Designing the Perfect Sunroom is a great way to enjoy the view around your home without insects, the wind, or ambient noise taking away from your experience. Whether you want to have your morning coffee watching the world around you wake up, relax after a long day while the sun sets on the horizon, or if you just want a pleasant place to hang out and work in during the day, a sunroom is sure to improve your home and your overall mood. Before you jump ahead and start looking for contractors, however, there are a few things you will need to consider. Below are a few factors you’ll need to think about to get the most out of your money in order to get a sunroom that’s perfect for your needs and your home.
What will your sunroom be used for?
While it may seem that a sunroom is a sunroom, all thou need to do is build one and then you can fill it with whatever you like. While that is true in theory, to get the most out of you houses new addition you should be thinking ahead about what you want it to be used for. This will allow you to properly design the area to take advantage of the space you’ll have available.
Leisure:
If you are looking to use your sunroom for leisure, or in other words simply to relax in, then you may want to keep it fairly small, somewhere you can fill with comfortable chairs, a coffee table, or perhaps a sofa bed for when guests come over. In short, if you’re planning to use your new room as a place to relax then you likely won’t need it very large, meaning you can save money by keeping in on the smaller side.
Entertainment:
On the other hand, if you want your sunroom to be more for entertainment purposes, you will need to think bigger. You’ll need more space for family and friends to fit in and even more so if you want to add things like a pool table. You will likely also need to think about installing more power outlets in case you want to add in a TV, or things like game consoles. Finally, if you want to use it for company with a perfect patio enclosure, you can even design it with a built-in bar area to further maximize the space available.
Office:
If you are fortunate enough to work from home, or even if you need a spot to work overtime in, sunrooms make for ideal office space. Sunlight has been proven to both improve your mood and increase productivity and having your office located in a sunroom allows you to detach yourself from the rest of the house when you need to focus. This is another instance where you may prefer to keep your sunroom small, but you will need to think about the rooms size, how many power outlets you want, and even where you want your desk keeping in mind that the sun may be a factor if it shines directly into your eyes on onto your computer.
Hobbies:
If you plan to use your sunroom for hobbies, then it really depends on the hobby. If you want to grow plants then you can turn your sunroom into a sort of greenhouse, but if you want a place to practice woodworking then you will need more ventilation. Think about your hobby and plan your room accordingly.
How often do you intend to use your sunroom?
Once you determine what you want to use your sunroom for, you’ll need to think about how often you want to use it. This will affect the overall design and cost because it will factor in the cooling and heating of the room itself.
Year-round:
This is by far the most labor-intensive and expensive type of sunroom to install. If you want the option of being able to use your sunroom year-round then it will need to be designed to be heated and cooled. It will also need to have extra insulation around and openings as well as double glazed windows. The extra cost is, however, worth it in the end. Having a sunroom available regardless of the weather or time of year makes for a great place to relax and watch sunsets and lightning storms. In general, it just provides a nice place to enjoy regardless of how hot, cold, or rainy it may be outside.
Three of Four seasons:
Three season rooms are far less expensive than their year-round counterparts but, as you may have guessed, include no built-in heating or cooling systems. This makes them less versatile as it will not be available all year long if you live somewhere that gets too cold in the winter. That being said, you can extend their usable time by implementing a space heater, but that is more of a temporary fix rather than a long-term solution.
Only when it’s warm:
This type of sunroom is by far the cheapest and sometimes will not even use glass for windows. It’s not uncommon for the windows to be replaced by screens just to keep the bugs out. These rooms, while cheaper, are also far less convenient as you won’t be able to use it when the weather gets cold and you may not be able to install power outlets due to the risk or water getting to them.
Hopefully, the information in this article will allow you to make a more informed decision of what kind of sunroom you should be aiming for as well as ensuring that you know why these factors are important. Thank you for reading and enjoy the newest addition to your home!
