Sunroom | Spring Avenue, Elkins Park

Spring Avenue Sunroom, Part 3

Well, it’s been over a year since I posted the first two blog posts in this sunroom series.

In part 1, I shared my research of those colorful indoor/outdoor spaces that you find in Mexico, which served as inspiration for our sunroom redesign.

Sunroom Inspiration, Part 1

In part 2, I shared several design schemes I was contemplating, and as promised, it is time to reveal the winner!

Sunroom Progress, Part 2

And the winner is…Moodboard for Mexican inspired sunroom

Once I found a giant hot pink rug, I knew that the pink, gold, and teal scheme had to be the winner.

Rug | Spring Ave Sunroom

Rug from Macy’s

On top of this rug, you will find a cozy seating area perfect for conversation, napping, or zoom calls.  As I mentioned before, the wicker furniture will not fit through the doors.  So the painters gave it all a fresh coat of black paint.   New cushions were made for the sofa in a Sunbrella daffodil yellow fabric from Silver State.

The chairs were upholstered in a turquoise indoor/outdoor fabric from The Design Connection and the back cushions are trimmed in fuchsia gimp from Trend.

Turqoise indoor outdoor fabric and fuschia trim

A pillow collection was created from various sources, from mass marketers like Target and Homegoods, to Intiearth, which specializes in selling authentic Peruvian craft work.

Peruvian pillow

Pillow from Intiearth

The beauty of the explosion of color represented by the pillows is that it can change over time.  Anything bright and exuberant that I put in the mix will work.

Colorful Pillows | Elkins Park, PA

Starlight, down2earth interior design’s CFO (Chief Feline Officer) lounging on the colorful sunroom throw pillows.
Photo: Rebecca McAlpin

The piece de resistance of this whole seating grouping is the coffee table.  It was originally a stained wood coffee table that inhabited my in-laws’ living room in pristine condition for many years.  Then it came to my house, where my son proceeded to bang his trains against it and generally abused and dented it.

Unfinished wood coffee table | Elkins Park, PA

So Mindy Carrara of Wicked Pickle Revival sanded it down for me and painted it Sherwin Williams Green Bay.

Painted coffee table | Elkins Park, PAThen, my mother, Joan Greenstein, who’s an artist, painted the most beautiful design of birds and flowers for me based on the Otomi tradition of Mexican embroidery.   Otomi embroidery motifs typically incorporate animals and plants native to the Tenango area in central Mexico.  Click here to learn more about Otomi.

Coffee table painted with Otomi motifs | Elkins Park, PA

My Mom also created this beautiful piece of artwork.

Floral framed art | Elkins Park, PA

Art by Joan Greenstein

Because the glass surrounding this room is single-paned, the room has pretty much no insulation. It’s basically only comfortable to sit in in April and October. Cue the new electric log set we installed in the fireplace opening, which can be controlled with a remote.

Sunroom fireplace | Spring Avenue, Elkins Park

Photo: Rebecca McAlpin

Cattle art above the fireplace is from Target.  Cattle photography | Elkins Park, PA

And the fireplace is festooned with pompoms from DiscoverMas.com.

This idea came from an image on HGTV’s blog:

Multicolored pom poms draped on ladder

Photo: Bethany Nauert: Styled by Paige Geffen

And you can learn more about authentic Mexican pom poms over at their blogpost.

Finally, I knew I needed a big wow factor on the wall that faces you when you enter the room.  In our previous post, we talked about how this dresser was trash picked and previously painted blue and white by my mother.   Now it’s a warm amber color called Gold Coast from Sherwin Williams.

Painted yellow chest of drawers and vivid artwork | Elkins Park, PA

Photo: Rebecca McAlpin

Big splashy art by Kimberly Godfrey is the true focal point of this vignette.

I had this art shipped as a rolled canvas from the UK and then stretched by a picture framer here in Pennsylvania to minimize shipping costs.   I scooped up lavender and yellow Kate Spade picture frames at Homegoods, and got one of my teal vases from a giveaway pile on the curb!

Lavender and yellow picture frames | Elkins Park, PA

Reusing items is one of the ways we can design responsibly.  As always, sustainability is a focus here at down2earth interior design and it played a major role in this sunroom’s redesign with the help of some paint and time.  Have you repurposed a found or inherited piece of furniture?  What was its history?  If you’ve breathed new life into a piece and loved it, you know just how satisfying a solution it can be.  Who wouldn’t love having something uniquely theirs in their home?

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