Favorite Home Improvement: Turn Your Deck into a Sunroom

My husband and I love to look at the stars every night.

Sometimes weather does not cooperate, but even in the winter we would step out on the back deck bundled up in coats, scarves, and gloves – well, I would be bundled up because I am a Chihuahua when it comes to the cold while he is comfortable in a fleece jacket – just to look at a clear night sky filled with the moon and the stars.

Of course, there are the days when we want to soak up the sun. In the winter, it is still cold out, or in the summer the bugs love me. It would be so nice to enjoy "outdoors" all year long.

Having a sunroom creates a lovely setting with many functions:

• You can entertain family and friends.
• You can send a smoker to the sunroom if you do not allow smoking in the house.
• You can simply enjoy the outdoors all year long without dealing with the bugs or the cold.

One night back in the fall, we were standing on the back deck. The night was clear, the stars were bright, and it was freezing. I finally had to give up and go inside. As we sat at the kitchen table, my husband said, “Ya know, we should build a sunroom where the roof comes out over the deck.” I told him that was a nice idea. The next morning when I left for school, I didn’t give it another thought. When I got home that evening, I found my husband had taken the slats off half the deck that was under the roof and had framed in a room. My eyes must have been huge when I saw it.

He responded to my goggled-eyed stare with, “What? We talked about it last night.” I just laughed and said, “It was a two sentence conversation, and I didn’t know you were set on starting it today.” He then went on to list the benefits of having a sunroom.

We are able to enjoy being outside during the winter. My husband put insulation under the deck slats, laid indoor/outdoor flooring, put up insulated half walls, and installed thermal paned windows with screens. The room is approximately a 9’ x 12’ square foot area, so a small 1500 watt heater keeps it just right when it is cold outside. And, of course, we do love to stargaze, so now I can be warm while we are “out” looking at the constellations.

Adding a pet door to the sunroom’s screen door is going to be beneficial to our outside cats and our mini-Dachshunds who think they run the place. Our cats can move from the shop to the sunroom, which makes taking care of them easier. Our Dachshunds can run outside and not be cold while waiting to be let back inside because of the convenience of the pet door. We don’t want our sweet pets to be cold, so a pet door into and out of the sunroom gives them a place.

Aside from warmth in the winter, we can sit out during summer months and not worry about mosquitoes. They love me! I can go all summer without perfume, hair spray, fragrant lotion, and be doused in bug spray, and the nasty little buggers will find me. My husband never gets a bite, and he would get frustrated when I didn’t want to sit outside with him on summer evenings. Now, we will not have that problem to contend with, and we can open the screened windows and enjoy our time “outside.”

My husband is the type who cannot sit still and cannot stand to be in the house too long. Knowing this, he built up the sunroom walls halfway with light pine wood planks. The light, natural color makes the room look bigger and gives it a rustic feel. Though it looks like a room, it gives the illusion of being outside with all the windows. He can escape and feel the open space and squelch his stir crazy cabin fever. I can either feel relieved that I don’t have a trapped bear in the house or go out and join him.

A sunroom is an all-year-round room that makes you feel like you are outside. Drinking coffee while it snows or an iced tea in the late summer evening, makes this a welcome home improvement.