A sunroom at The Shack was one of our ‘must haves’ when we were house shopping for a vacation hame in the Poconos. My husband enjoys smoking cigars, so we wanted a year round retreat for him to enjoy the outdoors.

The sunroom was sponge painted a deep mustard yellow and the trim was an odd blue-grey. There was brown indoor-outdoor carpeting on the floor and a plastic bead-board on the ceiling. Doors are on either side of the room, one leading from the driveway area and another from the front deck on the opposite side.

Inside, there are two steps up from the sunroom through French doors into the main living area at The Shack.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered that the sunroom at was plagued by several small leaks, which gave the whole space a very worrisome musty, moldy smell. This meant we couldn’t focus on the aesthetic aspects of making the room beautiful until we figured out the moisture issues and had remedied the situation. First we tackled the exterior of the sunroom, replacing all the window trim and even the siding in the corner of the front porch, where the chimney meets the sunroom.

Even after making these changes to the exterior, very small leaks persisted. We removed the drywall and replaced both of the outside entry doors. It was a very frustrating and time-consuming process, especially since I was so eager to be rid of those gold sponge-painted walls, dated plastic levolor blinds, and unattractive outdoor carpeting! Once we got the water issues under control, we began removing the plastic faux bead board ceiling.

It was about this time that a pair of pesky squirrels managed to gain entry into the sunroom and tried to take up permanent residence in the space. One of the squirrels also tore up the blinds, trying to get back out!

No worries, we were planning to replace all the blinds and other damaged things anyway! So we removed all the insulation, moved the electrical and replaced the outlets with new quality fixtures. We also replaced all the insulation with fresh clean materials after sealing up the eaves and inserting wire mesh to prevent future rodent entry. We also tore out the old carpeting and took down the old blinds, etc. Finally, we could begin thinking about the ‘pretty parts’ of the sunroom at The Shack!

Next time I’ll share our plans for the changes we’re going to make in this space. Let me give you a hint: we’ve decided to embrace the outdoors! I’m so excited to share the renovation process with you and, of course, to be able to enjoy this lovely space for myself with family and friends.

There’s still a lot more to share with you at The Shack, so I hope you’ll stick around as I post the before and afters in our little Poconos mountain house.

Until next time, make sure to like Robinson Interiors on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, and DO stay tuned for future posts about my work, travels, and design inspirations, not to mention tips and ideas for updating your own home!

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