I’m so excited to share our home gym renovation project! We turned our upstairs small balcony into a beautiful home gym with floor to ceiling windows. Come see the before and after photos.
Our home gym is finally done!
We’ve had construction going on in our house for the last few months to convert our upstairs balcony into a home gym. It was such a fun project, and it turned out so great. I’m so thrilled to finally show it to you!
Why we decided to convert our balcony into a home gym
We originally planned to convert a section of our garage into a gym. We planned and debated for months, but there were just a lot of little issues that always kept us from moving forward on it.
We had a small upstairs balcony that that overlooked our backyard, and although we put some furniture up there, it was constantly filled with dust and bugs and was not enjoyable to sit out there.
In one year, I sat out there literally zero times.
In the spring, I was outside in the backyard swinging Sanny on the swing on our backyard playset, and was chatting with Philip about the garage gym idea. I looked up at the upstairs balcony and the idea hit me — we could convert it into a home gym!
As they say, the rest was history.
How we found a contractor for this project
One of the most frequently asked questions we had about this project was how we found our contractor. Philip went on Houzz and found 5 or 6 contractors whose work he liked. We love using Houzz because it lets you see a lot of their work so you can see if it’s your style before you contact them.
We had 5 contractors come over and give us a quote, and then we chose one from there.
Easy peasy!
What construction was required for converting the balcony into a home gym
Our balcony already had a roof over the top, so that made construction way less complex. One wall was already enclosed with a small cutout, and the other wall had the top half completely open. The third side was completely open with a railing.
We had to enclose the half wall so it mirrored the opposite wall, and installed windows in both of those cut outs. Then we had the railing removed and floor to ceiling windows installed.
We also had HVAC brought in (both an in-vent and an out-vent).
It was really pretty simple, and this part only took about 2 weeks to do.
Other details to convert it into a home gym
We installed interlocking rubber flooring tiles over the concrete, painted the walls light gray, and had a large mirror made for one of the walls (which makes the room feel twice as big)!
Our mirror is 4’x7′, and to purchase a mirror of this size online is outrageously expensive. Our contractor had a mirror guy who made it for us, so it was much cheaper and he made a frame to go around it.
But my friend, Tara, is currently building a home gym and she purchased mirrored sliding closet doors (remember those from the 90’s?) on facebook marketplace for a steal, and with a little work to remove the frame and attach them to the wall, they make really affordable, very large wall mirrors. So that’s another option!
The dimensions of our home gym
The space is 8 feet by 14 feet!
Our equipment we purchased for the home gym
We wanted a treadmill, stationary bike, bench, and free weights for the gym. Everything is linked at the bottom of the post, but we’ve gotten a lot of questions about why we chose NordicTrack.
Philip did tons of research, and although there are so many good treadmills and stationary bikes on the market right now (especially the very popular Peloton), we felt like the NordicTrack commercial series was the best options for us.
The best features for me are the really large screens (they’re much bigger on the commercial series than the standard machines), and I love the built in fan on the treadmill. I use it everyday! Also the incline goes up to 40%, which is insane and amazing.
The library of classes (both live and on demand) is fantastic too. I’ve been loving going through them!
The NordicTrack treadmill and bike each came with 1 free year of iFit, so we got two free years when we purchased both machines (and you can use one membership for both machines, and add multiple users per membership). After that, the monthly membership is significantly less expensive than the Peloton monthly membership.
Links to everything in our home gym
- NordicTrack Treadmill
- NordicTrack Stationary Bike
- NordicTrack Utility Bench
- NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbells
- Interlocking rubber tile flooring
- Plyometric Box
- Kettle Ball
- Yoga Ball
- Custom mirror/frame
- Ceiling fan
- Storage basket from the Container Store (can’t find it online)
If I missed a link to something you want to know about, leave a comment here or on my Instagram post this morning!
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Looks perfect!
I’ve never been to the gym before and I’ve also studied at home. With video training using dumbbells and a mat.
This summer, I thought about buying sports equipment – a treadmill and so on. But I do not have a balcony to make such a gorgeous gym. I think I can keep everything in my room. Bu it will not be as comfortable to exercise.
Looks great! WHat a great use of space as well. Now if I only had a balcony…
This looks wonderful. I would add a COmfy chair and never leave.
The information you share gives me more knowledge. I am very grateful for that. fireboy and watergirl
A really nice post, you should continue this great flow of information sharing.
keep it up WEIGHT BENCH
This looks wonderful. I would add a COmfy chair and never leave.
nice article thanks greffe de cheveux turquie
Hi admin, Your Converted Our Balcony Into A Home Gym article is so informative. Thanks for your nice suggestion.
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That is really cool! And a nice idea. I gained weight this winter, so I will consider this idea for my own sake too. But we live in the area where it is always much colder.
It is harder to imagine someone who hasn’t gained weight during this winter, ha ha. Although my sister is a fighter and she found https://unimeal.com/blog/how-to-lose-weight-without-counting-calories-the-healthy-plate-and-the-hand-rule-29 where she read about how to harmonize her daily ration too. She thinks that it will make her look slimmer and I fully support her.
I loVe this idea. Did you add air
Conditioning? About what did it cost you?
People who have creative professions sometimes find it difficult to find a job, but it is possible! For example tf you can see this illustration jobs! This is remote work for creative people! I saw that these guys often post current vacancies! I worked with these guys a few years ago and it was my best job ever!
Man, I wish we had such a balcony. My husband is a bodybuilding freak and spends is bloody whole day in the gym! It is not far from our home, but I wish kids saw a bit more of him. Now his doctor asked him to find etalaze and read about muscle growth supplements that they could discuss later. So what actually, do you think of his hobby?
I love this and im thinking of doing it to our balcony! What are the diMensions of your home gym?
It looks like you have a pull up bar attached to the ceiling above the bench. What bar is that and how did you safely mount it?
I love game play. Where i can find ?