Adding a three season sunroom

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile. I’m not sure about you, but for me, it’s been hard to get motivated lately. So in the interest of focusing on something else, besides Covid, I’m sharing my three season sunroom plans.

The dead of winter is really the ideal time to make exterior design plans. Like so many of us, I’ve been focusing on my home. So I’ve been playing with our backyard design for the last few months. And we’ve just taken the first step towards getting a functional and oh so pretty backyard.

Our bungalow model, has a small covered area at the back. As soon as we saw it, we pictured a three season sunroom.

Here’s a couple of my 3D renderings showing what I’ve come up with so far.

Three season sunroom rendering
Three season sunroom rendering
A bird’s eye view

It’s the area at the top left corner in the floor plan below. (Our house is actually the reverse of this plan. Click here to see more about our bungalow.) As you can see it’s very tiny. About 9′ x 9′. Just enough room to have a few chairs, maybe a couple of ottomans, and a small table.

Bungalow floor plan

Construction starts this spring! We’ll have it enclosed by adding a deck floor and then putting in Weatherwall windows and a door. I haven’t used these types of windows before but they are perfect for this application. They are clear heavy gauge vinyl that will spring back to shape if pushed on. The four section windows open by stacking up on themselves.

Below is an inspiration photo we saw when driving around town one day. Our windows won’t go to the floor though, as we will be putting some sort of siding at the bottom.

Inspiration photo of three season sunroom

Our existing windows, doors and roof are all black, so we will be keeping it harmonious and doing the same with the sunroom. With the tiny wall area in the sunroom, I’m leaning towards installing black horizontal siding inside and out. I haven’t completely decided on that yet, but I think it looks pretty darn good in my 3D renderings above.

Exterior bungalow
Front exterior of our bungalow

This is just the first phase of the backyard project. We are planning to add a hot tub, two level deck, fencing and a pergola over the next few years. Having a long term plan is crucial when doing any type of construction in stages. You can have a tiny peek of what I’m thinking in my renderings above. It’s a tiny yard, so I want to make it functional, pretty and very, very low maintenance.

Yet another reason to look ahead to spring!

How to design and furnish a sunroom

Boy, it’s a hot summer here so far. So in honour of the season, I’m sharing my log room sunroom that I designed and furnished when we bought our log home a few years ago. So whether your sunroom is actually a covered porch, a screened in 3 season room, a Muskoka room or a free standing gazebo, these tips will help you.

Here’s how one side of the sunroom looks now.

Log home sunroom

And the other side.

Sunroom design

blue log cottage sunroom

Blue log cottage sunroom

This is what I started with.

Before sunroom

I bought more substantial and darker wicker furniture and had the cushions made with sunbrella fabric so that there was no worry about sun damage or a wet bathing suit. I chose blue fabrics that complemented each other but that were not the same for interest. Instead of a coffee table I went with an ottoman. It can be used for your feet, as an extra seat or for putting a tray on and using as a table.

Blue log cottage sunroom

The various throw pillows were made by me and I selected more contrasting patterns but with the same colours of blue as in the upholstery. I primarily used blue in this room but with little touches of a soft green. It shows up on the table base, on candle holders and on a few other decorative accessories.

blue log cottage sunroom

A small corner shelf adds a little display area and makes the corner interesting. A little round glass table holds a table lamp and in the other corner a larger table is for display and to place a drink or two. A floor lamp brings much needed light into this corner.

blue log cottage sunroom detail

My grandfather’s ice saw from the early 1900’s takes pride of place over the window. You can just see it on the picture below. An indoor/outdoor rug with a fun french poem written on it anchors the seating area.

blue log cottage sunroom

The little piano stool, from a barn sale, is painted a fun turquoise that matches the curio cabinet in the living room.

Turquoise piano stool used as table in sunroom

And here’s how the other side of the room looked like before.

before sunroom

First up we had to do a repair on the floor tiles right in front of the door. Since the existing terracotta tiles were not available nor would they have matched I went with a different pattern terracotta tile for this area, I think it makes it look like an accent rug.

blue log cottage sunroom

We also took out three of the six skylights as the lower ones were too close to the edge of the roof and leaked all the time. We kept it as an eating area and this is also where we often play cards. Removing the shelf allowed for a larger table and chairs. I also hung a black industrial style pendant light. And for a little bit of fun, I painted and placed some old oars as wall art on this wall.

log cottage detail

Log cottage sunroom

The other side of the room, which you don’t see has a large bookcase across from the table. And there are two sets of french doors which take up the rest of the wall space.

Sunroom detail

If you’d like to read about the other rooms in my log cottage, click on the links below. And stayed tuned, as I’ll be sharing more of the rooms throughout the summer. You can also read about my log cottage feature online in Ottawa at Home’s summer edition by clicking here. 

Log cottage living room 

Log cottage bathroom 

All photos except before pictures:  Melissa Kew Photography