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Too often sunrooms are relegated to exist only as a space for extra storage or laundry. But no longer—it's time to take back the sunroom. Sunrooms can serve as extra seating, or they can double as dining rooms. They can be a hidden nook to relax, or they can be a space to come together and celebrate. Keep reading to see our favorite sunroom ideas that you'll be able to use year-round.
Make It a Small Seating Area
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If you're trying to style a small sunroom, consider making it a small seating area, rather than trying to force an entire living room's worth of furniture upon it. Use a stylish love seat or pair of club chairs instead.
Go Open-Concept
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Want to let the stunning sunlight from your sunroom into the rest of your home? Get rid of your sunroom door. An open-concept sunroom keeps your space feeling airy and warm, and you'll get to enjoy a sunroom view.
Divide Into Two
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If your sunroom is long enough, divide it into two spaces—one for seating and one for eating. Doing this will help break up an extra-long space and give the room more function.
Use Natural Materials
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Another way to further emphasize your sunroom's indoor-outdoor feeling is by using lots of natural materials. Stone fireplaces or raw wood accents draw the room back to its almost-outdoors-but-not-quite roots.
Take a Minimalist Approach
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If you're not sure what to do with your sunroom, or you don't have the furniture to fill it, don't fret—instead, add your favorite chair or seating arrangement, and let the space take a more minimalist approach.
Make It a Dining Room
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Large sunrooms make the perfect dining rooms—imagine enjoying lunch with a 270-degree view of your beautiful backyard.
Use Greenery for the Finishing Touch
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Struggling to find the finishing touch for your sunroom? Try adding a little bit of greenery to tie the space together and bring in the green space that sits outside your sunroom's walls.
Make It Rustic
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For a rustic sunroom look, use plenty of weathered vintage furniture and shabby-chic accessories to create a space that feels full of history and warmth.
Celebrate Greenery
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Get creative with how you use the wall space of your sunroom. Take a cue from the room's indoor-outdoor feeling and add some lush greenery-inspired wallpaper, like what Calimia Home did in the space above.
Add a Food Prep Space
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Want a better spot to entertain? Try your sunroom. We love how Pure Salt Interiors used this space to create an outdoor kitchen, and you can do something similar with a small bar setup or a larger kitchen look. (But stick with using a regular oven and cooktop—grills cannot be used inside.)
Add a Swinging Sofa
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The coziest seating arrangement for your sunroom is easily a swinging sofa. These funky couches combine the look of an outdoor swing with the comfort of an indoor loveseat.
Make It a Family Room
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Large sunrooms can also make great family rooms, thanks to their abundant natural light and welcoming feel.
Go Nautical
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Nautical color schemes are an easy win for any sunroom. Use lots of soft grays, whites, and blues to get a classic sunroom color palette.
Use Neutrals
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To make what's behind the sunroom the focus of your space, rather than the sunroom itself, stick to using creamy neutrals. They will draw the eye outward, rather than distract.
Hang a Few Chairs
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Hanging chairs are another fantastic sunroom furniture pick. Install a pair for a fun take on the all-too-boring conversation set.
Try Gray
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Gray isn't your typical sunroom color. But it's an interesting and unique contrast to all the green that lies beyond it—try it out.
Make a Cozy Window Seat
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If you're lucky enough to have a sunroom with a window seat, add plenty of cushions, pillows, and throw blankets to make it a cozy spot to sit.
Add a Few Houseplants
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Take advantage of all the natural light your sunroom is filled with by adding a healthy amount of houseplants. After all, what better room for them than your sunroom? We love the addition of the eucalyptus tree in this space by Pure Salt Interiors.
Don't Forget Window Coverings
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In an ideal world, a sunroom window need never be covered up. However, real life means privacy concerns and energy inefficiency can come into play. To deal with this, make sure you pick window coverings (worthy of your sunroom, of course) that can keep warm air in and add privacy late at night.
Try White
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For a clean and classic sunroom look, use white furniture. White furniture is a sunroom staple, and for good reason—the light and airy coloring makes the bright room feel even brighter.
Don't Forget Storage
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Sunrooms aren't just all play and no work. They can be spaces for storage too, not just seating. To add in storage to your sunroom, look at installing shelving or cabinetry below or around sunroom windows, depending on their size.
Install a Folding Door
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If your weather is nice enough year-round, consider installing a folding or French glass door that you can easily keep open. It will make your space feel all the more connected to your backyard, and you'll get to bring some great weather indoors too.
Install a Light Fixture
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Even though sunrooms are filled with plenty of warm and welcoming natural light, a show-stopping light fixture can still be the perfect finishing touch. Look for one that's coastal-inspired for a laid-back look, or use something more antique for some old-world charm.
Add Wall Benches
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Take your sunroom-dining room combo even further by adding benches along the walls and a table to fill the rest of the space, like what Katie Martinez Design did in the room above.
Don't Forget Rugs
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If your sunroom has a more rustic floor, like bricks or concrete, be sure to use plenty of floor rugs to keep the floor feeling warm and easy on bare feet.
Make It a Library
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Your sunroom is a great spot for a bookshelf or two. Fill them up with plenty of books and a few knick-knacks, and you've got yourself a sunshine-filled library.
Make It Soft
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Soft textures are key to making a sunroom feel cozy. Pick welcoming fabrics like plush cotton or soft velvet for an enticing sunroom look.
Go Woodsy
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Of course, sunrooms needn't all be in various shades of neutrals—you can have fun with darker colors too. For a unique and woodsy sunroom look, pick earthy toned furniture in bold colors like orange and red.
Get Creative
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Your sunroom can be so many things—living room, dining room, and homeschool room. We love how Reeds Indeed transformed her sunroom into a sunny and welcoming place to learn.
Keep Window Coverings Low-Key
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When using window coverings in your sunroom, remember this principle: out of sight, out of mind. Not only does this mean having an easy way to keep your window coverings out of the way when not in use, but it also means picking window coverings in barely-there colors and textures.
Get Inspired by Patios
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Though sunrooms and covered patios are not the same, they can certainly share plenty of style inspiration. We like this outdoor-friendly dining set for a crowd that still feels stylish enough to fit inside too.