A garden room, or a sun room, is a beautiful space either connected to or separate from your home, where you can retreat if you’re wanting a quiet place to read or listen to music, to enjoy the outdoors while being safe from the weather, or just have a bit of alone time! If the idea of a garden room sounds good to you, here are some tips for building your own!
Use What You Have
If you already have an open porch, you may be in luck! Rather than building a new room from the ground up, consider closing in your pre existing porch and making it a sun room. The basic structure is already there, so you’ll just need to add some windows (make sure you choose big ones so that you can let in lots of light!), wall framing, and insulation. It sounds like a big project (and it definitely can be), but it’s much better than building an entire structure from scratch!
Putting Down the Foundation
If you’re not lucky enough to have a foundation premade for you, you’ll probably have to start entirely from scratch. You’ll have to start by pouring a concrete slab, and smoothing it out. You could add flooring if you want to, but stained and polished concrete is a stylish and beautiful flooring on its own, and works perfectly for a room that acts as a window to the outdoors.
Framing the Walls
Now it’s time to put up your walls. My tips for this are to make the support beams a bit thicker. You’re likely to be putting in big windows, so you want to use whatever wall space that you do have wisely. Make sure you also put in a lot of insulation, because you want to still use the room in the colder months. Putting in some Vogue radiators will help with this, too. So plan out where any plumbing might be going before continuing the building.
Start Adding Details
Make sure that the windows and doors that you put in are well insulated against sweltering summer days and chilly winter nights, and that the bricks and roofing that you use match the existing ones well if your garden room will be attached to your home. Start thinking about the air conditioning or heating units you’ll need, if any, and consider whether you’ll be able to build from some ducts that you already have, or if you’ll need to add a standalone unit. You don’t have to get an ugly window unit, though, there are styles that hang from your walls as well, so that they won’t be as much of an eyesore, or obstruct your view of the outdoors.
Now all you have to do is add a coat of paint, install locks, and choose some great outdoor furniture for your sunroom! Building a beautiful new garden room to enjoy can be a big project to take on, but it’s well worth it for the value it adds to your home, and for the ability to enjoy the outdoors at all times of the year!
Bill Clark is a freelance journalist who specialises in writing about culture and the arts, however will write about anything that piques his interest including business, travel and lifestyle.
