✨ Interior images are AI-generated. Items shown are similar to those in the video.

Jungla Urbana

Narrow balcony with a papasan chair against a leaf wall

Here, seating two people has been given up in order to seat one properly. A balcony this wide takes either two small straight chairs or one papasan, and they aren't the same decision: the round chair occupies nearly the whole depth and leaves just enough passage, but it's the only one of the two anybody stays in for an hour. What's worth knowing before buying is how much room it really takes, which is considerably more than its diameter.

Balcón estrechoButaca papasanRatán naturalMuro de hojasCojín de exteriorTarima de maderaLámpara caladaUna sola butacaAtardecerBoho

Design keys

A single round chair instead of two seats, placed at the closed end rather than in the middle of the route.
A leaf wall covering the whole face, with large foliage spread through the fine growth to break up the plane.
A cylindrical side table in the same material as the chair, at exactly arm height when you're reclined.
A pierced fibre pendant centred over the chair, casting its pattern on the ceiling rather than on the leaves.
Timber decking running the long way down the balcony, which is what visually stretches a narrow space.
Living plants grouped on the railing side, so the leaf wall isn't the only green.

Furniture and decor in this design

Items shown are similar to those in the video, not necessarily identical.

Rattan papasan chair

A round chair with a tilting seat on a rattan base, which on a narrow balcony replaces two small chairs and gets used far more than they do. Two things to check before buying: the diameter, because with someone in it the chair takes nearly a metre and a half of depth, and whether the base is fixed or lets the seat swivel, which decides whether you can turn it towards the view or inwards as the moment suits.

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Quick-drain foam for outdoor cushions

Open-cell foam, also called reticulated, which lets water pass rather than holding it and drains in hours instead of days. It's the filling that completely changes how a thick cushion behaves on a balcony taking rain from the side. Sold in sheets to cut to size, so it works for rebuilding an existing cushion without changing the cover; check it's genuinely open-cell and not ordinary foam with holes punched in it.

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Oil for natural rattan furniture

Oil or specific wax for plant fibre, restoring the flexibility natural rattan loses as it dries out and stopping it splintering at the joints. One coat a year is enough on a covered balcony. Apply with a fine brush to reach inside the weave and wipe off the excess with a cloth, because whatever stays on the surface collects dust and leaves the furniture tacky rather than protected.

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Click-together wood decking tiles for a balcony

Tiles with a grid base that clip together and sit on the existing floor with no building work or adhesive, intended for a rental or for leaving the waterproofing untouched. The practical advantage isn't the laying but the lifting: on a balcony the drain sits underneath and you have to be able to take up that area to clean it. Check the base lets water through and that the timber is treated or thermally modified if the balcony takes rain.

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Banana plant for a part-shaded balcony

A very large-leaved plant that fills a whole corner in a single season and gives the tropical feel a leaf panel never quite manages on its own. It wants generous watering in summer and a sheltered corner, because its leaves tear in wind, though in its case the tearing is normal and doesn't harm the plant. Where it freezes, bring it in or protect the rhizome, because the top growth is lost to cold.

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How to get this look at home

Measure the depth the chair takes with someone sitting in it, not the diameter on the spec sheet. Reclining pushes the legs forward, so a one-metre papasan needs around a metre and a half of clear depth to actually be used.
Put it at the end of the balcony rather than the middle. In a narrow space a round piece halfway along forces you to walk round it; against the end it leaves the whole passage on one side and you gain the sense that the balcony carries on.
Thick cushions don't dry on their own. If the balcony is covered but takes rain from the side, either go for quick-drain foam filling or get into the habit of standing it on edge when rain is forecast, because lying flat it holds water inside for days.
Natural rattan isn't the outdoor one. What's sold for exposure is synthetic fibre imitating rattan; the natural kind does well on a covered, shaded balcony, but in direct sun it dries out, fades and starts splintering at the joints.
With a leaf wall behind, keep the light centred over the chair rather than aimed at the wall. Light directed at foliage picks out each leaf's shadow and gives away at once whether the green is artificial; from the centre the wall stays in half-light and the eye doesn't go checking.

FAQ

How much space does a papasan chair need on a balcony?

Considerably more than its diameter suggests. Usual sizes run from ninety centimetres to about one-ten wide, but the figure that matters is the depth with someone in it: because the back is reclined, sitting down pushes the legs forward and the whole thing occupies around a metre and a half. On a balcony a metre and a half wide, that means chair and passage can't sit opposite each other, which is why this one is at the closed end rather than halfway along. There's a second practical point that appears on no spec sheet: a papasan is low and deep, so getting out of it is hard work. If there's an older person in the house, or anyone with knee trouble, a straight-backed chair with a higher seat gets used far more, however much less appealing it looks at first.

How do you dry outdoor cushions once they get wet?

The problem isn't the cover but the filling, and in a thick cushion like a papasan's it's a solid block that takes days to dry inside even when the surface is dry by evening. That's where the smell and the mildew marks come from, working outwards from within. There are three ways to avoid it. The first is buying the right filling: quick-drain foam, also called reticulated foam, lets water pass rather than absorbing it and drains in hours. The second is standing the cushion on edge when rain is forecast, because lying flat it acts as a basin. And the third, the one that really works on a small balcony, is bringing it in: with a single chair it's no trouble and it adds years to the cushion's life.

How do you look after a natural rattan chair on a balcony?

First work out which one you have, because almost everything sold as outdoor furniture is synthetic rattan and cleans with soap and water, no more. Natural is another matter: it's a plant fibre and on a covered, shaded balcony it lasts years, but in direct sun it dries out, loses colour and ends up splintering at the joints, which is where it fails first. Maintenance is light but worth doing: dust it with a brush or the vacuum's brush head, because it gathers in the weave and a cloth won't get it out; and give it a coat of specific oil or wax once a year so the fibre doesn't go brittle. What you shouldn't do is hose it down or leave it out in the rain, because natural rattan swells, slackens and loses its shape.

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Narrow balcony with a papasan chair against a leaf wall

Design keys

Furniture and decor in this design

How to get this look at home

FAQ

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