inside the guide profiles. If you are working with drywall, it is best to put an additional rib for rigidity. This is a transverse profile that is fixed with a rail. Thanks to this, the design can withstand heavy loads.
Sheathed frame with drywall sheets
It can be confidently stated that this is the fastest of all cabinet assembly processes. Drywall sheets must be fixed to the frame using self-tapping screws in those places where the screed is in contact. This is necessary so that the plates do not disperse after the first loading of things inside. Once the entire frame is completely sheathed, you can begin the next stage of decoration.
We turn to the decoration of the cabinet
At this stage, it is necessary to carry out both the processing of all joints and the finishing of furniture. Despite the fact that this material is almost ideal for creating cabinets, but it also needs to be processed if you want to decorate future furniture. Then you need to use a water-based paint. Before the painting process, the entire surface must be treated with a primer, and the gap in the joint should be puttied, and then sealed with reinforcing tape on top. Putty is applied in two layers, and the previous layer should dry thoroughly before applying the next. Clean the surface and sand it. The final layer, that is, the paint, must be applied only when the putty is completely dry.
Please note that the marking and installation of the shelf fastener must take place before you begin to putty and paint.
Wardrobes can simply be pasted with wallpapers that match the tone of the interior of the loggia. Using wallpaper is the easiest and most economical option. Before applying glue on the surface of drywall sheets, you need to clarify what kind of glue is necessary for high-quality pasting. A certain type of wallpaper can be planted only on special types of glue, this is important to consider.
Once all the finishing work is completed, you can put inside the shelves, as well as pre-decorated cabinet doors.
The final stage of door installation
Now you need to put the sliding door. If you have already installed a frame with a suspension, thanks to which guides are attached, then sliding doors will be easiest to install. To do this, you can also take a sheet of drywall sheets on which special rollers will be fixed for opening / closing the cabinet. Such door hardware sets can be easily bought at any building hypermarket or in the store next door.
Reviews of this design are always very flattering, because this is how you can make a wardrobe on the balcony with your own hands very quickly, very easily and cheaply.
Multifunctional cabinet
During the repair of the apartment, it is important to think about how to beautifully equip the balcony. As we have already said, many housewives use this space as a warehouse for unnecessary old things. But even in such chaos, you can arrange order and beauty. Spacious and roomy wardrobe with a large number of compartments will perfectly help you with this. It’s not difficult to make drawings and diagrams for a cabinet on a balcony with your own hands, you just need to decide what exactly things will be stored in it. This is what its future design depends on. Also consider the number and size of shelves, whether additional partitions, clothes rods and much more are needed.
If you want to make a cabinet from the lining on the balcony with your own hands for household needs, the masters advise you to consider the size of the cans that you will store there. For example, if you take into account the height and diameter of a three-liter can, the vertical distance between the shelves should be from 40 cm. Thus, you can easily get cans even from the very last row. Of course, do not forget about the load on the shelf, which will occur during filling. It is advisable to install additional stiffeners so that the structure can withstand.
In a completely different way you need to think about a closet for domestic needs. It all depends on what kind of things you want to store there. It is best to divide the entire cabinet into two vertical zones. One of them will have a large number of shelves of a certain size, the other will be divided into two more zones: the upper one, where hats are stored, the lower one will be a shoe compartment. The intermediate zone will contain a bar, where clothes will hang on a coat hanger, which is not currently in use.
Each house has different little things that are periodically needed for the housework, such as keys, screwdrivers, hammers and much more. They also need to be stored somewhere. You can equip several types of drawers on casters at the bottom of your cabinet, which will not only store all the necessary things, but also hide them until they are needed.
A variety of cabinet doors
In appearance, it can be a compartment, rolling shutters or swinging. To save space, the option with roller blinds is perfect, but for this you will need to use the additional services for their manufacture. It is necessary to make accurate preliminary measurements in width and height. During the installation of the cabinet with your own hands on the balcony, you need to follow the vertical and horizontal lines with the help of the level so that everything stands correctly. Otherwise, when using the cabinet, the doors can simply jam and cause a lot of inconvenience.
If you decide to make a wardrobe on the balcony with your own hands, you can put sliding shutters. On the ceiling and floor of the balcony in a single vertical plane, you need to put guides. First you need to drill holes in them for self-tapping screws. A door stop is mounted on each side , which will securely lock the doors when closed so that they do not open. Next, you need to put the doors in turn. Bring the rollers in the upper part into the guides on the top, then lift the lower rollers into the special grooves at the very bottom of your profile.
If you use this type of door, despite the obvious savings in space, there is one important minus: you cannot get full access to all your shelves. In width, the left or right side will always be hidden by the shifted sash.
If you do not want to put up with such inconveniences, then you can put swing doors. They can be installed by the classical method using internal hinges. The process begins with simple markup. Otherwise, you can make a lot of extra holes.
It is necessary to mark the places for the grooves, depending on the size of the loops in which they will fit. The distance from the upper to the lower edge to the center is usually 10 cm, and from the lateral end - from 2 to 2.5 centimeters. Depth - no more than 1.5 cm, otherwise you can easily damage the outer part of the door. For the drilling process you need to use feather drills for wood. As soon as the loops are installed in the grooves and aligned, you need to outline the points for the screws. Before screwing the self-tapping screw, first drill holes for it with a drill bit of a slightly smaller diameter. Thanks to this, you can avoid cracking the wood.
The final touch will be the installation of handles on the doors and their decoration.
Drawings for doors and a cabinet should not be done on their own, because for this it is necessary to have the proper knowledge and skills. You can order them from specialists, and already do all the products on their basis.