A narrow balcony cannot be furnished in the same way as a square balcony. It requires a different approach: lengthwise, vertically, lightly. Here's how to make the most of it.
The narrow balcony is by far the most common configuration in Parisian buildings and large French cities. Seventy, eighty centimeters deep, sometimes less, and two to five meters long. Not enough for a table and two chairs facing each other. Not enough for a floor planter without blocking the passage. But largely enough to create a useful and pleasant space, provided you don't apply the same methods as for a deeper balcony.
Understanding the constraint: a narrow space is experienced differently
Before looking for solutions, it's best to accept a reality: on a narrow balcony, you don't sit face-to-face. You sit side-by-side, looking outwards. This is not a constraint: it's another way of occupying the space, often more pleasant in practice.
A narrow balcony is lived lengthwise. Furniture is aligned along the railing, circulation is in one direction, and plants occupy vertical space rather than the floor. Once this logic is understood, the right choices become obvious.
Furniture along the railing, not perpendicular
The classic mistake on a narrow balcony: placing a table and two chairs on either side. The result is that you can no longer pass. The good configuration: a surface suspended from the railing, with two stools or folding chairs aligned side by side.
Extra Terrasse's Balconie was designed for exactly this type of situation. It hooks onto the upper bar of the railing without drilling or screwing, creates an immediately usable horizontal surface without encroaching on the depth of the balcony, and completely frees up the floor. For seating, lightweight folding chairs work very well. Avoid armchairs with wide armrests that take up depth on both sides.
The railing as a living space in its own right
On a narrow balcony, the railing is not just a safety barrier. It's the main usable surface. It can hold planters, a shelf, hooks for hanging small objects.
This is the philosophy that guides the entire Extra Terrasse range: objects designed to exploit the railing rather than the floor. The Balconnières hook on without drilling in a dozen colors, and the Balconie creates a dining or storage surface without sacrificing any floor space. Together, they transform the railing into a real outdoor workspace.
Thinking of it as a living corridor rather than an outdoor room
A narrow balcony is a living corridor: a space you walk through, along which you settle for a moment, but which you don't fill like a room. This corridor can be very pleasant: wooden slatted flooring that warms the atmosphere, Balconnières in a row on the railing creating a green backdrop, a Balconie at one end to sit and face the view. Simple, coherent, effective.
The floor: the too often neglected asset
On a narrow balcony, what you put on the floor is of exaggerated importance. Treated wood or composite decking laid on the slab visually transforms the space in minutes. It warms, it homogenizes, it gives the impression of a chosen rather than suffered surface. An outdoor runner rug produces a similar effect for a lower cost and emphasizes the length of the balcony without cutting it off.
In summary
Enjoying a narrow balcony means accepting its own logic: furniture aligned lengthwise, railing fully exploited with the right products, fluid circulation, well-maintained floor. It's not a diminutive balcony: it's a distinct type of space, with its specific assets.