Building a sunroom addition to your home is a great way to brighten your space without spending too much money to give the home a fresh, new look. You have plenty of options when it comes to how you decide to integrate this new addition to the rest of the house.
You have two main options, a three-season or four-season sunroom. The differences lie in the way you design the sunroom you intend to build. For planning purposes, making this decision up front is important because you will need to add certain components to the design scheme based on the option you choose.
For example, a three-season sunroom is designed and built to be used in less extreme temperatures. So, you can be out there in summer, the fall, and the spring, but the winter is going to be far too cold. However, if you decide you want a four-season version instead you will need to add some kind of an HVAC system into your plans. This will be a separate unit that won’t be part of the home’s larger central cooling and heating.
Due to the nature of the four-season sunroom, the planning of the addition will require more insulation than a three-season alternative. With that said, here are five tips to help you plan your sunroom addition, courtesy of your local Sunroom Builders Chesterfield:
1. Three-Season or Four-Season
This should really be the first thing you decide. As we stated up top, there is a discernible difference between the two with respect to planning and all of the important equipment and components needed for the sunroom you really want.
A good place to start is to think about where your home is located. Can you build a three-season sunroom in your region of the country or should a four-season sunroom be a better fit for where you live? The way to answer that question is by considering how cold the winters get in your neck of the woods. If your sunroom is going to be excruciatingly frozen in the dead of winter, you may want to opt for the four-season version with heating and insulation.
2. Size and Placement
Next thing to consider is the size of the sunroom you want to build and where you want to place it on the house. You will find most additions like this on the first floor of the home usually situated off the main living room or even the kitchen. These types of rooms are also ideal for gazing upon the backyard of the home and you should decide on the placement of the sunroom with an eye towards providing you and your guests with a view of the surrounding environment.
As to the size of the sunroom you wish to build, you should think about how you plan to use the space. Consider how many people live in the home and the number of individuals who might be using the sunroom at any given time. Think about how you plan to enter and exit the sunroom as well, do you want to connect it directly to a certain room and where do you wish to exit the room to the outdoors?
3. Additional Features
What do you want to add to the sunroom in terms of windows, skylights and other features that might give it a unique appearance and increased functionality? You should think about how you would like to use these things to give the sunroom that special touch.
Glass has many purposes that can be beneficial and add to your enjoyment of the sunroom. It allows for natural light to stream in while helping to give the room some additional heating, all while you are able to see the gorgeous view beyond.
You may want to add screens to the windows so you aren’t eaten alive by flies and biting insects that can be a nuisance and ruin your fun.
4. Matching the Architecture
You don’t want your sunroom to stick out like a sore thumb when you add it to your home. That’s why it’s important to design your new addition in a manner that ensures it matches the current architectural style of the home.
5. Interior and Exterior Design
Finally, your sunroom should be planned with an eye towards the overall look and functionality of the space. What will the floors look like? Do you want molding and trim along the walls? What about lighting and electrical outlets? Don’t forget about these components that will make your sunroom more enjoyable.
Eleena Timmons 
Roman Cyrus