Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen great things about the sunroom

The dining side:
This is the dinette set I grew up with. I inherited it at some point in the mid '90s. It spent some time at Stacy & Adam's and eventually found its way back to me. The chairs are so comfortable. I like having '70s furniture in the sunroom. It matches the brick.

1. I love the extra living space. As you can see in the photos, we basically have the sunroom divided into a living space with carpet, and a dining space with Tarkett flooring that looks like tile. We put in the carpet and flooring last fall after we had all the panels replaced. I bought remnants at the local carpet store at a steep discount. Then Geoff and I put them down ourselves. Took about 1 hour and $200, not bad I say!
   
2. The extra dining space. We all love to linger over dinner served in the sunroom. The wall of windows provides an ever changing scene we all enjoy.
   
3. The warmth. It is so warm in the sunroom. Even if the temp is only 20 degrees outside, as long as the sun is out, it is warm and toasty. It is warm-your-bones toasty.
   
4. It feels like we're eating outside, but we are inside sheltered from the wind. And as you Basinites know, the wind is a wicked beast at this time of year.
   
5. The view. A very different view every season. The photo shows the late winter thaw view which isn't my favorite. In the winter after a snowstorm, we love to look for animal tracks in the snow. I also love the view right after we burn the ditch, it is black and charred and then the next day it seems to magically transform to bright green. I love the young cattails as they start to grow. In the summer the cattails get into full swing. They reach 6 or 7 feet tall, easy.
   
6. The kids love it. They always ask if we are having dinner in the sunroom, and when I say yes, they are happy.
   
7. There is no TV. The wall of windows provides all the entertainment we need.
   
8. Heats the house. I open the sliding door and let all that extra heat into the rest of the upstairs. Gotta love free heat.
   
9. Can't use it in the extreme winter or summer. We appreciate it when we can use it.
   
10. The kids love to do art & other projects there. As you can see in the photo, we keep newsprint and other art supplies at the ready.
    
11. The best place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee and birdwatch.
12. The windows are fun to decorate at Christmastime. It looks really cool from the road.
13. It feels very secluded and "wild." It feels like we live in the country, not smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood. Probably the main reason I haven't tore my hair out yet and demanded we move out of "town."
    

The lounging side:
The chair and ottoman are yard sale finds. As I already said, I like having '70s era furniture in the sunroom. For some reason, it fits.

The view:
The three boxes on the other side of the fence are the garden boxes Geoff built for me 2 summers ago. Beyond that is our fire pit, an old watering trough. And further still beyond that is the gulch and our poor shed that gets flooded every winter/spring thanks to a few industrious beavers.

When Geoff and I talk about selling our home and building a new one, losing the sunroom is one of the things that holds me back. I know that in a new home we wouldn't be able to have a space like this.