Tropical décor is the perfect way to bring vacation vibes to your home all year round. Of course, if you already live somewhere tropical, it’s a great way to celebrate your local environment on your balcony or private outdoor space.
In this article, we’ll cover some of the best tropical balcony ideas, so you can turn your outdoor space into a lush oasis of color!
Understanding Tropical Style
Tropical décor is quite a broad term, much like modern is for interior design. That said, it typically brings together style elements from tropical countries and, once you know the basics, it’s quite easy to tailor it to your own tastes.
Characteristics of Tropical Décor
Tropical décor will usually include some (or all) of the following elements:
- Big foliage
- Bright colors (sea green, forest green, pink and blue)
- Natural materials (wood and linen are common)
- Lots of plants
- Animal print
In short, picture the sort of thing you might see in a Caribbean hotel and you’ve pretty much nailed tropical décor.
How to Add Tropical Style to Your Balcony
So, how do we translate these design elements into tropical outdoor décor? Well, that’s pretty easy. Consider the following tropical balcony ideas to get you started.
1. Go big with color
Tropical décor relies on contrasting natural colors (such as green and blue) against “man-made” colors. It goes back to the contrast of tropical animals and flowers against a background of foliage, sand and the sea.
There are plenty of ways you can go about this. One of the easiest is to use green and neutral tones as your background and then accent with bright colors. For example, you could have cream or off-white sofa seats with bright pink cushions.
You can bring the same logic into your accessories. Use unglazed terracotta pots for your plants for a nice contrast of earthy and foliage tones. Or, bring in some hot pink flamingos!
2. Natural materials are vital
A big part of tropical outdoor décor is using natural materials, as this is very common in tropical countries. After all, if you’re surrounded by jungle and forest, most of your furniture will be made from wood!
Bamboo furniture is a great choice, particularly for chairs and storage units. It’s inexpensive, works well outdoors, and is literally a tropical material. It will also work great as a privacy screen!
Of course, you can choose other materials, too. Something like teak works well, as it’s a pretty tropical hardwood. Seagrass and jute are also ideal for things like rugs and storage units.
3. Choose big foliage
Foliage patterns are characteristic of tropical décor, and they’re incredibly popular as fabric prints and artwork. You should have no difficulty finding monstera, bird of paradise, and palm tree prints on pretty much everything.
As you can imagine, they work well as cushion covers and wall decals.
4. Animal prints are in
Another great way to accessorize tropical décor is by using animal prints. Where possible, limit yourself to actual tropical animals, but there’s always a bit of leeway for nice patterns.
Something like leopard print works well for cushion covers, throws or even rugs, or you could hang pictures of animals. Better yet, if you want to get really kitsch, buy yourself a monkey lamp!
5. Plants are a no-brainer
Plants are one of the most fundamental aspects of tropical décor, as you’ve probably already guessed. Most of our standard houseplants are tropical in origin, so it shouldn’t be difficult for you to find plenty.
Some of the best options include:
- Monstera (cheese plant)
- Bird of paradise
- Palms (parlor palm is a good option)
- Umbrella plant
- Hanging or trailing plants (string of pearls, string of turtles, etc.)
- Orchids
It’s super easy to create a lush and inviting space by mixing large floor-standing plants and hanging plants. If you want to get really creative, consider mounting orchids on wall decorations.
6. Tropical décor lighting
There are so many directions you could go with tropical outdoor décor lighting. Tiki torches are an obvious choice, as are seagrass lampshades. Lighting is also a great way of adding contrasting color to the space. For example, if you’ve used a lot of green, a fuchsia lampshade adds a great pop of color.
Final Thoughts on Tropical Outdoor Décor
Hopefully, these tropical balcony ideas have given you some inspiration for how to design your space. Once you have an understanding of the basics, tropical décor is super easy to play with.
One of the best things about tropical décor is that you can take it in maximalist or minimalist directions, although it looks best when it’s busy!