Outdoor SunSpaces News

If you're thinking about putting your house on the market, you'll want to make sure it's in the best possible condition. Ther's a lot of competition on the housing market and obvious problems, dirt and general dis-organisation will really put potential buyers off. Here are a few things you can do to prepare your house for sale:

Cleaning

Before you have photos taken of your house, or before you have people come to look round, it's important that you give your home a deep clean. This means, tidying away any children's toys, piles of documents, toiletries and shoes. Windows and surfaces should be wiped to remove dust and sticky hand-prints. 

As part of your cleaning process, we'd recommend removing most of your 'family' items, including photos and children's drawings. Remember, the person viewing your home needs to be able to imagine living there, which can be tricky if the home is clearly yours. Stripping the house back and depersonalising it makes it easier for people to see it's potential!

Small details

People notice when you've put effort into every detail of your home. Spending the time to freshen up the decor, invest in some eye-catching pieces and create focal points can catch people's eye and spark their interest. We'd generally recommend sticking to neutral tones rather than bright pops of colour as this can distract from the beauty of your home.

Improve kerb appeal

If you pop a 'for sale' sign in the front garden, then it's important that your home gives a good first impression. This means it needs lots of kerb appeal! One of the ways you can improve your house's curb appeal is to add a SunSpaces garden room or veranda.

These striking structures are sure to make your house stand out! You should also make sure your lawns are in good condition, weeds have been removed and that the front of your house looks inviting. This is the first thing people will see when they arrive at your property so you want to make a good impression. 

Expand living space

If you want to maximise the profit you can make on your home you should consider expanding the living space inside. This might include, converting the loft into an additional bedroom, adding an extra bathroom or en-suite or adding a deck, patio or sunroom outside. 

Investing a bit of extra money in your home at this stage can really increase its value when it comes to putting it on the market. We do a lot of work with people who are preparing their houses for sale because people understand the benefit of adding that additional space.

As you know, the weather here in the UK can be very temperamental so homeowners can be put off by large gardens with minimal features. For some people, this just looks like extra work that they won't really be able to enjoy for most of the year. By adding a SunSpace, potential buyers will see that they can use the garden all year round and will be more inclined to put an offer in. 

So, if you're preparing your house for sale, you might want to take note of a few of these hints and tips. If you're interested in adding a SunSpace before putting your house on the market, get in touch with our sales team now - 01727 845 788.

If working from home has become the new normal for you, it might be time to start thinking about setting up a proper office.

Businesses up and down the country are keeping their employees out of the office for as long as possible to avoid an outbreak of COVID-19, some are even considering allowing people to work from home indefinitely! Of course, few people ever thought that they'd find themselves in this position and even fewer have dedicated office spaces in their homes.

Speaking to people who find themselves suddenly working from home, you'll hear the same difficulties come up time and time again. "I don't have a proper space where I won't be disturbed by the kids", "I'm having to use the coffee table as a desk", "I'm struggling to separate work and home life"... the list goes on. 

Well, we've been thinking about possible solutions for these people, and we think a sunroom office could be the answer to all these problems. You've probably seen previous blogs we've shared about adding a garden office to your home before, but today we're going to talk about converting your sunroom into an office.

Strip it back

To convert your sunroom into an office, the first thing you need to do is declutter. What are you using your sunroom for currently? Is it a cosy relaxation space? An outdoor dining area? Or simply extra storage space?

However you're using your sunroom, you'll need to strip it back if you want to create a functional office, and while the dining table might be a healthy addition to your new office - beanbags, blankets and dog beds definitely won't. 

The best workspaces are free from clutter and fairly minimal in design. Having too many 'things' around can distract you from your work and make you feel overwhelmed. So, take a look at your sunroom and decide what needs to come out of there so your office conversion can commence.

Converting your sunroom into an office

The way that you set up your new garden office conversion can have a huge impact on your productivity. As we've previously mentioned, minimal design and clutter-free spaces are ideal. You should consider:

• Facing your desk away from the garden so you don't get distracted by things in the garden
• Taking advantage of the natural light by keeping windows and doors clear of furniture
• Allowing space for things you need for work eg. paperwork, folders, coffee (of course!)
• Closing the door and reminding people not to disturb you during work hours
• Keeping your phone out of reach

Benefits of a sunroom office conversion

So, by now you're probably wondering - why should I convert my sunroom rather than another room in the house? There are a few benefits to choosing an outdoor office, including:

• Lots of natural light
• Easy access to fresh air
• An obvious separation between your 'work' space and your 'home' space

If you don't already have a sunroom that you can convert into an office, we can help! We have a wide range of sunrooms that can be fully customised with lights, heaters and shades to help you create the perfect office space. Get in touch to find out more.

Browse All Sunrooms >

Over recent years, more and more households up and down the country have added a sunroom to their property with the aim of combining their outdoor space with the indoors. As well as this, sunrooms bring a host of other fantastic benefits such as providing extra space and adding greater value to your property. For these reasons, it comes as no surprise that more homes are seeing the introduction of sunrooms, rather than conservatories, which have been the go-to for UK homes over the last 20 years. 

Despite the popularity of conservatories, one of the biggest drawbacks that they bring during the warmer, summer months is overheating, another reason why more homeowners are switching to sunrooms. Now, we're not saying that sunrooms do not get hot during the summer, they do, we are just saying that they are far less likely to turn into a walk-in oven that's attached to your home. However, if we are lucky enough to get a sustained period of warm weather in the UK, you may feel the temperature beginning to rise within your sunroom, something you might want to avoid if you or your family spend the majority of your time there getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

So, what can you do lower the temperature? Here we present you with five simple ways to keep your sunroom cool in the summer! 

Insulate, insulate, insulate 

As sunrooms are often added to homes after the home is initially built, homeowners tend to forget to insulate them which can lead to increased temperatures during the summer. Therefore, an easy way to keep your sunroom cool during hot periods of weather is to add proper insulation. One great way to insulate your sunroom is to add multi-foil insulation. This acts as a vapour-controlled insulation blanket that will not only keep your sunroom cool in the summer but warm in the winter. It also helps to prevent damp, reduce glare and minimise the risk of the fading of your furnishings as a result of extensive exposure to the sun. 

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Our stylish glass sunrooms are fast becoming an extremely popular alternative to more traditional home extensions.

This is partially because our sunrooms can be installed with no foundation whatsoever.

So installing a SunSpaces garden room is far quicker and less labour-intensive than building a conservatory.

What's the Difference Between a Sunroom and a Conservatory?

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Conservatory. Sunroom. Orangery.

These three words are often mixed up and misused. We explained the difference between a sunroom and a conservatory in a previous blog post - today we're going to try and define what an orangery is, and how it differs from the other two.

Here's an example of what an orangery looks like:

Photo by Elliott Brown

As you can see, an orangery looks very similar to a conservatory, but there's one defining difference: a conservatory has a glass roof, whereas an orangery has a solid roof.

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