Any Calgary sunroom owner will tell you that it’s the single best home improvement project that they’ve ever undertaken. From a living standards point of view, it’s a quick way to gain a lot of extra square footage, and your entire family will benefit from the extra space. From an aesthetic point of view, a sunroom gives you unrivalled views out into your garden all year round, and allows you to get all the benefits of being outside without the extreme temperatures, wind or bugs. Finally, from a financial standpoint, a sunroom has an excellent return on investment ratio. It’s considerably cheaper than adding a full home extension, and the high quality finish and extra square footage will dramatically drive up your home’s value.
Seasonal Sunroom Furnishing
With all of these benefits, it’s no wonder installing a sunroom goes high on many homeowners to-do list. As the project gets going, it’s time to think about how to furnish your sunroom in Calgary, as this is the best way to make your new investment look its absolute best. The changing seasons in Calgary provide a whole host of decorating inspirations, and you’ll want to make sure that you have the year mapped out ahead of time to be able to get the right soft furnishings and items on time.
Decorating for Spring
For many, spring is the best time of year to own a sunroom. The new growth outside and longer days means the view is ever changing and your sunroom gets naturally heated. To furnish your sunroom for spring, try some of these easy tips:
- Go floral – Use the new growth outside your sunroom windows to inspire your internal decorations. Think flower patterns for your soft furnishings and pastel colours for your paint jobs, as well as bunches of flowers on your bookshelves and end tables.
- Get growing – You can use your sunroom as a temporary greenhouse to propagate your new growth and provide protection for younger plants. Consider buying pop up temporary tables or workspaces to put your seedlings on so that they get the maximum amount of sunlight and heat during the prime growing season,
- Easter – even if you’re not part of the Christian religion, Easter is a great time to use your sunroom for a family get together. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, you can hide the chocolate eggs in your sunroom, or use it as a base to watch the kids run around your yard while you host a family dinner in your sunroom.
Decorating For Summer
If you’re one of those Calgary homeowners who like protection from the hot sun and relief from the endless bugs, your summer sunroom becomes the only place to hang out. Decorating for summer in your sunroom couldn’t be easier:
- Go coastal – everyone thinks of the beach when it comes to summer time, so match your sunroom to the season with a coastal theme; blues and yellows with starfish, shells and anchors as decorations.
- Use the light – your sunroom is specifically designed to let in as much light as possible, meaning that summer in your sunroom should be your brightest season. You could also use the extensive sunlight hours to your advantage by replacing your curtains with gauze or opaque drapes to create fascinating lighting effects.
- Celebrate Canada Day – your summer sunroom is calling out to be used for entertainment purposes, so start a new family tradition of celebrating Canada Day in your new sunroom. Invite your favourite people round for food and fun, and your sunroom offers the best place to relax and celebrate all that’s good about our beautiful country.
Decorating for Fall
As the leaves start to change colour, you get the same feeling of a changing landscape as in spring, but with the nights getting shorter it’s time to cosy up. With plenty of natural heat from the warm days, your sunroom is the best room in the house to spend the cool autumn evenings, so you’ll want to decorate accordingly:
- Fall colours – the changing leaves outside should act as your colour palette. Pick out the reds, oranges and yellows with your soft furnishings, and you’ll find success with similar colours in your artwork.
- Get comfy – getting cosy in your sunroom is all about the soft accessories, so make sure that you stock up on fuzzy blankets and big pillows to cuddle under.
- Celebrate Thanksgiving – the big celebration for fall is Thanksgiving. Maximise the amount of space in your sunroom by clearing out the seating furniture and putting a couple of tables down the middle of the room. You won’t even need to turn the heating as your guests will warm the space up for you!
Decorating for Winter
If you have a four season sunroom, you’re in for a treat when it comes to winter in your new space. There’s nothing like feeling like you’re right in the middle of a Calgary snowstorm but with a stove on full blast and a cup of something hot in front of you. You can make changes to your three season sunroom to allow you to use it in winter, but you’ll need to work on an additional heat source like a pellet stove or an electric space heater. You can go in two directions when furnishing your sunroom for winter: the first is to play on the holidays, with red, green and gold accents and festive ornaments and pictures. The second is to play on the snow theme, making everything white and soft, and using geometric patterns in your table covers and artwork to mimic the falling snowflakes.
In either case, you’re all set for a New Year’s Eve party to finish off the year in style. You can use your imagination for any theme you like, from a traditional stars and sparkle to a Roaring 1920’s throw back. This one off celebration gives your the ultimate opportunity for a full reset for a new year of sunroom decorating.
