One of my favorite rooms in the house is our sunroom. However, it was also one of the most dated rooms when we bought it. Slowly, we have been making changes to it and finally it is complete! In this blog post I will be sharing all the details of our our sunroom renovation.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you were to purchase any of the items linked at no additional cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sometimes making decisions can be difficult for me, especially when there are dollar signs attached to them. It took me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to do to our sunroom. After mockups and Photoshopping, I made a plan and we started the sunroom renovation.
Sunroom Renovation: Before
When we moved in, there were immediately two things about the sunroom that needed to go: the outdated carpet and the peach paint.
Initial Sunroom Design
Even though I live in Iowa, I’ve always loved the style of Cape Cod. I wanted this sunroom to have a subtle coastal vibe. To do this I wanted to use blues, whites and stripes. What I didn’t want to do is put seashells or anything too literally related to a beach. I have brick in the mockup because one wall of the sunroom walls is brick. I also liked how the navy tied into the coloring in the brick.
Once I had the initial concept planned out, I used Photoshop to see how everything would look in the actual room.
Sunroom Renovation: After
Here’s the final result of the sunroom! It feels great to have this finally complete as I have been planning this renovation since we moved into our house over two years ago.
Paint, Flooring, and Lighting
I wanted to brighten up the space so the first thing I did was paint the entire room white. The paint I used was Valspar The Perfect White semi-gloss for interior/exterior.
This room is not heated nor does it have air conditioning so it gets really hot in the summer. After doing my research, I learned that the best option for sunroom flooring is ceramic tile. However, that can be pricey and it also sounded like it may be challenging for DIYing.
We decided to go with Lifeproof vinyl flooring in the color dusk cherry. We went with this option because it would be easier to to install, it is waterproof and scratch resistant. I loved how Home Depot’s website could let you easily test out the floor in your room before you buy it. Technically this flooring is not recommended for sunrooms as it is not a temperature controlled room; but it has been installed for a year and we haven’t had any issues. Shoutout to my husband for installing the floor!
The old white fan in the sunroom was not functional so we replaced it with this Hunter Port 44 inch indoor/outdoor fan. The blades are reversible so there are two color options. I opted for the darker, black option as I thought it would tie in better with the dark baskets and the black windows.
Custom Sunroom Daybeds
It took me a while to figure out what furniture would work best in this room. One of our biggest challenges was that we needed a functional solution that can hold items for the pool. Things like pool towels and cushions for the patio furniture.
I ended up falling in love with an old image from Pottery Barn that had daybeds with baskets underneath. Unfortunately, that daybed was no longer available so I asked my dad if he would help me make my vision come to life by building them for me.
I bought the cushion and baskets both from Pottery Barn. The cushion is no longer available, but if you like the look of this cushion search “french mattress.” The baskets are the seagrass Havana lidded baskets.
Quick tip! I noticed that the rough baskets were rubbing too harshly against the painted daybeds so I purchased some felt pads and stuck them to the bottom of each basket. This has helped tremendously!
Below are are the dimensions of the daybeds. I sent this to my dad so we could plan out how they should be made. The example photo I pulled from the Pottery Barn daybed listing that was (and still is) unavailable.
Once my dad built the daybeds, I painted them with two coats of Kilz primer and two coats of Valspar The Perfect White. I posted a more detailed video on the daybed building process on my TikTok if you’re interested in watching them come together.
Decorating After The Sunroom Renovation
Corner Table
I still hadn’t made a decision on what I would be putting in the corner. The inspiration photo had a large square table which I was trying to determine if that was what I wanted. I really wanted to thrift something for the corner and noticed I kept gravitating toward circular pedestal tables. After no success thrifting or on Facebook Marketplace, I purchased this 30″ round table from Target in dark brown. I thought the dark brown would tie in nicely with the dark brown baskets.
I’m not 100% in love with how I have the table set up but it works for now. The hydrangeas I have are fake. You would think real plants would thrive in a sunroom but it gets so hot in there that real plants do not do well. Most of the decor is thrifted but I did purchase these blue and white ceramic orbs from Amazon.
Storage Ottoman
I’ve had this ottoman for a while. I impulse bought it at Kirkland’s before I had really planned the daybeds (here is a similar one). I didn’t think it was going to work next to the dark baskets but I didn’t hate it. It’s the perfect size and I love the additional storage it provides for the room. I threw a dark wood tray on it that I picked up form HomeGoods; here is a similar one from Amazon. For now, I have a candle, thrifted navy wine glasses and some marble initial coasters sitting on the tray. I’m thinking about getting a marble tic-tac-toe board though because I think that will be cute.
Pillows and Blankets
Most of the pillows and blankets I thrifted or found at HomeGoods. Some people think thrifting pillow is gross, but I wash them and then I think they are the good as new. It’s a great cost-saving alternative because pillows can get expensive. I purchased the navy pillows from Lowe’s.
It’s hard to see in the photos, but I have a bolster pillow behind the decorative pillows. This is to offer more support so you don’t have to sit back directly on the windows. This was a quick DIY project! I bought two of these bolster pillows from Amazon, they are 10″x54″. Then I purchased some decorative rope and white linen fabric from JoAnn’s. I rolled the pillow up like a tootsie roll and secured the ends with rope. I also added some wood beads on the rope for just a little extra touch. An easy no sew pillow! Here’s a more thorough video tutorial I posted on TikTok.
Rug
A striped rug was in my original mockup, but since I had a striped pillow already I decided to go a different direction with the rug. This is the Suzanne Kazler Fleur Indoor/Outdoor rug in Midnight. The size is 3’11” x 5’7″.
Both of my babies wanted to pose for this photoshoot because they love the sunroom! But especially Kimber, my cat. She begs every morning for me to open the door so she can get in there and bask in the sun.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my detailed explanation of our sunroom renovation! It is so fulfilling to see your vision come together, especially when lots of DIYs are involved. If you want to see more of my home DIY content, checkout this post where I shared I share how I flipped a media console.
Now I need to figure out what my next home project will be!
Thanks for reading!
P.S. If you’re loving this content subscribe to my newsletter and be the first to know when a new blog post is live!
