There are 18 ways to make your sunroom more inviting and comfortable.

Before settling on furnishings for your sunroom, think about how you'll be using the room. The space is versatile enough to be used as an additional lounge, a bright dining room, or a soothing retreat. Furnish the sunroom with items that serve the intended purpose, whether that be a table with bench seating for relaxed mealtimes or a hanging rattan chair for a quiet place to read. Mount some string lights above the furniture if you intend to use the space after dark.

When you add a sunroom to your home, you can increase the amount of space available for living and entertaining. Cozy up with a large, upholstered sectional that seats a large group and encourages chitchat. Add some soft throw pillows, some potted plants, and a coffee table stacked with books to make your sunroom more relaxing.

Place your bold color and pattern experiments here. Get some basic furniture for your sunroom that you can rearrange in different ways to suit different decor schemes. Cushions, pillows, and rugs can be layered in a variety of complementary colors and patterns to add visual interest and texture to a space. The convenience of using a color or pattern on an accent piece like a pillow, throw, or rug is that it can be easily replaced if you grow tired of it.

This sunroom's large sliding doors and transom windows create an almost seamless transition between the indoors and outdoors. Yet, it maintains the home's consistent modern farmhouse aesthetic. The neutral gray couch, leather chairs, and wooden coffee table complement the rest of the space's design.

Look to the rest of your house for ideas on how to decorate this room. Select clean lines and modern materials, like bleached wood and painted metal, when furnishing a modern sunroom. Limit yourself to a color scheme of whites, creams, grays, and blacks, with just a few accent colors for subtlety.

An excellent use of pattern and color coordination makes this sunroom feel open and spacious. The white slipcovered couch is contrasted by upholstered rattan chairs and adorned with an assortment of textured throw pillows. A bright geometric area rug brightens up the otherwise dark hardwood flooring.

Since you'll be safe from rain and snow, you can place furniture and electronics normally reserved for indoor spaces like lamps, stereos, and televisions in your sunroom. The addition of the latter two is especially helpful for drawing in evening visitors, such as family and friends. Here, gray walls and window treatments are given visual pop by an eclectic mix of black and white patterns in the sofa and ottomans.

Some sunrooms even have more than one door! It's acceptable to appropriate some of that space for a designated activity area if some of those are used less frequently. Here, the sunroom serves primarily as a living area, but a compact table and chairs in a classical style provide a cool, shady spot for al fresco meals.

Two doors lead into this sunroom; one is rarely used and has no furniture or wall space to display it. To hang artwork and arrange furniture, the homeowners ingeniously repurposed one of the sunroom's doors. An eye-catching throw's pattern is echoed in the upholstery of a compact storage bench.

A table and chair are the usual corner pieces of sunroom furniture. However, a built-in corner bench is a great way to make the most out of your space, especially if you have a limited amount of it. These cabinets not only have extra storage but are also adorned with cushions and pillows. A combination of turquoise, yellow, and orange is used, and it is all brought together by the fabrics.

This sunroom, though long and relatively narrow, could have easily become a hodgepodge of furniture and materials. Instead, the homeowner made use of a tropical theme to divide the room almost in half, creating a living area and dining area. The furniture and the textured wallpaper are tied together by the dark stain and the repeated use of wicker, while the patterned pillows add pretty pops of color.

A casual sunroom may look out of place in a more traditionally decorated home. Rather, it's preferable to keep the same aesthetic in fittings and finishes. This sunroom is flooded with natural light from the many windows that line its walls. The formal atmosphere is preserved by the classic lines and patterns of the furniture and the chandelier.

In most cases, the focal point of a sunroom will be a set of furniture for relaxing in, eating in, or doing some other form of socializing. Nonetheless, if you have an opinion, you should probably reconsider that norm. For instance, the furniture in this sunroom was designed so that the homeowners could enjoy the room's unobstructed views. A few throw pillows, a rug, and a statue with a nautical theme are all that's needed to make this space feel cozy and put together.

The exterior shingles and slate floor bring the indoors and outdoors together in harmony. The homeowners jazzed up their dark wicker furniture by adding pops of color with turquoise, orange, and yellow throw pillows. Because of the contrast between the lighter and darker elements, the room feels warm and inviting.

Although most homeowners use mirrors for a more obvious purpose (to check their appearance in the mirror), they also serve an important function by reflecting light and reducing the appearance of shadows. While most of a sunroom will be bathed in natural light, those dark nooks and crannies can be deceiving. The all-white decor keeps the sunroom bright during the day, and the lamp's reflection in the mirror makes the room seem even brighter and more expansive after dark. The mirror and console table add a touch of elegance to the space.

The majority of modern sunrooms look more like indoor rooms than outdoor additions. Featuring a combination of the two styles, this one has a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and unfinished walls that are softened by decorative window treatments and a modern sectional sofa. Baskets, which can also be used as decorative accents, can be placed under furniture to provide extra storage space.

Even though most sunrooms revolve around seating, an attractive chest or dresser can be the showpiece of the space. Here, a showy chest serves as both storage and design inspiration for the room's ramshackle layout. This sunroom is transformed into an oasis by the addition of a painted floor, an Oriental rug, and rattan furniture inspired by tropical settings.

Use of a sunroom may be limited to the warmer months in regions with less consistent weather, even if the windows are screened. It's up to you to make sure that the upholstery, furnishings, and decorative touches can handle the rain, wind, and sunshine. The wicker furniture used here is weatherproof, and the graphic pattern on the floor of the sunroom served as inspiration for the designs used on the pillows and rug.