As I've said before, it is those projects that come to an end that, while satisfying when my clients are happy, are also bittersweet because you know you won't be talking to, laughing with or solving problems with these great people on a regular basis. The client I worked on this sunroom with was no exception. She found me through Houzz and reached out. She has the most ah-mazing back yard (she's a master gardener!) and decided to take the square footage of her existing back deck and build an all-season sunroom/dining room combo on to the back of her home.
Her vision was that the entire back of the space would be an expanse of windows that looked out onto her gardens and beautiful fountain and that it would have access to her new patio. She wanted a combo dining/entertaining space as well as a comfortable space to watch tv, have a cocktail or play games. My client is an art lover and collector and has killer taste. Her main concern was making sure that she had help not only executing her vision but making sure the furniture that she wanted for the space would fit. I'm OLD school when it comes to space planning. I have plenty of software options but nothing beats laying things out manually with the ability to easily shift things around and see how things fit.
Thankfully we had room for a big dining table for her fabulous-to-be dinner parties as well as room for a large sofa and two big, comfortable club chairs for the lounging area.
Below is a view of the space prior to the renovation. It was a big deck that was accessible by french doors from her living room.
Since the contractors had the majority of the work in the beginning, our next step was to decide on the furnishings. It was extremely important to my client that the seating area furniture be comfortable as she planned to do a lot of hanging out and entertaining in the space. So we went shopping together! We found the style she liked and then picked out the fabrics. We wanted neutral but not boring and plenty of texture. Here was the fabric selection for the
sofa and chairs. I love that the chair fabric feels like artwork itself!
Next the dining table. She wanted to accommodate at least 8 people and found this Crate and Barrel table she liked:
As you may know, I am a huge fan of supporting other local businesses so when I saw this table, I suggested to her that we take a visit to see the showroom at Duvall and Company because I felt confident they could build her something that she would love. An added bonus besides supporting a local business? No MDF - all real hardwood used in their tables! They listened to my client's wishes and created an absolutely stunning table for her!
A lot prettier than the big box store one, right? Just look at a close up of this wood grain!
While my client wanted to create a beautiful room, she also didn't want to blow the budget so we decided to try to incorporate her existing dining room chairs. Since she only had four of them, we decided to build a bench seat on the wall underneath the window to add extra seating for her soon-to-be fabulous dinner parties! I had these beautiful over-sized cushions made with contrasting cording to soften up the seat.
Because we kept the fabric for the furniture neutral, it was important to my client to pull in color and she wanted to do so with art. We commissioned a stunning landscape from Sue Scoggins. Sue was so much fun to work with and really helped translate my client's vision. The final piece is a show stopper!
Lighting was another important component in the room. A show stopper chandelier was a must for over the dining table and this one did NOT disappoint. I love that it loosely mimics a flower which is perfect looking out onto her beautiful garden.
We also needed to illuminate the beautiful piece of art and we did so by flanking it with a pair of simple sconces in a similar finish as the chandelier and an art lamp to shine light from above.
We kept the rug simple and to add more texture used a natural fiber rug. The plan is to ultimately layer a smaller, softer rug with beautiful color over the top.
Here is the finished space - I am beyond thrilled for my client with how beautiful it turned out. It is such a cool mix of modern elements grounded in the traditional.
In addition to layering a rug, a coffee table and potentially some more side tables are also in the plans. But, it was plenty to get her started and open for business on the entertaining front when we did the preliminary install!
As another finishing touch, she asked me to help change up and style the shelves flanking the new case opening leading into the new room. In order to warm the shelves up and play up the texture from the adjoining room, we backed the shelves in grass cloth wallpaper which totally transformed the shelves. We also changed out the dated hardware on the drawers and cabinet doors underneath the shelves with modern gold hardware that connected to the light fixtures in the new room. She had plenty of great art and accessories so it made my job really all about the styling!
Here's how one of the shelves looked before:
And here are the shelves after they were finished:
I love that this room can be enjoyed during all the seasons now and she has a comfortable, welcoming space to enjoy with her many friends!
xo, Cameron
