Before & After: 4 Lessons I Learned Giving My Sunroom a Colorful Upgrade
Ashley Poskin is an Apartment Therapy contributor with a Ph.D. in decorating with color. (OK, we made that up. But it should be a thing.) Her Chicago home is full of fixed-up vintage finds, cheery DIY projects, and every shade of the rainbow. So when she wanted to give her pale neutral sunroom a monochromatic makeover, she was eager to go bold.
We were excited to see the final result — and find out what she learned along the way.
Set Some Room Intentions
The sunroom is Ashley’s favorite room in the house: a cozy place to work from home and a much-need source of natural light during long, dark Chicago winters. She wanted it to stand out more. “I’d painted a rainbow on the ceiling a few years ago and it made me happy, but I’d been wanting to give it a more elevated design that would define the space.” Knowing that helped narrow her choices.
Trust Your Inspiration Instinct
Ashley gathered inspiration using Apartment Therapy Vision Boards, powered by Sherwin-Williams®. Vision Boards let you turn any AT image into a virtual paint swatch. You can search by color theme or get specific paint recommendations. Soon, Ashley noticed a theme in her Vision Boards: “I’d been saving blue or green rooms, and I was very drawn to rooms where the ceiling was painted the same color as the walls.” We have a winner!
Try Before You Buy — Literally
Before Ashley painted four walls and a ceiling, she wanted to be sure that she and her color were a dream match. Enter the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap® Visualizer App. (Download it here for iPhone and Android or for iPad.) Its Instant Paint feature lets you easily visualize any Sherwin-Williams color on your walls in real-time. It inspired confidence in Ashley’s big and bright choice: Jacaranda SW 6802. “A paint swatch is great, but it’s so small,” Ashley says. “Instant Paint showed me what to prepare for — it was bold, but I loved it! I might not have chosen this blue if I hadn’t been able to see it in the room first.”
The Color Will Lead the Way
Not only has the paint makeover help define the sunroom, but it’s also inspired more decor ideas. “Painting the sunroom has actually helped me land on a design for it. Lots of yellow accents are on their way!”
With a little planning and creativity, Ashley’s bold choice paid off big. “I absolutely love the space now! It looked nice before, but it was lacking my personal touch. The room changes throughout the day with the light, so the walls feel like they’re living and changing too!”
That’s the power of color. It can totally transform your space, and Sherwin-Williams can help, with everything from advice to supplies. Visit Sherwin-Williams online to find your nearest store and get started today.