Make the beautiful sunroom you’ve been dreaming about adding to your home a reality. Your custom sunroom design should reflect your personal style while giving you the additional light-filled living space you want. Where do you begin?
Imagine Dream Design
Designing your new sunroom begins with an idea. Before you start sketching or hunting for Pinterest-worthy photos online, take a few moments to consider how you will use your new sunroom addition. Imagine yourself in your new space. How will you spend your time in your new sunroom? Will the addition have one purpose, or will it be a versatile multi-purpose space that changes with your needs?
How will you use your sunroom addition?
A sunroom connects you with the outside world by bringing natural light into your home, and creates the feeling that you are in the natural world on the other side of the glass. Connecting with the outside world naturally creates a relaxing space. With this in mind, sunrooms are often designed to be a sitting room with a spectacular view, a breakfast nook positioned to watch the sunrise with your morning coffee, or as a spa or pool enclosure making it possible for you to enjoy the water any time of year.
Because modern sunrooms are so versatile, consider designing the space to meet more than one need. Your sunroom can be a home office with a play area for the kids every day, and a tabletop game room Friday night. The addition can transform into a dining room for holiday entertainment space or anytime you have company. Your sunroom can transition into an indoor garden as your needs change over time. Maybe your dream sunroom addition is enclosing your patio so you can take advantage of the space no matter what the weather is outside. Knowing how you will use your sunroom is the first step in creating the design for your dream addition.
Dream big.
Dreaming big doesn’t mean that you need a larger sunroom — although it might. How can it be the sunroom of your dreams if you don’t let yourself imagine what the space could be? Your dream sunroom is unique to you. Every sunroom addition is a custom design inside and out because it becomes part of your existing home.
Making your dream a reality begins with a measuring tape. As a homeowner, you have most likely already decided where your sunroom will be added to your home. Will the location define the shape and size of your addition? Mark off the space where you expect your sunroom to be, and spend time evaluating the space. Define the layout of the space, and ask yourself important questions about the room.
- Do you want to use the room for all four seasons?
- How will traffic flow through the room?
- Where will the doors be?
- Will people comfortably fit in the space?
- Will the area you have chosen for your dream sunroom realistically meet your expectations?
Adding a new room to your home gives you design opportunities for the wall that was exterior, but will be interior space in your new sunroom. If your exterior wall has design features such as brick or natural stone, you may decide to keep it as a feature of the new space. Changing that wall to match the other interior walls in your home is another option. If your main reason for adding a sunroom is to get more natural light into your home, consider adding a wall of windows with glass doors leading into the room.
Finding Your Sunroom Style
Style matters. As designers, we know that your sunroom addition should be a style that compliments your home. This is the perfect time to explore ideas to define your dream sunroom style. Inspiration photos will help you begin choosing materials, shape, and other important details about your dream sunroom addition.
What will your dream sunroom addition look like from the outside? There are many different styles, shapes, and finishes for a sunroom addition. Elegant design blends the new addition with your existing home seamlessly. If your home is a modern style, you may prefer a square or rectangular shape addition in a simple Edwardian, lean-to, straight or curved eave style. Is your dream sunroom a Victorian or Georgian conservatory style with stunning architectural details?
Knowing how you expect to use the room, think about the style of the sunroom from the inside. When you look up, will you see clouds drifting across the sky during the day and the stars at night? Or does your dream sunroom addition have a ceiling like other rooms in your home? If you prefer a traditional roof, you may want to add skylights in the sunroom.
After choosing the overall style of your dream sunroom, there are many options to consider including windows, doors and framing. Sunrooms can be built using a range of materials finished in colors to match or compliment your home inside and out. With so many options, it can be a challenge to remain true to the vision while making these choices.
Thoughtful design creates stunning results
Now that you know how you will use the space and have defined the style that is your dream sunroom, it is the perfect time to bring in a professional designer and contractor to make your dreams a reality. There are several styles of roof, windows, doors, and even finishing materials to choose from that will make your sunroom uniquely yours. Local professionals like Global Solariums’ dealers will be able to help you navigate the details like local building codes for foundations, adding services like power and HVAC to your addition, and selecting the best windows, doors, and other materials for your climate, lifestyle, and design aesthetic.
Global Solarium dealers have the experience and knowledge to design and build your dream sunroom. Experienced Global Solarium dealers can answer your questions, and come to your home to talk with you about what we can do to make your dream sunroom addition a reality. Our professional designers in your area can give you a free estimate for your sunroom addition and walk you through every step of the process. Global Solarium dealers are located in Portland, OR; Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Francisco, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Seattle and Spokane, WA.
Are you outside our area or want to work with your own local contractor? Global Solariums is still the best sunroom dealer for you! We can create a custom prefab solarium for your sunroom project. Contact us today to learn more!