Your apartment patio is your piece of paradise. From sipping your morning coffee while soaking up the sun’s rays to entertaining guests, your patio is more than just an extra living space. However, you’d like to add privacy to your apartment patio. We’ve researched this and we have the best ways for you.
To increase security as well as comfort, adding screens of different types to apartment patios reduces prying eyes. Adding privacy to an apartment patio removes unintended interactions with neighbors and keeps “Peeping Toms” activities to a minimum while increasing the use of an apartment’s patio for all.
Whether you rent or own your apartment, you need privacy at times doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your apartment’s patio. That’s why screens, shutters, blinds, and plants are easy Do-It-Yourself ways to enhance your apartment’s patio space. There’s no need to think of thick mesh screens or permanent brick walls to cocoon your patio space… Firstly, consult your apartment building’s residents’ committee and the landlord to learn what is permitted. Then, you can let your creativity run wild.
How to Add Privacy to Apartment Patio
We all like to do a spot of spying on our neighbours from time to time – after all, that is one of the many features of living in cities. However, we also want to control that and limit what others can see when they spy on us at times. As we’ve established, there are different approaches to adding privacy to your apartment’s patio from permanent, temporary, and even movable solutions. Before you get too far along with redesigning your patio, remember to assess the weather conditions of your area and how it affects your patio. The wind, its direction, and the rainfall will determine the types of screens, plants, and fabrics you can use.
1. DIY Bamboo Privacy Screen
Bamboo privacy screens are a popular way to reduce the number of prying eyes on you and your apartment. It is a great Do-It-Yourself project to build your own screen. Ideal for extending walls to cover your patio’s sides, build a screen using bamboo poles in horizontal or vertical design for best effect.
To further add appeal and character, consider adding decorations such as lantern string lights or plant boxes. As this would require fixing the screen to a wall and the ground, you’d need to first speak with your resident’s building committee or landlord for permission.
2. Shutter Screens and Portable Partitions
If your patio’s small in size, shutter screens or portable partitions won’t intrude too much on your space while adding privacy to your space. These shutter screens and portable partitions are also movable, so you can slide them along the ground to place in the areas where you’d like to shield yourself most from.
Additionally, these can simply be folded up when not in use to open up your patio space once more or to store them when the wind’s strong and the rain’s lashing down hard.
3. Plants
Use plants to add privacy to your apartment’s patio and it also brings color to your space while also helping to soak up noise from the city. Selecting certain plants – such as jasmine – will also bring in relaxing scents when you enjoy your time on the patio. By growing bamboo in pots and flower boxes, those will soon grow into tall, natural screens: potted bamboo grows about 5 feet a year, depending on the amount of space for their roots in their pot or flower box.
Another popular plant to grow is tall grass types to serve as a screen and these will also flow with the wind to add a great feature to your patio. Another great tip if you’d like ivy and vines, you can grow these in flower boxes or pots and install latticework for them to creep up. It brings a taste of nature to your patio. Plants and grasses require a measure of upkeep, so bear that in mind should you want to go this option.
4. Faux Hedges
As we’ve mentioned, plants make for fantastic privacy screens but they require daily maintenance such as watering, pruning, trimming, and adding supplements to the soil to keep the pot’s soil healthy. You might not have green fingers nor the time to tend to flowers and plants, but you enjoy the greenery on your apartment’s patio: faux plants such as hedges, ivy and flowers are designed for people like you.
You can attach ivy to directly to your fencing to create a screen in that way and on trellising. You can also purchase hedges, fir trees, and bushes in all shapes and sizes to fill any gaps to instantly improve your patio’s privacy.
5. Fabric Windshields and Retractable Rollers
Does your patio catch the wind? Is your wind so strong that you’re not able to even sit on deck chairs and enjoy the outdoors? You should consider installing a mesh or fabric windshield. These greatly reduce the wind’s impact allowing you some shelter from the blowing winds while also offering you added privacy.
These can be installed with hooks to the fencing so that you can retract it when the wind changes directions or calms. A retractable roller won’t take up much space in the corner of your patio. There are many fabrics that can be used and in a multitude of colors. These are also low-maintenance in terms of cleaning and are easy to change for different seasons.
6. Patio Awnings and Curtains
Awnings can be used to enclose your patio, fundamentally adding another room to your apartment. Awnings keep the worst of the weather out while simply rolling up the sides of the awning on beautiful days allows you to take full advantage of the clear weather on your patio. The drawbacks and these must be mentioned, is that it is a costly measure and it is a permanent installation best suited to homeowners instead of renters.
Using much the same method, outdoor curtains can be used as a screen that you can simply fold away when not needed or even taken down completely for cleaning. Running a rod or wire, the curtain can slide along to offer the privacy you decide on for your needs. Curtains’ colors can be changed to lighter colors for warmer months and darker shades for colder months. In blustery conditions, the curtains – like the awning – can be tied back to prevent it from being damaged.
7. Fencing
Another project that D-I-Y hobbyists can create is adding wood strips between their patio fence’s gaps. Most of these fences are metal so adding another material like wood ads another dimension to their look as well as enhancing their levels of privacy.
To make the wood stand out more or blend in, treat it with a stained varnish or give it a few coats of paint.
8. Trellis with Planters
Trellis can be mounted to your patio’s fencing to create a screen or by affixing it to your wall you can create an extension that way. By decorating it with plants, you will add more character to your outdoor space and transform it into a living wall.
You can also prop the trellis in flower boxes or flower pots and mount the pots wheels to allow you to shift them around your patio as required for privacy.
9. Roll-Up Blinds
Roll-up blinds can offer the same levels of privacy as awnings and curtains but without the expensive installation and materials needed. With many different styles and materials available, you can pick them in any colour to suit your building, style, and preference.
The most popular types of roll-up blinds are still bamboo roll-up blinds. These can also be stowed away when not in use.
Conclusion
There are many ways on how to add privacy to apartment patios. From permanent fixtures to temporary, movable screens, there is a solution to suit every need, budget and building regulation to increase the privacy on your patio. Creativity and DIY will go a long way to transforming the feel of your patio all while putting your privacy in your control.
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