What to do with the balcony, beyond a grille and a plant

The balcony in an Indian flat tends to hold the washing machine, the mop, the drying rack and a few pots, and it is the space most likely to be enclosed and absorbed into the living room. Before enclosing it, be honest about whether you will actually use another six square metres of indoors.

If it stays open, the decisions that matter are floor, shade and water. Anti-skid outdoor tile or deck tiles over the existing floor, something that throws shade on a west-facing balcony, and a drainage point that works when it rains sideways. Everything decorative comes after those three.

Drying laundry and sitting outside are usually in conflict. Solving it is a matter of putting the drying on a ceiling-mounted pulley that lifts out of the way, rather than a floor rack that permanently occupies the usable half.

Planters are heavier than people expect once wet. Check the parapet is designed to carry hanging loads before mounting anything to it, and keep the weight near the slab edge rather than cantilevered off the railing.

Drying laundry and sitting outside are in conflict. A ceiling pulley solves it; a floor rack does not.