Easy balcony privacy screen DIY

Most of our balcony looks into some lovely green trees, one of which is a big white lilac, which is especially nice! However, right when you come outside there's a nasty little view to the right. Since looking at my neighbor's pile of landscaping supplies or into the street and the other neighbor's garden is no lovely sight, I've been wanting to put up some kind of privacy screen.

We live in a rental, so no major renovations are possible. I was hoping that we'd be able to grow some climbing vines to create a 'green' screen of sorts. I think I spent 10 Euro on the piece of lattice from Obi (the German Home Depot) and 2 Euro on some velcro strips so I could attach it to our balcony. Easy to set up the frame...just not easy to get the plants up there! I planted all sorts of morning glory-esque seeds in a windowbox; some of the seeds I had started in my eggshell planters. Ok, the plants are S.L.O.W.! While we enjoy a partially shady balcony that we can actually sit on, our plants are a little Vitamin D starved.

Enter the kitchen curtains from our last apartment. We had open shelving that collected dust like crazy (ok, open shelving is stylish, but it's soooo not practical!), so I had curtains made to cover them. One of the panels was the perfect size for my little lattice screen -hooray! I used some extra nails and clipped curtain rings that were floating around in our toolbox and am so happy with the result! I also added some pegs at the bottom of the panel so it wouldn't blow away in a breeze.

I've been wanting to make our balcony more of an outdoor room this year, but a tablecloth and chair pads are really just not enough. Hanging this panel brings some color and pattern to a higher level while also creating some nice privacy. Yay for easy little projects!

ps- I totally took a second picture for this post 2 weeks after the 'before' shots. Can you see how (slowly) the little plants are growing now? =)