A folding chair whose seat stands 45 cm off the floor decides how much of the street you see from a balcony. That’s why it heads this list. For a balcony you want to sit on, the order of buying follows the sight line first and the floor area second. The balcony in these sums belongs to a Dutch flat: 340 cm long and 120 cm deep, so 4.08 m², with a solid parapet 100 cm high. Every size here is a guess, so replace it with your own measurements. The text that follows leaves out every brand and every price. You get the order and the tests behind it.
The rule that decides the order for a balcony you want to sit on
Most buying guides start with plants and a rug. I’d start with the seat, because a balcony you want to sit on is judged from the seat. Here’s the sum. We assume your eyes sit 70 cm above the seat. Sitting at 45 cm puts them at 115 cm, which clears the 100 cm parapet by 15 cm. Drop to a low lounger at 38 cm and the gap shrinks to 8 cm, so you stare at a wall. A cushion adds a few centimetres, but it can’t rescue a seat that starts too low.
Follow one rule and spend first on what sets the seat height or the floor you keep, and spend least on what only changes looks. Seat height can’t be altered after delivery, whereas a lantern changes in seconds. Floor area works the same way: the 4.08 m² is fixed, and every piece spends some of it. Rank each piece by how soon a wrong choice would annoy you. Plants and rugs rank low, since either can be moved or replaced for a modest sum. The seat comes first. Table and floor follow. Privacy and light come last. Before you buy anything, carry a kitchen chair out there and sit down to look.
Five buys that make you want to sit on the balcony, in order
1. Two folding chairs with the seat at 45 cm, on a frame 45 cm wide and 50 cm deep, bought first because they set the view: eyes at 115 cm clear the parapet by 15 cm, and a 6 cm cushion later lifts that to 21 cm. Tier: BUY MID. Look for a steel frame with riveted hinges, since a rivet can’t back out the way a screw does. The fault is hinge play, which shows when you rock a loaded chair sideways.
2. A round side table 40 cm across and 45 cm high, on three legs. A drink within reach keeps you outside, which puts the table second. Two chairs and the table take 45 + 40 + 45 = 130 cm of the 340 cm length. Tier: BUY CHEAP. Three legs sit steadily on any floor. The fault is a four-leg table, which rocks on a balcony that falls about 1.5% to its drain, a drop of 1.8 cm across the 120 cm depth.
3. Click-together slatted tiles measuring 30 by 30 cm, laid over a seating zone of 150 by 90 cm. That’s 15 tiles. They rank third because the floor changes comfort, while the view stays the same. Tier: BUY CHEAP. A plastic base with open gaps lets rain drain through. The fault is brittle corner clips, which snap the second time you lift a tile.
4. A privacy screen 140 cm high and 100 cm wide, fourth because privacy matters only once you sit. Neighbours’ eyes at 160 cm, 300 cm away, look down at a head at 130 cm. Set 60 cm from you, the screen must reach 130 + 30 × 60 ÷ 300 = 136 cm, so 140 cm covers it. Tier: BUY MID. Slats with gaps between them pass the wind. The fault is slats stapled to a thin frame, which pull out within a season.
5. A battery lantern holding a bulb of about 60 lm, rated warm white at 2700 K. Light matters only after dusk, so this ranks last. On the table, 40 cm away, it gives 60 ÷ 12.57 ÷ 0.4² = 30 lux, enough to find a cup and see a face. Tier: BUY CHEAP. A rubber gasket under the lid keeps rain out. The fault is a bare push-button, which corrodes after one wet autumn.
Where the money goes, and the screen to scale down
The chairs take the biggest share, since nobody can change a seat’s height once it’s delivered. Pay for the rivets and let the cushions wait.
Then scale the screen down from a full 180 cm panel to 140 cm, which a shop will call too short. The sums disagree. A panel 100 cm wide holds 1.4 m² of material at 140 cm and 1.8 m² at 180 cm. That’s 22% less to buy and 22% less to catch the wind. With your eyes at 115 cm and the screen 60 cm away, the tall panel blocks the side view up to 47° above level. The short one blocks it only up to 23°, and the rest stays open sky.
A screen should hide you, not the sky.
The saving has a price. Someone standing on the next balcony still sees you from the waist up when you stand to water a pot. If that bothers you, fix a second panel at the far end instead of raising the first. It adds cover only where your head is.
What this order assumes, and when it breaks
The order suits a balcony you want to sit on with a solid parapet near 100 cm, a door that doesn’t swing out and neighbours more than 2 m away. Check each point before you spend anything. With open railings or glass, the seat-height argument fades, because you see through the barrier anyway. Then the screen takes first place.
A north-facing balcony changes nothing in this order, because the sums use seat height and floor area and neither involves the sun. A west-facing one adds a wish for shade. That raises the screen’s rank, though it doesn’t beat the chairs.
An outward door needs a 90 cm arc. On our 340 cm balcony that leaves 250 cm, so the 130 cm of chairs and table still fit. On a balcony only 200 cm wide, 110 cm remains. Buy one chair and the table, and keep the second chair folded indoors.
Check your lease before any drilling. A screen that clamps to the rail avoids holes.
What to skip entirely
A parasol with a weighted base heads the skip list. The base alone is 45 × 45 cm, which takes 5% of the floor and 37.5% of the depth. A bistro set is the second skip: a table 60 cm across and a chair 50 cm deep leaves 10 cm of the 120 to squeeze through. Artificial grass holds water against the slab. A storage bench 100 × 40 cm eats a third of the depth before you’ve sat down. A decorative rug under the chairs makes a fifth skip, since it soaks up rain and dries slowly on a slab that falls to a drain. Skip all five and the money goes into the rivets of the chairs.
Each of these takes floor you’ve already spent.
Chairs lead the list since the parapet sets the view, and everything else arrives to serve it. Buy the chairs, then the table. Add the tiles, then the screen. The lantern comes last. A balcony you want to sit on rewards a week of sitting before the next purchase, and a note on the door frame keeps the order honest. That week of sitting teaches you more than any shop visit can. Then buy the next piece.
Questions readers keep asking
How many pieces do I need to start?
Two: the chairs and the table. Together they take 130 cm of the 340 cm length and carry the whole view. Add the tiles first. The screen and the lantern follow, one at a time, as each annoyance shows up. Five items cover this balcony, and anything past them belongs on the skip list.
Should I buy plants before the furniture?
Plants can follow. The seat and table decide whether you step outside at all, and pots would take floor from them. Sit for a fortnight first, then place pots in the gaps. The seating zone uses 1.3 m² of the 4.08 m², so about 2.8 m² remains for greenery.
How do I judge a folding chair in a shop?
Sit on it, then rock sideways with your weight over one rear leg. A well-riveted hinge stays quiet and square, while a worn one clicks. Put a ruler on the floor beside it and confirm the seat is 45 cm high. Skip any chair whose slats pinch when it folds.
