Sunrooms We're Swooning Over

Meet your home’s next great escape.

Imagine relaxing in a sunny spot, curled up with a good book or a beverage, that feels like you're enjoying the great outdoors without actually being in the great outdoors. Enter the sunroom, the ultimate sun-drenched retreat for soaking up some much-needed vitamin D.

Related: 32 Small Porch And Patio Ideas To Make The Most Of Your Space

What is a sunroom?

Also called a Florida room, a sunroom is a glass-enclosed porch or a living room. These spaces usually have large windows or glass walls on three sides (plus skylights, sometimes) to maximize natural light and show off outside views. Practicality reigns in these indoor-outdoor rooms; enjoy morning coffee or evening cocktails in these bug-free zones rain or shine. They're also a prime spot for houseplant collections. Three-season sunrooms are built without AC and are enjoyed in spring, summer, and fall (usually with a ceiling fan for cooling off during hotter months). Other four-season, insulated versions can be lived in year-round. Find inspiration for your home's next great escape with these five sunny sanctuaries.

Because the front door opens to the sunroom in decorator Lindsey Ellis Beatty's Birmingham home, she needed it to make a splashy first impression. She transformed the former porch with plush upholstered pieces and a mix of vibrant textiles.

Designer Grace Kaynor turned a dark office into a breezy solarium in this New Orleans home. She wrapped the space in sky blue latticework and installed black-and-white checkerboard tile flooring. Tidy topiaries connect the room to the courtyard outside.

For her parents' Charleston, South Carolina, home, designer Jenny Keenan dressed up the sunny space with a geometric floor design and a quartet of comfy armchairs for cocktails and conversation.

The upstairs sunroom (set just off the primary bedroom in EJ Brown's Florence, Alabama, cabin) feels like a treehouse. She filled this cozy retreat with a collection of vintage and antique finds.

In his New Orleans rancher, designer Shaun Smith swathed this sun-laden lounge in Farrow & Ball's Chappell Green (No. 83). With a seagrass carpet, woven shades, and a leafy green palette, the sunroom feels like an extension of the backyard.

Designer for this Atlanta home, Allison Allen, relied on throwback elements, like treillage, to ramp up the nostalgia in the sunroom. When a local craftsperson’s quote for creating this look proved to be too expensive, the owners installed The Home Depot’s ready-made lattice with help from a friend. Allen reupholstered pieces she found in the attic in an indoor-outdoor buffalo check and hung an oversize paper lantern.

Designer Catherine Branstetter fell hard for the sunroom’s original windows, which, by some miracle, had survived the home’s entire life span. Given their impact, the space required a delicate decorating hand. Pierre Frey grass cloth on the walls and fabric on the chairs (Leandre in Indigo) underscore the tranquil tone. The tavern table rounds out the room, which is “a nice spot to have a glass of wine or read a book,” says Branstetter.

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