New Sunroom? Now You Need To Decorate – Here’s Our Top Tips
So you’ve just had a new enclosure built by the best screen enclosures company in Jacksonville and you’re thrilled to be able to enjoy all the great benefits having a screen room or sunroom entails.
Now you have a new task ahead of you. And, since you decided to use us, you’ll have some extra money to spend on getting it done.
That’s right — it’s time to get that beautiful new sunroom furnished and decorated.
Screen room Decorating Tips — How To Make the Most of Your New Room
The reason most homeowners have us install a sunroom, screenroom, or patio enclosure is because they want to enjoy the outdoors without any of the drawbacks. But even though your sunroom may seem like an outdoor room, it’s still a part of your home that you’ll want to decorate to make it fit in with the rest of your home’s decor and make it an even more comfortable place to be.
Painting
Don’t be afraid to have some fun with this. Our glass sunrooms have partial walls and you have the exterior wall of your home that has a paintable surface. You can either stick with a traditional light color (ivory, whites, and yellows are common) but you could always go with something bright and fun, too. Light blues tend to give a nautical look to rooms and fit well here in Florida (especially at the homes we’ve worked in near St. Augustine).
Furniture
First, decide how you want to lay out the furniture in your sunroom. Most people (and decorators) consider sunrooms more like a living area/great room. So you may want to consider laying out the room as such. That means having a nice focal point and create areas where conversations can happen.
This focal area doesn’t have to be a seat or chair; you can just as easily have a chest/trunk or a antiqued dresser serve as a focal area. Rugs are a great way to tie in the focal area also.
Don’t forget to keep in mind the flow of traffic. You want to be able to easily navigate through the room.
As for the actual furniture, you could opt for traditional indoor furniture, but remember that many sunrooms (and all screenrooms) are exposed to the elements to some degree, so certain materials are not suited for that. Wicker, rattan, and teak are more typical for outdoor rooms. As stated before, you want the material to be able to withstand weathering, so choose fabrics that will not fade in the strong Florida sun. Since this room is designed for leisure, look for comfortable, relaxing furniture you wouldn’t mind sitting down in for a while enjoying a cocktail!
Windows
Our glass sunrooms are essentially walls of windows. They are beautiful! They let in tons of natural light and give you a lot of unobstructed views of the outdoors. But, without some sort of window treatment, all those views on the inside are unobstructed as well. Some of the most attractive window dressings we’ve seen are bamboo blinds, available at home improvement stores. Shutters work well as do large slat blinds, and while curtains and linens look pretty, they can tend to be ruined by the weather. If you decide on curtains, make sure you can secure them back during the day to allow light in.
Additional Accessories
All of these design tips are about what you like, so make your sunroom your own. I always like seeing little decorative touches that are representative of the owner. Whatever you do though, don’t clutter the room! The point of the sunroom is to enjoy and focus on the view. Too much clutter (including plants and furniture lining the windows) takes away from the room.
If you still want to hang things on your “walls,” you can use one or two of the windows as wall space. You can use this as spot to hang large art or photos.
Decide how you will be using your new room. If it’s going to be an area for entertaining, you want to make sure it’s comfortable and inviting for friends and family to sit and chat. You’ll want to have a layout that’s allow for movement and conversation. If you’re going to be using it more for kids and relaxation, then choose a lot of storage space and open areas.
No matter what you use your new sunroom for, make sure the decorations and furniture suit your needs, and have fun. The whole point of a sunroom is enjoyment!
Don’t have a sunroom or screen room? You have no idea what you’re missing out on! Get a free estimate by calling us at 904-680-7480 Today!
image credit: lmphot
