The Most Popular Nardi Maximo Balcony Set-Ups: Small-Space Ideas & Plans (2026)

A balcony is a small space with big ambitions. Whether it’s a slim apartment ledge, a juliet balcony off the bedroom, a townhouse terrace or a windswept roof balcony ten floors up, the challenge is always the same: how do you get real, sink-in comfort onto a footprint the size of a hallway — and still open the door and walk past? For the last few seasons the answer we keep coming back to, again and again, is the Nardi Maximo.

Maximo is a modular outdoor seating system: a family of matching pieces — armchairs, end modules, a centre module, a corner, a pouf and a set of low tables — that you buy individually and combine however your space allows. That single idea is what makes it so good on a balcony. You don’t buy a fixed three-seater and hope it fits; you take exactly the pieces you need and no more. This guide walks through balcony planning in real centimetres, then gives you the most popular Maximo balcony set-ups as ready-to-order recipe cards, each with a top-down plan sketch, the exact pieces, real prices and a styling tip.

A quick note on how we work: Custom Wood Designs is a made-to-order Nardi specialist. We don’t hold stock on a shelf — every Maximo piece is made to order in your choice of frame and Sunbrella® fabric and supplied to your door in Ireland or the UK. That’s a good thing for a balcony: you get to match the exact colours to your railings and walls.

Why Maximo works so well on balconies

It’s modular, so you take only what fits. This is the whole game on a balcony. A single armchair is a complete, comfortable seat on its own. Add a pouf and you have a lounger; add an end module and you have a two-seater; add a corner and you turn a wall. Nothing is wasted, and nothing over-fills the floor. If you move to a bigger space later, you simply order more pieces and grow the same set.

Slim footprint, deep-seat comfort. Maximo manages the trick of feeling generous without eating the floor. The seats are deep and properly cushioned — this is lounge seating, not perch-on-the-edge bistro seating — yet the modules keep a tight, tailored outline that sits happily against a wall or along a rail.

Weatherproof for exposed, high balconies. Nardi frames are made from high-grade, UV-stabilised resin and fibreglass that shrug off salt air, rain and relentless sun — exactly the conditions a high or coastal balcony throws at furniture. The cushions are wrapped in Sunbrella®, the benchmark solution-dyed acrylic that resists fading, water and mildew. Few systems are as genuinely suited to an exposed floor.

Made to order, your colours. Because every piece is made to order, you choose the frame tone (soft neutrals through to charcoal) and the Sunbrella fabric to suit your balcony’s light and your railings. On a small space where the furniture is most of what you see, that colour match matters.

Planning a small balcony: real measurements & clearances

Before you fall for a layout, measure. Five minutes with a tape saves a lot of disappointment. Here are the figures we plan to.

• Balcony depth. New Irish apartment balconies have a minimum depth of 1500 mm and typically run about 1500–2000 mm deep. At around 1500 mm, think single-depth pieces (armchairs, end modules, a bench run along the rail). From roughly 1700 mm up you can start facing seats across a table or turning an L into the corner.
• Keep a walkway. Leave a clear path of 50–60 cm so you can move past the furniture comfortably. On the plans below, that clear lane is the dashed walkway line.
• Door swing. If your balcony door opens outward, it will sweep an arc of around 60–80 cm. Keep that arc empty (see the door swing on each sketch) or your lovely new armchair becomes a doorstop.
• Weight on apartment balconies. Cantilevered balconies have load limits. Maximo is reassuringly light — resin frames, not cast metal — but spread the pieces out rather than clustering a heavy corner sofa plus five people in one spot, and check your building’s guidance for anything substantial.
• Drainage. Balconies fall very slightly toward a drainage edge. Maximo’s feet cope fine with this, and the resin doesn’t mind sitting on a damp floor — but avoid trapping water under a solid rug on a poorly draining floor.
• Wind on high floors. Height means gusts. The good news: Maximo modules are low and substantial enough not to skate about. Be more careful with lightweight extras — parasols especially need a secure rail fixing rather than a free-standing base up high.
• Privacy & the railing line. Use the railing as a design line: rail planters, a screen or a run of greenery along it add privacy and shelter, and most layouts below deliberately orient seating toward that edge and the view beyond.
• Sun & shade orientation. Note where the sun lands and when. A south or west balcony wants shade for the middle of the day; an east balcony is a morning-coffee spot; a shaded north balcony benefits from lighter frame and fabric tones to keep it from feeling dim.

Typical Irish balcony sizes

Wondering whether your balcony is a ‘normal’ size? Ireland’s Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments (2020, the current guidance) sets the minimum private amenity space — the balcony or terrace — for new apartments, so most balconies built in recent years land in a fairly predictable range. Measure yours to be sure, but here’s what’s typical.

The standards set a minimum balcony depth of 1500 mm (1.5 m) in one useable length, plus a minimum area by apartment type. Worked into rough real dimensions (in millimetres) that looks like this:

• Studio — 4 m² minimum — e.g. about 2700 × 1500 mm.
• 1-bed — 5 m² minimum — e.g. about 3300 × 1500 mm.
• 2-bed (3-person) — 6 m² minimum — e.g. about 3500 × 1700 mm, or 4000 × 1600 mm.
• 2-bed (4-person) — 7 m² minimum — e.g. about 4100 × 1700 mm.
• 3-bed — 9 m² minimum — e.g. about 4500 × 2000 mm.

In practice, then, most Irish apartment balconies run roughly 4–9 m², with a depth from about 1500 mm upward. Depth is the figure that matters most for a Maximo: at 1500 mm you have room for single-depth pieces such as armchairs, end modules and a bench run along the rail; from about 1700–2000 mm you can turn an L into the corner or face two chairs across a table. Every recipe below states the balcony footprint (in mm) it’s designed for, so you can match a layout to your own measurements.

The most popular balcony set-ups

Eight recipes, from a single-seat nook to a full family corner. Each shows a top-down plan (balcony rectangle with its footprint in mm, railing edge and door), the exact Maximo pieces to order with real prices, and a styling tip. All prices are ex-VAT and correct as of January 2026 — add 23% VAT at checkout. Each recipe also lists the balcony size (in millimetres) it’s designed for, so you can match a layout to your own space. Mix and match — that’s the point of a modular system.

Sketches are indicative layout plans, not to scale.

1. The two-armchair bistro corner

Plan view: two Maximo armchairs at a right angle in the corner with a Tavolino 33 side table, walkway kept clear to the door.

Designed for a balcony around 3000 × 1500 mm (≈ 4.5 m²).

The classic small-balcony move. Two armchairs sat at a gentle right angle in the corner give you and a guest a proper seat each without a sofa's bulk. Because each Maximo armchair is a self-contained module (roughly 78 cm wide), you can angle them to face the view over the railing and still leave a clear path back to the door. It is the single most popular set-up we're asked to price for apartment balconies — sociable, symmetrical and endlessly restyleable.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Drop a small outdoor rug (around 120×180 cm) under the two chairs to zone the corner, add a rail planter of trailing greenery on the railing line, and a lantern on the side table for evenings.

2. The solo lounger nook (armchair + pouf + side table)

Plan view: one Maximo armchair with the pouf set beside it and a Tavolino 60 mini round table, walkway kept clear to the door.

Designed for a balcony around 2700 × 1500 mm (≈ 4.1 m²).

For a narrow balcony that only really needs one seat, this is the most comfortable pound-for-pound. One deep-seat armchair, a pouf tucked in beside it (a footstool you pull across, or a spare perch when a friend calls round), and a mini round table at elbow height for a coffee or a book. Setting the pouf beside the armchair rather than in front keeps the whole set within about 1700 mm of width and a single 920 mm depth, so it fits a shallow 1500 mm-deep balcony with the walkway clear. It suits a single professional or anyone who wants a reading nook that catches the morning or evening sun.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Throw a soft Sunbrella cushion and a lightweight throw over the armchair, tuck a tall slim planter beside it, and choose the Tavolino 60 in a tone that lifts the frame colour you pick.

3. The compact 2-seat in-line sofa

Plan view: two Maximo end modules joined into a two-seat sofa along the back wall, with the Tavolino 60 set at the end of the run.

Designed for a balcony around 3300 × 1500 mm (≈ 5.0 m²).

Two Maximo end modules clip together to make a tidy two-seat sofa (a left end + a right end, no centre needed) that sits flat against the back wall and keeps the whole railing edge free. The sofa is about 920 mm deep, so with a 500–600 mm walkway in front it sits comfortably within a 1500 mm-deep balcony. On a 1500 mm-deep balcony, set the side table at the end of the run rather than in front — that keeps the walkway clear while still giving you a low table within easy reach.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Because the sofa hugs the wall, decorate upward: a wall-mounted shade sail or an outdoor mirror behind, rail planters along the front, and two contrasting scatter cushions to soften the line.

4. The L-shape mini corner

Plan view: an L of two end modules and a corner module tucked into the balcony corner with a Tavolino 60.

Designed for a balcony around 3500 × 1800 mm (≈ 6.3 m²).

When your balcony has a usable corner, an L-shape wraps seating into the angle and seats three comfortably while leaving the middle of the floor open. Two end modules and a single corner module form the L; the corner piece is what lets the run turn 90 degrees cleanly. It is the most popular "proper lounge" layout for slightly deeper balconies and roof terraces where you want to face inward and chat rather than line everyone along the rail.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Anchor the L with a 160×230 cm outdoor rug, pile the corner with two or three cushions so it reads as the comfiest seat, and stand a floor lantern where the two runs meet.

5. The bench run along the railing

Plan view: three Maximo modules (end, centre, end) in a straight bench run parallel to the railing, with the Tavolino 80 set to one side.

Designed for a balcony around 4000 × 1500 mm (≈ 6.0 m²).

A three-seat straight run — end, centre, end — set parallel to the railing turns the whole long edge into a sociable bench facing the view. This is the go-to for long, shallow balconies and juliet-style terraces where depth is tight but length is generous: the bench is about 920 mm deep, so with a 500–600 mm walkway it fits a 1500 mm-deep balcony. On a shallow 1500 mm-deep balcony, keep the low table to the side of the bench rather than in front, so you preserve the walkway. Everyone sits shoulder-to-shoulder looking out, with the table within easy reach at the end.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Run a low line of matching rail planters behind the bench for a green backdrop, add three scatter cushions in one accent tone, and clip a compact parasol to the rail for midday shade.

6. Facing two-armchairs for morning coffee

Plan view: two Maximo armchairs facing each other across a Tavolino 60 round table with a table gap between them, walkway to one side.

Designed for a balcony around 3000 × 2400 mm (≈ 7.2 m²).

Two armchairs facing each other across a round table is the most conversational set-up — it reads like a tiny outdoor breakfast room. Because two deep lounge chairs facing each other need roughly 2400 mm of depth (about 920 mm per chair plus a table gap of around 560 mm between them), this cosier face-to-face arrangement suits a larger balcony or terrace rather than a shallow ledge. Pull the chairs in for coffee, push them back to the walls when you need the floor. Popular with couples who take their morning coffee outside.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Keep the round Tavolino 60 clear for cups and pastries, add a pair of matching seat cushions so the two chairs feel like a set, and a small potted herb (mint, rosemary) on the table for the scent.

7. The armchair + pouf daybed combo

Plan view: a Maximo armchair pushed up to a pouf to form a compact daybed, with a Tavolino 33 alongside.

Designed for a balcony around 2800 × 1600 mm (≈ 4.5 m²).

Push a pouf hard against the armchair and you get a mini daybed — a chaise you can swing your legs up onto and half-recline in the sun. Add a couple of 50×50 cushions and it becomes the balcony's lazy Sunday spot. The beauty of the modular system is that the very same pouf slides away to become a footstool or extra seat the moment you have company.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Layer two 50×50 Sunbrella cushions and a throw to build the daybed feel, set a tall drink and a book on the Tavolino 33, and position the whole thing to catch the afternoon sun.

8. The family corner sofa + tavolino

Plan view: a larger L of two ends, a centre and a corner module with a Tavolino 80 for a family balcony.

Designed for a balcony around 4500 × 2000 mm (≈ 9.0 m²).

For a wide roof terrace or a generous townhouse balcony, this is the full family layout: two ends, a centre and a corner wrap around to seat four or five, with a proper Tavolino 80 in the middle for shared plates and board games. It is the largest set-up we'd recommend for a balcony — measure carefully — but on the right space it turns the balcony into the family's favourite room.

The pieces you’d order:

Styling tip. Go big on soft furnishings — a set of coordinating cushions and a large 200×290 cm rug — string festoon lights along the wall, and keep a Nardi cover to hand for when the whole family decamps indoors.

Two more pieces worth adding

Almost every recipe above is finished off by two small extras. A Maximo 60x40 Sunbrella lumbar cushion adds back support and a shot of accent colour, while a fitted Nardi Maximo cover keeps everything fresh between uses and over winter — both worth adding to round out your set.

Balcony styling & shade

Parasol vs wall-shade. On a balcony, a big free-standing parasol and its heavy base often cost you more floor than they’re worth — and on a high floor the wind makes them a liability. A rail-clamped parasol or a wall-mounted shade sail/awning usually wins: it shades the seat without stealing the standing space, and it’s anchored to something solid.

Zone with a rug. A flat-weave outdoor rug instantly makes a hard balcony floor feel like a room and visually anchors your Maximo pieces. Size it to sit just under the front feet of the seating.

Greenery on the rail. Rail planters and a couple of tall slim pots do more for a balcony than any ornament — they add privacy, soften the hard edges and bring the whole set-up to life. Keep them to the railing line and corners so they don’t eat the walkway.

Cushions & a cover for exposed balconies. The Sunbrella cushions handle sun and showers with ease, but on a very exposed or high balcony a Nardi Maximo cover protects the set between uses and over winter, and it’s worth adding a spare set of scatter cushions to restyle by season.

Light it for evenings. A rechargeable outdoor lamp (the Securit-style cordless lamps are ideal) or a run of festoon lights along the wall turns the balcony into an evening room without any wiring.

Care on exposed balconies

Sunbrella does the heavy lifting. Solution-dyed Sunbrella® is coloured through the fibre, so sun won’t leach it and rain won’t stain it. A rinse with fresh water and the odd mild soapy wipe keeps it looking new; it dries quickly and resists mildew even on a shaded, damp balcony.

Use the Maximo cover. Between longer spells outdoors — and certainly over winter — the fitted Nardi Maximo cover keeps grime, bird mess and standing water off the cushions and frames. On a high, exposed balcony that single accessory noticeably extends how fresh the set looks year to year.

Bring the cushions in over winter. The resin frames are happy to over-winter outside; the smart move on an exposed balcony is to bring the fabric cushions indoors (or seal them under the cover) through the wettest, darkest months. Come spring, they’re as good as the day they arrived.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best Nardi set for a small balcony?

For most small balconies the two-armchair bistro corner (Recipe 1) or the solo lounger nook (Recipe 2) are the sweet spot — real comfort, tiny footprint, clear walkway. If your balcony is long and shallow, the bench run along the railing (Recipe 5) makes better use of the shape. There’s no single ‘best’ — because Maximo is modular, the best set is the one built to your exact measurements.

How much space do I need for a Maximo on a balcony?

As a rule of thumb: a single armchair-and-pouf nook works on a balcony from about 1500 mm deep; a two-seat in-line sofa or a bench run wants around 1500–1700 mm; and an L-shape or facing-chairs layout is comfortable from roughly 1800 mm up (allow about 2400 mm for two lounge chairs to face each other). Always keep a 50–60 cm walkway and leave the door swing clear.

Can Maximo go on an apartment balcony?

Yes — it’s one of the best choices for one. The resin frames are light, so they’re kind to cantilevered balcony loadings, and the modular pieces let you fit seating to a tight footprint. Spread the weight sensibly and check your building’s balcony guidance for larger multi-module layouts.

Are Maximo cushions weatherproof for a high balcony?

The cushions are wrapped in Sunbrella® solution-dyed acrylic, which resists fading, water and mildew, and the fillings drain and dry quickly. That makes them well suited to exposed, sunny or coastal balconies. For very exposed high floors we’d still add the Nardi Maximo cover and bring cushions in over winter for the longest life.

Can I buy just one or two Maximo pieces?

Absolutely — that’s the whole idea. Every Maximo module, pouf and table is available to order individually, so you can start with a single armchair or a two-piece nook and add to it later. Everything is made to order in your chosen frame and fabric, so future pieces match. Browse the full range in our Nardi outdoor furniture collection.

Ready to plan your balcony?

Every set-up on this page is built from the same handful of made-to-order Maximo pieces — so once you’ve measured your balcony and picked a recipe, ordering is simple. Choose your frame and Sunbrella® fabric, add the pieces, and we’ll make your set to order and supply it to your door. Explore the full range in the Nardi outdoor furniture collection, and if you’d like a hand matching a layout to your measurements, just ask — small-space planning is what we love.