My Parisian Balcony, ready for use

Come on, check it out.

Before: Non functioning window (78" wide), One window wouldn't fully close from the inside and I didn't have a long enough ladder or the patience to push it in from the outside every time we used it. The wood was swollen and rotted.  Bathroom door had just been replaced with pocket door - all part of a larger kitchen renovation in the works.  Midway: New exterior, out swinging french doors (48"). Making wall space for kitchen reno plans. Door handles purposefully left off, so little people don't access the outside ... no balcony railings yet.

After: Doors wide open, let the outside in! Metal railing, in attempt to let as much light in and have a light balcony. Wide upper railing, to place a beer or plate on.  The cats and dogs love it too.

the Fun Factor (yep, I moved that big boulder at the landing to prevent head collisions): 
 


Safety first: some sliding horizontal bars to prevent any people spillage or toddler escapes. Yet room enough for pug to slip under and slide down to use the great outdoors for his early morning business.

from the outside: The door fits in perfectly, centered on the wall. (yeah, the rest of the fence will eventually come down) There are plans to back hoe the concrete steps leading to basement door and lower and grade a pathway to the basement door so tall people dont bump their heads. I originally wanted a curved slide so it wouldn't block the entire alcove... the contractor got this one for a really good price due to scratches (we dont mind scratches) and there is lots of room to access the water spout and alcove.

now 3/2012

then 9/2011

View through the dining room window. The slide is removable, but right now, it was important for me to have something fun for my kids. And surprisingly it is not blocking the alcove as much as I thought. Will see what gardening fun I can incorporate around it this summer. While I was doing backyard landscaping last year, I took many pictures from this angle:

then summer 2011

then fall 2011

current spring 2012

The out-swinging, exterior french door was custom made and blew the budget; everything else was on par for what I wanted to spend on this part of the kitchen reno. Bonus: Wall is now insulated!

Save a few bucks: the doors are gridless (I didnt want grids anyhow) and the inside frame is unfinished, something for me to do later on. But the handles, they are oil rubbed bronze and sweet.  Oil rubbed bronze hardware and faucet will carry over throughout the kitchen and other rooms (see my bathroom light). The contractor then got his contractor pricing discount.

Other ways to save:  Do some of your own work -> cleanup, varnish/stain the deck yourself. (a job for next year, it needs to "weather").   Buy banged up items: 50 dollars off the slide, due to scratches, plus the contractors special discount. 

Other work to do: Trim around the door and the bathroom pocket door will be put up later on, after the flooring. Touch up the exterior clapboard that had been removed.

Now that the door is in, time to choose the kitchen floor!