Turning a Dated Sun Room into a Gardener's Paradise

Turning a Dated Sun Room into a Gardener’s Paradise

Published On

November 7, 2023

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A sunroom should be a bright and sunny space, but this one is anything but. So, we’re going to transform it into a bright and lively plant room.

Sterling Monahan has made plenty of updates to her home, but the unwelcoming sunroom needs a little love. She wants to the room into a place where she can grow vegetables and have her plants inside all year round.

If Sterling looks a little familiar, it’s because this isn’t her first time on Today’s Homeowner TV. Her mom, Gretchen Bayley, was featured in an episode not too long before this one, and she was on hand to help out in this one as well.

Watch Gretchen’s episode now: Expanding Outdoor Living Space With a Poured Concrete Patio.

The Projects

Create Space for Plants

In order to maximize the amount of planting space in the room, we’re building some cedar planter troughs to go around the windows. And to keep it waterproof and make sure water isn’t draining onto the floor, we’re lining the inside with some plastic planters.

We use 2-by-4 cedar pieces to make the planter troughs and face the rough side of the cedar inside so it doesn’t collect dust on the outside and look dingy once it’s assembled.

From the bottom of that window sill to the floor is 20 inches. So we build the trough to be 14 inches deep with six-inch legs.

For the legs and corners, we use 1-by-4 vertical cedar pieces. We cut a slight taper on the bottom of each piece before we glue and nail the two halves together. This gives the planters more of a furniture look once we start attaching the sides to the legs.

Once the planter troughs are assembled, we brush a coat of water-based polyurethane to give them a little extra protection from water.

Currently, Sterling is prepping and potting her plants on her kitchen island. To give her a proper potting station, we add a potting table to the center of the sunroom.

Revamp the Windows

We love the natural look the wood paneling gives this plant room, but the wood window sashes and door make the room just a bit too dark. So we paint it with a light green color that will complement the plants.

Instead of taping the many, many glass panes, we’re using Jasco Mask & Peel Masking Tape & Primer to prime the wood on the windows and act as a mask to protect the glass from the paint. It’s supposed to peel off easily once the job is done.

Once it’s dry, we use a drywall knife as a straight edge for scoring the masking without cutting into the wood of the windows. The masking is peeling off as it should, but it’s not coming off in big pieces. So, we use a razor scraper to take it off faster.

Here’s what we learned: This Mask & Peel Masking Tape & Primer would be perfect if we were spraying the windows, but since we brushed ours on, it’s a little overkill. We do, however, appreciate that we were able to prime the windows at the same time we were masking them.

The wooden window valences “from another era” add to the dated feel of the sunroom, plus they make the room feel cramped. So, we tear those down and replace them with some garden-themed fabric ones that match the bright new feel of the sunroom.

To make the new valences, we drill some pocket holes into two pieces of the same cedar board we used to build the planter troughs, then screw together the two pieces. We then cover it with batting to add a little fluff before we cover it with fabric. For detailed instructions on making your own valances, please refer to our comprehensive DIY guide on creating fabric valances.

The new fabric valences add a little bit of texture above the windows without covering the light.

Lighten Floor Color

The brown vinyl floor added to the dark and dated feel of the sunroom, so we lighten it up by painting it with Daich Coatings TracSafe Anti-Slip Sealer. This not only gives the floor a new look but also adds some traction, which is great for a plant room that can be prone to water spills.

We first scuff the floor with a pole sander, then we clean it with a mixture of TSP and water so the new floor coating sticks to the floor and not the dirt.

Hang Rope Planters

With all the windows in the sunroom, there’s not a whole lot of wall space to add planters, so we’re going to hang some from the ceiling in the corners.

These hanging planters are almost like a rope ladder. To make them, we drill a hole on each end of the cedar shelf pieces then loop the rope through and knot it on the underside to hold the shelf in place. So the shelves don’t tip over, we drill a hole in the center to place each plant container.

This floating shelf for the plants is a pretty simple design. We cut three cedar boards for the shelves, then drill holes on the end for the rope. Next, we drill holes for the container pots to sit in.

Post-Production Thoughts

Sterling’s sunroom got plenty of light but it still seemed dark and dreary thanks to the dark-stained walls and windows and the dingy brown floor the space had simply become a pathway to the back door.

But now, the dingy floor is gone covered by a brighter cleaner coating that suits the new life Sterling is bringing to this house in this room. The new color on the window frames also lightens the mood and creates the perfect frame for the sunlight streaming into the room.

Plus the playful valances Antiques and hanging planter lend the room plenty of character while the cedar Planters handle the primary purpose of the room growing the plants that Sterling loves so much.

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