Tamara’s Before & After Photos: The Sunroom Reveal

I am beyond thrilled with the result of my Style Cure and today I share my “after” photos! We went from a gloomy, unused, unfinished sunroom to a bright, open, and warm lounge area and office. There are so many elements in this new space that make me extremely happy, but just the fact that I can edit the photos for this post while sitting at a real desk in front of cheerful windows is enough to send me over the moon.

We had a lot to accomplish for this Cure because we had to do more than just transform an existing space. We had to put in floors, drywall, install doors, trim, and finally paint. We miraculously stayed on schedule, using every weekend and evening to make as much progress as we could, and though it was a bit chaotic and stressful at the very end, it all came together beautifully and to plan.

It felt like the painting was never-ending. Walls. Trim. Doors. Touch-ups and more touch-ups. I had wanted to get my furniture in on Monday, but we were still painting, so that didn’t happen until Wednesday, leaving me 24 hours to go from an empty room to a finished space. Once I brought my sofas into the room, I tried some other configurations from my initial floor plan just to see if there was a better solution. After having a friend’s eye on it, I found that my first floor plan was definitely the best arrangement.

I finally have a place to work, and it’s not the dining room table or my bed. The desk I have is sort of a monster—big and ugly—something I picked up for $15, and this corner may not be entirely ideal, but it definitely works and I’m happy with it for now. I still have to figure out an office chair as this little work stool my husband made is just a temporary solution for now.

You are looking at 18 square feet of workspace folks. That is bigger than my dining room table. All this neat and clean workspace is so refreshing. As soon as I had it set up, I sat down, opened the blinds, and opened the laptop, and experienced a real moment of mental clarity. It’s amazing how much better you can think in a clean environment. Unfortunately, I don’t know that it will stay this clean for too long as I still have to bring in my printer, my files, and all that other office stuff.

This bookcase is also somewhat of a temporary piece. Ultimately I’d like to build in some office storage along the wall so that it can accommodate most of the stuff that I don’t want on or around the desk. But for now I am appreciating the opportunity to style a few extra shelves with accessories and I like the strong verticality it brings to the space.

We haven’t had a TV for seven or eight years as we’re just not big TV watchers, but I think we do want to get one eventually. When we do, I prefer that it be in this room rather than in the main living room. I’ve seen lots of great examples of TV gallery walls and wanted to create a similar effect here. For now, it’s just a really lovely focal point. I struggled at first with figuring out what to hang and where, but I knew I wanted to use the large brown Matador piece. I saw an old nail hole already in the wall, so I screwed in an anchor in that same place and hung the Matador there. Then I just worked my way to the left with the other pieces, and found it was pretty easy to find their spot. The map on the far left might look better with a frame and another piece below it; what do you think?

I was able to use accessories I already had so I didn’t have to spend any money on those final touches. The grass in the large vase is from the backyard.

And then there’s this table project that I had thought would be a good DIY. All I have to say is good riddance. Truth be told, it’s not actually done yet and it is a miracle that it doesn’t look half bad. But man, I spent WAY too much time on this. I saw this table, going for a few hundred dollars, and thought “hey, my husband could build that frame and I could finish it; looks straight-forward enough.” And I wanted to make not one, but TWO (as you can see from the earlier floor plan). Fortunately I was smart enough to stop at one. It’s hard to tell, but it’s wrapped in a faux leather and then painted a matching color on the inside. It looks expensive, but I only spent $50 maybe in all the materials. The only thing is the color is a bit more blue than I think I want. But, yeah, I totally made that. By the way, you can also see a little brass tray table on the end of the sofa, just like I wanted, and that was also something I sort of put together myself using a tray I already had and a base I found on Craigslist. It’s really wobbly, but I love it.

I’m sure as our family uses the space, we will make some adjustments along the way to accommodate new needs that arise, but today I am proud to declare that this room is officially cured! I couldn’t have done it this quickly without the guidance, and so happy you could follow me along the way. The next project is the bathroom, which you can read more about on my own blog, The Made Home. Thank you Style Cure for giving me my favorite room back!

Source List:

• Wall paint: Valspar “Soft Wool”
• Trim paint: Benjamin Moore “Simply White”
• Sofa: Atomic Furnishings and Design in Asheville
• Rug: Unknown; Craigslist purchase
• Accent Chair: Custom; Craigslist purchase
• 1968 Mid-century dresser: Craigslist purchase
• Pillows: West Elm, lumbar pillows from Omerfarukaksoy on Etsy, and chair pillow made by me, available at my Etsy shop Fourth Floor Home
• Tabletop frames: Nate Berkus for Target
• Table lamp: Threshold for Target
• All wood bowls made by my husband, available at Fourth Floor Home on Etsy
• Storage bins: IKEA