8 Sunroom Ideas From AD PRO Directory Designers That’ll Make You Linger

Photo: Douglas Friedman

With their expansive windows and seating vignettes made for lounging and lingering, the sunroom ideas are dreamy perches for whiling away a few tranquil hours. Designed by AD PRO Directory designers, these inviting escapes—some of them traditional spaces awash in wicker and rattan, some of them decked out with vintage furniture for a petite formal living room vibe—all deftly pull the outdoors inside.

Amy Kartheiser Design

Bucolic Hamptons vistas fill a 9,000-square-foot new build planted on a two-acre wooded lot in Amagansett, New York. Chicago designer Amy Kartheiser handled the interiors, and for the sunroom she was eager to both amplify those sight lines through floor-to-ceiling windows and conjure a relaxing environment for the family to gather in. Other than two stools from Baker, all the furnishings were custom made and incorporate performance fabrics and natural materials like reclaimed wood and wool, “all while keeping the color palette serene and quiet to mimic the sky and clouds above the trees,” Kartheiser explains. “The furniture was arranged to allow optimized views of the outdoors with lower backs on the sofas and chairs. The chairs swivel so they can easily be turned around to take in the scenery any time of the day.”

Anne McDonald Design

For a 1920s Craftsman bungalow in Minneapolis, local designer Anne McDonald connected the sunroom, “an exaggerated front entry,” as she puts it, to the outdoors. Often, the ceilings of old porches are done up in blue to echo the sky. However, McDonald “turned that on its head and put in a wood floor and painted it a blue-green to give it that nod but do something different. It adds so much character,” she muses. McDonald’s flair for weaving in vintage items, including a 1970s coffee table and duo of rattan chairs, is also apparent. “We bought an antique bamboo sofa frame from Palm Beach and covered it in a William Morris print,” she says. “That to me provides a tension that’s compelling. You would not have expected to see this in that spot.”

Ariel Okin Interiors

When New York designer Ariel Okin bought her home in Westchester, the sunroom was “entirely bare, with no furniture and it desperately needed a new paint job. I filled it with found, collected, and inherited pieces, and layered it up with lots of plants,” she recalls. Now that it’s laden with greenery, Okin considers the peaceful sunroom an extension of the outdoors and spends ample time working there during the warmer months in the company of a wicker rocker from a Ukrainian maker and a coffee table that long lived at her in-laws’ beach house. “The mix is my favorite part of this space,” she points out. “The striped kilim with the flagstone flooring, the wicker sofa with the Sister Parish green fabric. The push and pull of different elements is what makes it interesting. “

Caroline Rafferty Interiors

Massive windows dominate the sunroom in the 1980s oceanfront Palm Beach abode that local designer Caroline Rafferty reimagined as a two-story, six-bedroom manse. “We wanted to create a space that felt sculptural,” Rafferty says. “We brought in views of the lush garden and let that speak as the color in the room, and we looked to Walker Warner homes for inspiration. He pairs his interior and exterior spaces so beautifully with a modern but warm point of view.” The result of her elevated sunroom ideas? A sinuous Vladimir Kagan sofa fused with a midcentury boomerang table, sumptuous Fortuny and Rosemary Hallgarten fabrics, and the clients’ own stash of antiquities.

Clive Lonstein

A Georgian-inspired estate in Seattle, originally designed by architect Harrie T. Lindeberg and bolstered by landscaping from the famed Olmsted Brothers, needed a full-scale revamp. So New York designer Clive Lonstein stepped in, transforming such spaces as the sunroom into a casual, beachy escape with a vintage French sensibility. “We used matchstick blinds to diffuse the light while leaning into this outdoor feel,” Lonstein explains. “Pieces like the 1930s Bergère rattan club chairs, the sisal rug, and the roped 1960s Audoux & Minet floor lamp all play into this connection, adding a slightly nautical feel.” Among the standouts is the vintage Edward Wormley game table for Dunbar, which easily morphs into the site of impromptu dinners. “It’s the perfect place for a floral arrangement,” Lonstein adds, deeming it “a little oasis nestled in the trees just outside.”

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Natural light streams into the sunroom facing the private backyard of a rehabbed old Iowa City dwelling. “The space is directly off of the guest bedroom, so we wanted to make it a cozy spot to curl up and read a book,” explains Andra Padilla, senior designer at Portland, Oregon–based Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. Warm white paint accentuates the room’s brightness, a Scandinavian flat-weave rug emblazoned with florals is a rustic touch, and V-groove, carried through from other areas of the house, adds texture. A sofa discovered at an antique shop, made locally at the Amana Colonies, was reupholstered in quilted fabric and spiffed up with pillows encased in BDDW textiles. “The antique rocking chair offers another comfortable seat,” Padilla says, “and vintage plant stands throughout the room bring in greenery at different levels.”

Muse Noire Interiors

Raoul Morren’s framed textile collage is one of the newest creations showcased in the eclectic sunroom that Charlotte, North Carolina–based Ashley Ross brought to life in a Charles C. Hartmann–designed 1941 dwelling in Greensboro’s Irving Park neighborhood. Ross, founder and principal of Muse Noire Interiors, wanted to pay homage to this history and mingled the likes of a 1930s Jindřich Halabala lamp, early 20th-century rotary chairs updated by Schwung Home, and vintage snowshoes behind the bar that hint at “vacations past,” as she describes it. Keen to elicit an aura evocative of “past adventures,” Ross curated a motley collection of global finds, from the Swedish stool anchored by a Moroccan rug to the Czech chair that sits by the piano to an array of Balinese fans. “Knowing we would keep this space pretty light and airy I did not want to skimp on delivering our signature Muse Noire tactile experience,” Rosse adds, “hence the boucle, grasscloth, leather, metal, and woods.”

The Refined Group

Protection from the blazing Arizona sun guided Scottsdale firm The Refined Group’s every decision when designing a south-facing, open-air retreat within a French minimalist-style new build in Paradise Valley. “We wanted to create a space for friends and family to go and hang out under a shade cover. It has also been the backdrop and the dance floor for a backyard wedding and many soirées,” shares owner and lead designer Dana Lyon. Durable marine fabrics wrap the custom sofas and “organic teak console tables will stand longer than all of us and patina with time in the most beautiful way.” Embraced year-round, the space, surrounded by views of striking landscaping, courtesy of Scottsdale’s Refined Gardens, features a bespoke ottoman and a gas fireplace for breezy evenings.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

More Great Stories Featuring AD PRO Directory Members

• “White Chocolate Minimalism” Is the New Interior Trend to Watch

• How to Make Your Interior Design Reflect Your Personal Style

• 8 Chic Kids Room Ideas From AD PRO Directory Designers

• Why Are We Still So Obsessed With Wood Shingles?

• 7 Punchy Powder Room Ideas From AD PRO Directory Designers

• Hire a Landscape Designer: What You Need to Know and Mistakes to Avoid

• Browse the AD PRO Directory, our list of trusted design professionals.