Redneck Balcony 101

Since Jane over at The Borrowed Abode announced her Redneck Yard of the Year contest, I've been dare I say excited to get outside and spruce up our balcony area. My dream is that it would be like an outdoor room, but at the moment it is definitely not.

I've loved seeing all of the outdoor spaces people have linked up (and really, I'd kill for a yard, but we don't have one yet). One involving a Shanghai sign no less. You really need to check it out. But before you head over there let me show you my less than stellar out door space.

Let's start by showing you the bird poo on the railing of our third floor apartment. Let's just say I'll never hang a bird feeder there again.

Then, let's take a look at the cool Ikea outdoor furniture we bought last year. We actually really like this furniture. The table folds down and tucks away as you can see here, which is awesome. But let's take a closer look shall we? 

Here's the pretty underside of the cushion:

 And the faded, not so pretty upper:

My favorite part though has to be the stuck on mold on the table top. Last year we made jack-o-lanterns at Halloween and they turned into a science project really quickly. Since they were facing away from us we didn't quite catch it in time. It's cleanable, just really gross. Basically I'm going to have to sand it off and then reseal the table. Joy.

Next is the opposite side of the balcony where I "stored" everything for winter. The white rocker (which is orange in spots thanks to another Halloween craft) was my mother's. The giant black trunk is my husband's. At one point it was his TV stand. Bachelor much? Now it smells like smoke from an apartment fire and thus remains outside. (I really want to get rid of it, but it holds so dang much! Right now it's holding my gardening supplies.)

The next stop on our tour of Balcony de Scrappy is the funniest part. As I walked outside to snap the pictures, the screen door fell off! I'm not kidding. You can even see how I propped it up against the wall to keep our chihuahua from escaping in the picture above. Too funny.

Here is said chihuahua now, trying to figure out why mommy has the broken door propped precariously against the wall. It's nice to know our apartment cooperates with the blog though. ;)

OK so maybe "redneck" isn't the right term for our little space, but it's certainly dysfunctional at the moment. Which is why I would love to win that $25 Home Depot gift card from Jane. It is also partly the reason I'm going to start a special series following my journey to learn to garden (and grow veggies!) on my balcony. I've even started a page especially for it! Stay tuned! 

And don't forget to enter your Reality to my link up party, and your Redneck Yard over at The Borrowed Abode! She's giving away a gift card people! (Sadly, I am not...but I do have a giveaway planned soon. Stay tuned for more details!)