Tales from a 1927 House -- Our Sunroom

Nearly seven years ago we moved into our current home.  It really didn't (we thought) need a lot of work.  Since moving in we have discovered a weak electrical system, lack of storage space, and a leaking sunroom roof.  The sunroom was a major selling point in buying this house.  Ten beautiful windows that look out into what used to be a quaint wooded area.  I remember sitting in the room when the house was being inspected and thinking -- this is my spot.

The roof over the sunroom was flat, something very common houses constructed in the 1920's.  We thought the flat roof wouldn't be a problem as the former owner assured us it had just been re-roofed.  But flat roofs and Michigan winters are not amicable companions, and two winters ago, during a thaw cycle, the roof began to leak.  After talking to our friend and contractor, Gary Allen, we decided we would put a hip roof on the structure.  The door that walked out onto the flat roof would be replaced by a window.  Gary is a creative and resourceful fellow and mentioned that he had an arched window sitting in his driveway (a Pella window, even), that he felt would look nice in a gable.  We would have to add a cathedral ceiling.  We liked the idea.  So here are pictures of our project.
 

This is Gary in our old "before" sunroom.  The ceiling was an Armstrong fake wood product.

The roof peeled off.  There wasn't a salvageable board in the roof.

This is the interior after the arched window was set in place and the gabled roof put on.

The exterior -- almost complete -- it turned out kind of cute!

Just recently I finished making Swedish shades for the ten windows in the sunroom.  Now a Swedish shade isn't that big of a deal to make -- but ten of them took quite a while and quite a lot of effort.  I like the way the room looks now -- although I would like to change the seating in the room to accommodate more people -- that will come later.  I do love the color though and I like the shades.  The whole family is very happy with the project.

The new ceiling is natural beadboard.  Although the floor isn't visible here, it is oak that was stained to match the existing floor in the rest of the house.

See more of the sunroom project at my blog

Curtain Call

Let me preface this post by saying I love to sew. I love fabric, yarn, thread -- if it has to do with fiber -- it's wonderful and worth my time. I love my sewing machine -- it's my girlie power tool. That being said -- here's the curtains my adorable husband asked and asked me to make for our
sweet 1927 Dutch Colonial House. I do love our house. It has french doors that open onto the deck and back yard from our dining room. This is nice, but it can be a little like living in a fish bowl -- especially when a cherubic little neighbor child's face peeks in at you unexpectedly (almost always mid-bite or at a particularly untidy moment). This made curtains necessary. Heavy curtains aren't my thing and I delayed putting these up forever. But after a trip to our local Field's Fabrics and armed with a bit of inspiration from Cynthia Treen's book: Last Minute Fabric Gifts, I came up with this:

Last Minute Fabric Gifts gives you instructions for making these sweet silk flowers. It's not difficult -- and the dupioni silk I used to make these was like working with magic. Somehow these make me think of a southern belle. They are girlie, but that's okay -- there have been absolutely no complaints. Now this hasn't completely blocked the windows and you'll notice there's still room for lil' faces, but it gives a little more privacy.

A flower close up -- oops I see a string I need to nip off. Where are those scissors.