Decorating A Sunroom With Purple

They say that purple is the color of royalty, and I can see why. It exudes richness, luxury and formality. Purple hasn't really been one of my favorite colors, so I always steered clear of it in interior design (unless it is specifically requested). Often seen in little girls' rooms or on heavy velvet fabrics in a formal home, it just wasn't my "go to" color.

These days purple has become a hot trend in fashion and interior design. The beautiful color purple and its many variations can now be seen in some of the most beautiful fabrics from the heavy weight fabric houses in the industry. Now you can find contemporary geometrics, playful florals, luxurious silks and casual patterns. Duralee is one such company that never ceases to amaze me with their beautiful fabrics.

For today's virtual room, I will be doing a sunroom with purple being the color theme.
Sunrooms are all about lounging and relaxing  in a light, bright, airy atmosphere with tons of sulight streaming in. Again, purple tends to be a formal color, so my challenge will be to keep this room casual but sophisticated, so that it will live up to its role. Sunrooms often have plenty of windows and can sometimes be a solarium with walls and ceiling made from glass. If there are any walls to speak of in your sunroom, it is safe to introduce a darker color without having to worry about the room feeling closed in. For our virtual sunroom, we'll do just that.

Our walls will be done in this dark purple grasscloth from Wallpapers To Go. The color, of course is perfect to tie our color scheme together, while the texture of the grasscloth wallpaper adds interest, and give the feeling of being in an island getaway. Since we have plenty of windows to bring in natural light, this wallpaper will not be too dark.

We'll jump right into our window treatments. Every window needs two layers of window treatments - one layer for privacy and the second for style and aesthetics. Usually in sunrooms, privacy is not a big factor. Most people usually want to keep their windows free of obstructions to maximize natural light and their views to the outdoors. With so many choices available today in window treatments today, we don't have to compromise - we can get he best of both worlds. We will be using Solar Roman Shades from Smith and Noble done in an off-white color. Roman styling means the shades stack in softly tailored folds when opened and almost out of view, and lie flat when lowered. Specially woven fabrics let you see out clearly while reducing glare and filtering out up to 97% of UV rays. Perfect for sunrooms.

Next we'll add a second layer by way of non-functional drapery panels. Non-functional means they are not meant to provide privacy, but are meant to frame the windows, overlapping them just a few inches. This will allow a clear unobstructed view out the windows. We will be doing the drapery panels in this beautiful patterned linen fabric from Kast Fabrics called Morocco Berry. We will line the fabric with blackout or solar lining to help prevent fading from strong UV rays. We will do soft cartridge pleats for the panels.

Next we'll bring in the our seating. This wood framed sofa from Lexington Home brands is both casual and sophisticated. It has a tiny hint of the Moroccan lattice work on the sides, which relates very well to the drapery

We will keep the sofa body fabric the same white fabric as shown, but will add a contrasting piping on the edges with this solid purple fabric. We will add tons of pillows in the various fabrics shown below.

Here are the pillow fabrics:

Next we'll introduce a pair of accent chairs. These beautiful chairs from Hickory Chairs are great looking and comfortable - perfect for a sunroom. We'll reupholster these chairs in this gorgeous medallion fabric from Vervain. 

A small bench is a great piece to bring in to round out the seating area. We'll reupholster this bench in a dark solid purple fabric with the stripe fabric as the bolster pillows.

Next we'll introduce the occasional tables in the room

We'll keep the cocktail table and one small end table between the chairs very simple and then add these moroccan influenced end tables to spice things up.

We'll also add a bookcase to the room. This will add some height and storage in the room. The open shelving helps to keep things nice and airy. We kept the lines simple to avoid visual clutter.

Now for our area rug. This hand woven wool rug from Safavieh is neutral against all the colors of the room, but a strong enough statement to ground the seating area.

 Now for some lighting and accessories. We will need a few accessories to fill the bookcase without creating clutter.

 



 So there you have it, a sunroom done with purple as the main color. I have gotten over my phobia of designing with purple! :-). Purple is a wonderful color, and when correctly used, can have beautiful results. I will be pitching purple at my next design consultation! I hope after reading this and seeing all the beautiful fun finds, you are inspired to create and decorate the home of your dreams.

Here are my top three fun finds of the week:

This is the Nexus swivel chair from Wisteria. Such a fun whimsical piece for a living room.

Of course we've seen this chair before, such a dramatic piece!

Here's another fun piece from Wisteria. This great side table.