The Stock Family Sunroom in Marion, IA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8bWkXPoTaA When Kent and Lori Stock first moved into their Marion, IA  home, it had a wooden deck outside the sliding doors on the back of their house. Over time, they grew to realize that they weren't really utilizing this deck that much because of the summer bugs and winter cold. The Stock's wanted to enjoy the outdoors, though, and some friends suggested they consider a sunroom. In a sunroom, they could bring the feelings of the outdoors inside. The beautiful pine trees bordering the back wall, for example, could line the windows and make the couple feel like they were living in a mountain vacation home year-round. With this in mind, the Stocks started looking into their local sunroom contractors. After doing some preliminary research online, they attended a local home remodeling show and met our Premier Partner, Home Town Restyling. Home Town Restyling showed them what we used to build our LivingSpace sunroom, and the Stocks were impressed by the care we took while crafting our products. After a further in-home consultation, they recognized that our LivingSpace Sunrooms® home addition was indeed the solution they'd been searching for. “All the features that it had, where you could see glass. That was the main thing. There's not a lot of walls in the way of our view. It makes us feel like we're on vacation in our own home.”  Since the Stocks built their sunroom, they say it’s been above and beyond what they could have imagined. When they host parties, everybody congregates in the sunroom, and in the laid back environment, conversation flows freely. On more quiet days, the room is a cozy place to sit down and relax. For Lori, the room has even been able to help improve her quality of work. She works from home and has turned the sunroom into a…

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Turning a Deck into a Sunroom

When Dallin and Olivia Allred found out they would be welcoming a third child into their family, they recognized that the three bedroom house they lived in was about to get a lot more cramped. At the time, Dallin and Olivia slept in the master bedroom on the main level. Their first two kids, Maxine and Ruby, shared one of the upstairs bedrooms while the other was set aside for TV and board games. With two kids, the house felt cozy and comfortable - most of the time. A third child, though, would require some adjustments. The couple didn’t want to make too many adjustments, though. The neighborhood they live in is perfect for the family’s current situation. The house is just down the road from Olivia’s office and a half mile away from the hospital that Dallin works in. The schools in the area are some of the best in the state. Alongside this, both sets of grandparents live in town and are eager to babysit their grandchildren during working hours. At the same time, both grandparents live far enough away that they aren’t dropping by the house unannounced throughout the week. To top it all off, they’re neighbors with a family that shares their extra garden vegetables. Essentially, the Allreds needed to find a solution that didn’t require them to pack up and move. Searching through their options Quickly, Dallin and Olivia decided that the upstairs entertainment room would need to be converted into the baby’s nursery. It was difficult to keep the house clean with two children around, and a third would definitely intensify the mayhem. By keeping the baby’s bedroom upstairs, the couple hoped to keep a bulk of this chaos away from the main floor. With this decision made, the family refocused their home redecorating…

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The Nash Family Sunroom / Milwaukee, WI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dew-wGPHT0M Jim and Susan Nash have lived in their Milwaukee home for the past 44 years. During this time period, they've loved spending time in Wisconsin's beautiful outdoors environment. Over the past few years, though, the summer's heat and humidity have become too tiring to endure, and the Nash's have been limited in the time they can spend in the sun. This frustrated the couple, and they brought the dilemma up with some of their neighborhood friends. These friends suggested a sunroom. By building a room filled with windows, they could still enjoy the sunshine and remain comfortable inside their air conditioned house. The Nash’s liked this idea and started to meet with Milwaukee contractors to see what a sunroom could look like on their home. Through these meetings, they realized that a sunroom could really help transform their house and improve their moods. They continued learning more from contractors, but they decided to focus on the relationships they built during each consultation. This helped build their trust in the builder' integrity and ability to build a reliable sunroom. "We did look around at other builders, but frankly, other than just giving it a real superficial look, we were looking at what the experience would be like. We spent a lot of time with Jude [of SE Wisconsin Sunrooms], and he was a very easy man to talk to; a real down to earth guy.”  Since they’ve had their sunroom, the Nash’s feel like it’s been more than they could have expected. Before their sunroom, they didn’t really appreciate the view to the south of their house. Now, they can look at it every single day.   Even more than this view, though, Susan has loved the opportunity the sunroom has given her to show off her style. Susan had always wanted…

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4 Interior Design Essentials

The interior design plan is essential to your sunroom building process. But can quickly become a daunting task, knowing that this new sunroom can become the main hangout spot within your house. Because of this, we’ve got a few tips that can help.  Tip 1: Determine the function of the room The first and most critical step of interior design is determining how you will utilize your sunroom. This will promote unity between your sunroom and your home and accommodate the activities you’ve planned for your new addition. By thinking about the function of your room, you can also zero in on your preferred sunroom style. Different styles provide different purposes. For example, a Cathedral sunroom is often used for parties or dinners, while a Studio sunrooms generally feels a little quainter and is utilized as a quiet get away. By choosing the style that best fits your needs, you can make sure you design the sunroom you want.  The sunroom featured here was built as a spot to relax and host guests. The family wanted an area to sit for conversations before and after mealtime. Because of this, they built their sunroom extension just off the dining room. Likewise, they chose a Cathedral sunroom with enough room to fit larger groups of people. Tip 2: Keep the colors consistent Most likely, you’ve created a home with a style that's consistent from room to room. There's no need to alter that style when building a sunroom. We offer a variety of sunroom color options to ensure your sunroom will match the rest of your house. As you plan your sunroom, use the other parts of your home to guide your decisions.  If you’re having trouble making up your mind, there’s inspiration available here to help you design your dream sunroom. For most,…

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The Suter Family Sunroom / Sunrooms in Iowa City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A07IEjvDiu0Londa Suter is an avid gardener and outdoors lover, but when her family bought their Iowa home, she found herself stuck in an area without natural light. She keeps an array of plants inside her home, and without the sunlight, her collection was suffering. Seeing a need for change, Londa began searching for a remedy. The solution needed to be something that her plants and family could both enjoy throughout the year, and since Iowa is known for bad weather, this meant it would likely need to be inside. Some friends and neighbors had sunrooms, and Londa liked the idea of large windows shining sunlight into her home. She began attending home shows and researching companies near her, and visions of her ideal sunroom started forming in her mind.  “I interviewed with four contractors in the area, but I decided that I preferred an actual sunroom more than what the others were offering. I was very impressed with the quality of Home Town Restyling’s sunrooms and how they were set up. And specifically, I was so looking forward to the light that it would give to the rest of the house and the visibility to the outside.”  As the family has used their sunroom, they’ve watched it transform their home. The sunlight has added a feeling of openness to the house that’s completely reshaped the way people feel inside it. Now, the family uses their sunroom often, for eating meals, drinking coffee, and spending time together. The sunroom has also been perfect for Londa’s plants. She keeps an eclectic diversity of plants inside her sunroom, and each has flourished in the environment. Our sunroom’s thermal efficiency has helped this tremendously. Londa fills the room with plants, and she’s seen that even those placed next to the windows flourish throughout each season. During the winter, the cold will creep in through the windows and siding of lesser quality rooms.…

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Sunroom Designs: Piecing Them Together

Clueless about sunroom designs? It may be challenging to recognize what you are looking for in a sunroom when you start researching different products. Looking at pages for Cathedral sunrooms or Studio sunrooms can seem overwhelming, but these are common sunroom designs across each company you’ll talk to. Understanding the styles and purposes for each is critical. If neither of these designs fit with what you are looking for, you can explore the Integrated sunroom or the Specialty sunroom. Our Premier Partners are happy to help you determine which fits best for your home. Below, we’ll take you through each of our sunroom designs to help you know what you can expect at your in-home design consultation. The Cathedral Sunroom The Cathedral sunroom is one of our most popular sunroom designs. It merges well with traditional home construction and offers the ‘wow’ factor people are looking for when they build a sunroom. This charm comes mostly from the room’s high, vaulted ceilings. The triangular section of the Cathedral sunroom, called the gable, brings additional sunlight into the house and extends your view of the outdoors.   There are many different options you have when building a Cathedral sunroom. In a Cathedral sunroom, ridge beams are required by building codes as a structural component. Many people accessorize this ridge beam with a decorative ridge beam cover. This dresses up the room so you can subtly show off your style.  You can choose to cover it with an aluminum skin or with a wood veneer finish. Most of the people we talk to like to spend time with friends and family while using their Cathedral sunroom. One customer said her family loves to eat meals and drink coffee in their sunroom, and another said that friends and family gravitate towards the sunroom as if the rest of the house didn't exist.  The Studio Sunroom Other people may see a Studio sunroom as a better fit for their home. This…

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The Kubricky Family Sunroom / Sunrooms in Milwaukee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znovx_D3xDE Bill and Marilyn Kubricky love living in Wisconsin because it lets them experience each season throughout the year. With all these seasons come common problems with the outdoors. Mosquitos, rain, and snow. The couple loved the sunroom they had to leave behind in their previous house, so they decided an all-seasons room would better let them enjoy their current home. With this, Bill started a three-year research project of the area’s sunroom companies.  The Kubricky’s met with our Premier Partner, SE Wisconsin Sunrooms, at a home show and were sold by the quality of the sunroom’s display. The exterior of the sunroom’s surface is void of nails and screw heads, and the clean presentation gave Bill and Marilyn confidence that we put the necessary care into every sunroom we build. To make sure, the couple attended a few more home shows.  “Competition was Jude [of SE Wisconsin Sunrooms]’s best advertising. We didn’t care for others’ salesmanship and presentation. It only sold us more on the LivingSpace sunroom.”  Now, they can enjoy Wisconsin without the rain, snow, and mosquitos that irritated them before. And their sunroom has greatly exceeded their original expectations. Marilyn says that generally, you would have small problems or nitpicks with home remodeling, but there’s absolutely nothing that she wishes was improved.   The couple uses the sunroom to drink coffee and watch the news during mornings, but their favorite time to enjoy it is the late afternoon, as the sun is setting. The windows fill the house with beautiful, golden hour colors to perfectly end each day.   During the evenings, they’ll have friends or family over to their home, and it’s like the rest of the house doesn’t exist. Everybody loves using the sunroom.  After a year, the Kubricky’s have already seen the benefits of a LivingSpace sunroom, and they’re very proud to have one on their home. As they sit in it, they’ll see…

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The Swick family’s enclosed sunroom / Sunrooms in Columbus

When people are looking to add onto their home, they don’t often consider building a sunroom. But they should! Enclosed sunrooms are fun and unique areas that help you unwind from the day.   We build enclosed sunrooms across the country. This past year, we visited the Swick family to hear why they wanted a sunroom and how they’ve enjoyed it since.  Buying an enclosed sunroom: Mary and Mitchell Swick from Pataskala, OH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIkEAD4-CoEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ncoy1YgFzQ The Swick’s have lived and worked in the Columbus community for years; Mary as a hospice worker and Mitchell as a school bus driver. The two had always wanted an enclosed sunroom in their home. They love sitting in the sun and enjoying the outdoors, but the Ohio bugs are too pesky in the summer for them to fully enjoy their yard while outside. They spent many years enduring the outdoors, but once they started growing older, the bugs started becoming more annoying. So, they decided enough was enough.  The couple knew that our Premier Partner, Ohio Exteriors, installed enclosed sunrooms, so they called to set up an in-home consultation. After seeing a few pictures from the LivingSpace brochure, they were ready to build.  “When we first got the sunroom, we had a futon couch, so in the fall and in the spring mostly, when it’s really nice out, we’d open up all the windows and we’d sleep out here. It was magnificent – just like camping out.”  The couple now spends 75% to 80% of their time throughout the year in the sunroom, and it makes them feel like they’re in a vacation home each time they walk in. Saturday or Sunday mornings are great times to relax while eating a late breakfast, and both Mary and Mitchell love enjoying nature while still feeling the cool breeze of the ceiling fan on their faces.   They’ve also mentioned that the enclosed sunroom is easy to maintain. Mitchell will take…

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Prefab Sunrooms or Other Types of Construction: Which is Better?

Sunroom Types When looking at sunrooms, you typically have four options: prefab sunrooms, stick building, aluminum construction, or DIY sunroom kits. We will be detailing some of the main differences between each type of construction, and how it can impact you as a home owner when considering adding a sunroom to your home.DIYA DIY sunroom should be reserved for the most ambitious homeowners. Some manufacturers and home improvement shops sell their rooms in a DIY kit for those looking to save money or avoid working with contractors. In these instances, a person will use their own tools and home remodeling expertise to build a sunroom extension onto their house. Stick BuildingStick built construction is more familiar to those outside the construction industry. Contractors and firms use this as their preferred method of construction. They use wood to build the walls, trusses, and sometimes the floor of your sunroom. You may be able to see examples of this type of construction in your own neighborhood, as most homes are built using this method. Aluminum ConstructionThose employing an aluminum construction method also cut their materials on-site when building sunrooms. Instead of using wood framing, builders build your sunroom using aluminum framing materials. These sunrooms can be a less expensive option when compared to prefab sunrooms and stick-built sunrooms. Prefabricated A prefab sunroom means you are buying a sunroom that is sized and cut in a controlled factory environment. Prefabrication is used in the construction industry so that buildings, homes, or additions can be built in sections, moved easily, and put together quickly, all while minimizing the errors that can occur during construction. This sometimes enables contractors to have access to an offsite engineering team, who can help answer questions during construction. Why we recommend prefabricated sunroom additions At LivingSpace Sunrooms we manufacture prefab sunrooms for many reasons. We prefabricate our sunrooms because it is the best option available; and allows…

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Press Release: LivingSpace Acquires Window Manufacturer Styleline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 05/08/2019 LivingSpace Sunrooms acquires window and door manufacturer Styleline to support expanding product line  Maumee, OH, May 8, 2019 -- LivingSpace Sunrooms announced today its acquisition of Styleline, a window and door manufacturer with facilities in Monroe, WI and Salisbury, NC. This strategic acquisition allows LivingSpace to continue development of its high quality, American-made products and further support its network of more than 100 dealers. LivingSpace has worked with Styleline since 2017 as a core supplier for its V-Series window collection, and more recently for its newly announced V3 three season sunroom product.  “This move has been made in response to demand,” explains Kraig Mackett, LivingSpace’s founder and president. “Styleline played a key role in the introduction of our V3 sunroom earlier this year. Reception from our dealers was greater than we anticipated, and both companies recognized the potential to increase the supply chain if we joined forces.”  Styleline was founded in 1951 with the goal to bring manufactured windows and home additions to customers throughout the Midwest. Initially, the company began with storm windows. By consistently diversifying their product line, they’ve grown and found success within North American and European markets. Adding the company’s reputation and innovation better positions LivingSpace as a market leader in the sunroom industry.  Jake Huskins, LivingSpace vice president of engineering, expounds, “Styleline entered the window manufacturing market to provide amazing products to its customers. This aligns with our own values, and we felt confident forming our V-Series windows with their assistance. We were very excited to use the V-Series windows in our V3 three season sunroom, and we look forward to applying our combined knowledge and experience to future innovations.”  “We’re looking forward to the growth and enhanced customer relations,” adds Styleline’s Director of Sales, Brad Beachy. “Styleline has grown throughout the years because people recognize our high-quality standards. Partnering with LivingSpace gives both companies an opportunity to reach a broader audience,…

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