Today I wanted to share the before photos of our sunroom. The first time we looked at this house this was one of the rooms that really stood out to us and drew us to the house. It’s a great space, big and open with a really pretty view of the backyard. The natural light appealed to the blogger in me, but imagining sitting out there at night sipping wine with twinkle lights appealed to my family side.
You may not know this about me, but I LOVE porches. They’re a really big deal to me. And since this home didn’t come with any outdoor porches (something I want to potentially change in the future), I knew this would be a peaceful and chill place to hang out.
Unlike most of the other rooms, I had an INSTANT sense of what I wanted to do with this space. Lots of white, lots of plants, twinkle lights, a vintage wicker chair set and a fun pop of color.
Originally I wanted to do herringbone wood in the sunroom, but after a couple contractors warned us about the extreme heat and cool that the room is exposed to AND some water that got into the room one day when a contractor left a window open, we realized that tile was a better choice. Since we couldn’t match the wood, we decided to match the tile from the kitchen and breakfast nook and carry it into the sunroom. As much as I love variety, we felt like cohesion was a bigger priority.
I don’t hate carpet as much as you probably think I do. But I just couldn’t imagine it in any of these spaces, especially the sunroom. I really wanted it to feel a little bit more indoor/outdoor since we plan to leave the windows open any time the weather is nice.
We’ve made a lot of progress since these photos were taken in May. You can see a little sneak peek here. The brick is now white and the marble tile is installed. I’m still on the fence about whether or not we are keeping the trim color or going with something more subtle. I love the color, but since we did the dark turquoise floors in the next room, I worry that it’s a little much with the two blues together. But basically 100% of people tell me to keep it the way it is. Ugh! If anything, I might do a lighter, softer seafoam green.
I’ll share more with you soon! Thanks so much for following my renovation progress. I’m having SO much fun!
Tell me what you would do if this was your space! I love hearing. xx- Elsie
32 Comments
I’m so excited to see what you do with this! It’s a really lovely space and I’d be very excited about it too. I like that it joins to the kitchen yet goes outdoors as well…the potential for that space is insane! I’d be planning many, many informal dinner parties for friends and family! Twinkly lights will look extra good, I’m sure! And tiles are a good idea…I’d drop pasta sauce all over it otherwise..!
I’m intrigued to see what the brick looks like painted white: I think my boyfriend would kill me, he’s a fan of those red and brown tones! As for the trim…I’d paint it. You have good taste, and it’s you who will be living with it! not 100% of other people ;)!
Hope you have a lovely day Elsie!
Flora
http://www.hardyandhay.com
It’s such a charming space that reminds me an orangery. I can already imagine it after renovation, it will be wonderful to enjoy in winter with it’s inside/outside feeling. I would love to have such a space to work and look at the nature around when it’s cold outside and might also be such a great spot to take photos. I can easilly understand why you had a crush for it ! Happy Thanksgiving from Provence.
http://www.befrenchie.fr/
This room is going to look beautiful! I cant wait to see it finished! <3
http://sprinkleofroses.blogspot.co.uk/
You`re right, this is a wonderful room! I love that you can use it as an open space in summer and in the winter months it will surely be your favorite room because of all the light!
I think I would use it as my crafting space, a dream!
Love, Caroline
https://carolinespassion.wordpress.com
This is such a charming little space! I wish I had an indoor/outdoor sun room because the possibilities for this room are endless. Whatever you guys come up with, I know you will nail it, and it will be amazing! Looking forward to more sneak peaks 🙂
PS. I just wanted to share a project that you guys inspired me to make!
http://issuu.com/leonsfurniture/docs/leons_hello_holiday_guide?e=19495940/31004070
And I think you will get a kick out of this fun “Hello Holiday” guide created by some very talented Canadian bloggers 🙂
XO Kass
We almost bought a house in the spring that had a sun room just like this! Our offer wasn’t accepted, so we didn’t get it, but I’m excited to see what she does with this space, because it was definitely a problem area for us in that potential house!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I’ve never seen carpet in a sunroom, so weird. http://www.hannamarielei.com
So excited to see the finished room! Love what I see in the sneak peek.
♥ Heather
I cannot wait to see the final result! I love a good before/after project! If it were my space, I would try to find a fun, vintage chaise lounge to place in front of those great windows! XX
http://hannahhappily.blogspot.com/
Hehe! Yes, my college-age self loved that brick. But for whatever reason I can’t deal with it now. I’m just REALLY not into rustic looking decor. I’m sure someday I’ll change my mind again! 🙂
I agree- the parties, and even just time alone with Jeremy and I, are what excited me the most about this space!
xx- Elsie
Thanks Daphne! :))
xx- Elsie
Yep. Since it used to be an outdoor porch I think it was just to in their comfort zone as soon as they enclosed it to become “indoor space”. The ONLY rooms in the whole house that didn’t have carpet were the eating spaces and one of the bathrooms. I think carpet might be one the biggest generational divides when it comes to preference. Which I guess means maybe our kids will think it’s really great??
xx- Elsie
holy moley is all that green space out there your yard? totally awesome. love thesunroom! fill that baby up with plants lots and lots of plants! 🙂
Lovely! I will be so excited to see the finished product! I personally love the current color on the trim, but I am trying to imagine it with the turquoise floor in the other room…it sounds like you’ve got a good grasp on how that may not be working out. I love seeing all of these changes! A project like this is my dream!!
Before/After room pics are pretty much my favourite thing ever, because I have NO imagination when it comes to decor! I can look at the before pic and know I don’t really like it, but I wouldn’t know what to do. So I take all home decor posts as a learning opportunity! 🙂
Can’t wait to see the final room!
Sometimes brick cries out to be painted and sometimes I really love it. I love your brick. It would look beautiful with long tiles in the herringbone pattern. Some super soft rugs to add some color and tons of comfy sitting for family and friends. It’s a beautiful room though and I’m sure it’ll be magical no matter what you do….. I love the idea of the twinkle lights too.
Taking out the fan – eeek.
Is there cooling in your home?
I can’t wait to see the result!
p.s. Greetings from Finland! A Beautiful Mess is my all-time favorite blog 🙂
Love,
Ansku
http://timanttiablogi.blogspot.fi
I hope you transform this into a great space! Can’t wait for the transformation <3
http://www.kinikunormal.blogspot.com/
I absolutely can’t wait to see the finished room Elsie! It’s going to look absolutely amazing x
http://www.itsthattimefor.com
What a stunning space, I can really imagine myself sitting there with a good glass of wine. As always I’m curious how it will look in the end!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
What a lovely space…beautiful natural light and I love the doors 🙂
http://soldenochedecocrochet.blogspot.com.ar/
I think charcoal would be a good trim colour — it would flow well with the blue floors and any colours you put into the room plus make it easier to swap up colours based off seasons/ need of change in a space!!!
The sunroom was such a strange area to have carpet; don’t blame you for ripping it up at all! I’m excited to see the finished result! x
Erin | http://beingerin.com/
I’ve always wanted a sunroom like this! Can’t wait to see it finished! Just a thought…I would be hesitant to remove the fans altogether because it may be hot in the summer!
In the South, the only reason we remove ceiling fans is to upgrade to a better ceiling fan – especially in sunrooms and porches like this. The twinkle lights will look dreamy but my advice is to think twice about totally doing away with fans. If you replace these with white ones, they will blend in and disappear into the ceiling 🙂
I’m excited to see what you do. Rooms like this are so special. Also, those doors are gorgeous!
First of all, congrats on all that green space! I’d be doing cartwheels all day in that backyard of yours 🙂
Now, I adore the room and almost everything you did with it so far but can I be the 1% who agrees that the color of the trim doesn’t feel right? Kinda feels cold with that blue tone. I see how lots of plants could change that but I’d have gone with a pretty “Elsie-yellow” to make the sunroom feel extra sunny. That is unless it clashes with what you have planned with the dining room and breakfast nook. But I’d say trust your instincts on that one and I’m sure it’ll end up just right.
xo
Carolin
i would leave the brick!
I know it has nothing to do with floors, but… how do you keep your white birks so clean?! Any tricks? 🙂
thanks
Anto
I’m in love with red bricks! It’s the trademark of my city in France, I would kill to have a kitchen or a living room with red brick! Makes me so sad that you painted it 🙁 … But I love what you did, it looks awesome!!
I usually am all about painting brick white, but for some reason I love this brick. lol With everything else, including floors in white the brick would make an amazing statement to the space. I cannot wait to see what you do with the area, it is going to look amazing.
I read through your blog to see if I could find where you posted the type of pain you used for your brick. Unfortunately, I didn’t come across it. Can you tell me what you recommend?