We’re redoing the sunroom on a tight budget and trying to reuse as much as possible since we’re saving for other projects—Clara’s big girl room, a guest bathroom, and a porch and carport overhaul. There’s always a trade-off between saving money and getting full function: sometimes you can use everything you already own and get most of the usefulness, or you can spend a little and combine it with existing pieces to reach full function. We’re aiming for full function without breaking the bank.
So far we’ve only bought one gallon of paint for the walls and ceiling; everything else has come from furniture, accessories, and art we already owned (aside from the inexpensive frames we made). Recently, though, the room needed storage. Instead of adding more seating or another table, we decided a bookcase with eight cubbies would give us the most utility for the space.
We found a suitable unit at Ikea for $69 in the white finish (the gloss option was more expensive), and John and Clara had fun assembling it on a Saturday morning.
Looks like we have a little DIY fan in the family…
The assembly wasn’t long—about half an hour—and it fits nicely in the sunroom.
We prioritized storing items that make the room more functional: board games, a selection of books, and a few toys for Clara since she plays in the sunroom, and we sometimes play board games at the table in front of the daybed. And we love having books on display—our dining room built-ins have narrow shelves, so larger design books couldn’t fit there. Now those bigger books can live in the sunroom.
On top of the bookcase I added some color with vases John gave me for Mother’s Day and a secondhand bike Clara picked out a few years ago. The bike pieces have become a playful trio of bike-themed items that John particularly enjoys—he even wore a bike shirt for the photos. Whatever helps keep the room feeling fun and personal.
Here’s the room as it looks now:
Budget breakdown: almost everything in the room was already on hand. The only new purchases were the paint, the inexpensive frames we made, and the bookcase, so the refresh cost us under $135. That transformed the space from its previous look into something more functional and welcoming.
We still have one empty corner to address and a few finishing touches to balance the room—like adjusting the wooden side table—so there’s more to come. We’ll share updates as we make those final tweaks.
Are you assembling Ikea furniture or hunting for finds on Craigslist? One tip: check Craigslist before buying new—sometimes the exact piece you want shows up used for less. In our case the right size and color weren’t available secondhand, and building a similar chunky bookcase would have cost more than buying this one, so this felt like a smart, affordable shortcut.
And Clara’s favorite part of the whole project? The box the bookcase came in, of course.
