Here in Singapore, many HDB apartments and condominium apartments come with balconies. These balconies help to beautify the apartment block and break the monotony of a concrete block of flats. They even serve as sound barriers to the incessant traffic humdrum in Singapore. With high property prices here, every inch of space counts so don’t just think of your balcony as an after-thought when you are designing your apartment.
For the working homeowner, you will most likely only get to enjoy your balcony in the evenings or nights when you come home after work. In this article, we explore various lighting options that can really help you maximise the usage of your balcony and enjoy it the way you want to.
1. Built-in LED Lights
If you have composite wood decking or natural wood decking as your balcony flooring, you can consider embedding LED lights into the floor. These hardly take up any space and can add on just enough lighting for a relaxing and romantic mood. Try the solar powered type to save energy and avoid messy power lines. It is advisable to get an outdoor living specialist or electrician to install these lights as it is safer to do so.
2. Ceiling Lights or Hanging Lamps
If you are really tight on space at your balcony, think up. Install lights on the ceiling or hang them down from the ceiling. They are great for overall strong lighting (if that is what you want), or use hanging lamps to create soft spot lighting. There is a great selection of ceiling lamps or hanging lamps from lighting shops along Balestier Road. If you are more adventurous, why not try the Arabian lights that are sold in shops along Arab Street?
3. Standing Lamps
Standing lamps can add a designer element to your balcony and are most easy to install in terms of the electrical aspect. Just plug and shine away. These are great as ambient lights or spot reading lights if you intend to curl up on your balcony with a good book at night.
4. Lamps on Walls
Other than the ceiling, you can install lamps on walls. The only tricky part is concealing the wires when you install wall lights. You can conceal the wall wires with some artificial vines or choose solar powered lamps to avoid messy wires.
5. Lights on Railings
For romantic mood lighting, why not try fairy lights? You can easily get these from Ikea or lighting shops located along Balestier or Jalan Besar. Some hardware stores also stock fairy lights. These are flexible and can be weaved up, down, sideways and any other direction you like.
If you are in the mood for some Do-It-Yourself (DIY) action, you can also hang some jar lights on the railings. Just make sure that they ae secure and present no falling hazard. If you intend to use real candles inside the jars, make sure they are used safely to prevent any fires.
We hope you have fun with lighting up your balcony!
