First, thank you so much for the incredible outpouring of congratulations on our announcement yesterday. It was wonderful to share the news with you. While we scrambled to keep up with the 3,000+ comments, our afternoon post didn’t make it out, so here’s the update we planned for later in the day. Sherry is busy copying questions from yesterday’s comments for Friday’s Q&A, and I’m reporting back on the small-but-impactful progress we made on the sunroom this week.
We focused on three finishing steps that turned the sunroom from so-so to much more resolved: installing trim, caulking, and painting. These tasks aren’t glamorous, but neat trim, proper caulking, and fresh paint make a huge visual difference. Sloppy trim or messy caulk can make a nicely furnished room look unfinished, so we paid attention to the details—especially since I made a mistake that ended up being a useful lesson to share.
We needed trim to finish off the new tongue-and-groove ceiling. At first I intended to use a narrow 1×2 trim at the top to match the room’s existing lattice-like trim and a quarter-round by the brick, with a chunkier 1×4 at the bottom to cover rough spots. After installing the pieces, we stepped back and realized the narrow trim looked too delicate next to the thicker bottom rail. It lacked visual balance.
So, 24 hours later we removed the skinny pieces and installed 1×4 trim all the way around each triangle so the top trim matched the weight of the bottom piece. It was a two-person job on ladders—one person held the boards while the other fired the nail gun—and I added a little wood glue behind each piece for extra adhesion. The results were worth the extra effort: much more balanced and finished looking.
The angled sections added a bit of complexity. We used an angle finder from a Kreg Crown Pro tool to capture the triangle nook angle, marked that on the board, and cut along the line with a circular saw. The cuts didn’t need to be perfect—caulk would take care of minor gaps—so the install moved fairly quickly even though we had to redo two sections.
Next came caulking. Because outdoor caulk has high VOCs and Sherry is pregnant, I tackled this step solo. In addition to sealing seams around the trim, I caulked nail holes in every ceiling plank. It took a couple of hours, but sealing those openings gives peace of mind that moisture and temperature changes won’t cause future warping or rot.
My approach became efficient: apply a small dot of caulk at each spot, smooth it with a water-dipped finger to remove excess, then finish by smoothing with a damp sponge. The sponge made a big difference in the finish and sped the process. The before-and-after photos don’t fully convey the subtle improvement, but taking care of those small distractions helped the ceiling feel truly finished.
Then we painted. We originally thought painting would be quick—after all, the sunroom has very little wall surface—but the 15-pane door and three large 15-pane windows added a lot of mullions to paint. It wasn’t terrible, but it was time-consuming. Two coats for full coverage took about four hours total. We used Snowbound by Sherwin Williams to match our exterior trim.
To avoid a future scraping headache, I did my best not to splash paint on the glass. I also tested a specialty brush designed for this kind of work. Both of us tried it briefly and ultimately found our usual short-handled brush easier for the job, but it was worth experimenting.
After the windows and door were done, I rolled most of the walls with a small foam roller and used an angled brush for tight spots. The final paint step was one more coat of the ceiling blue to mask any visible caulk lines—the white caulk can “flash” at certain angles if left unpainted. Because this ceiling only needed one coat and didn’t require cutting in, I finished it in about an hour while Clara was at preschool.
These seemingly small finishing steps—switching to the right trim profile, carefully caulking seams and nail holes, and applying fresh paint—made a big visual difference. They moved the ceiling from “mostly done” to truly complete, aside from the yet-to-be-installed fans. Here are the before-and-after shots showing the difference.
We crossed two more tasks off our to-do list, bringing us closer to the part we’re most excited about: installing the outdoor-safe tile floor. We hope to start tiling this week and share that update next week.
Rip up the old carpeting(more on that here)Remove the sliding doors and tracks to open things up(more on that here)Convert outlets to outdoor-safe, rain-proof ones with covers(more on that here)Add fresh casing to openings and caulk thoroughly to waterproof(more on that here)Demo the old ceiling and consider lofting it (consult a pro)(more on that here)Remove old beams, reinforce the ceiling, and re-route electrical for two fans(more on that here)Prime, paint, and install our beadboard ceiling(more on that here)Add trim around the ceiling and caulk/paint thatRepaint columns and interior trim with white exterior paint (from cream)- Hang two ceiling fans
- Tile the floors with an outdoor-safe, slip-resistant product (we picked our tile here)
- Bring in a rug, furniture, and consider outdoor curtains or lanterns/sconces
- Possibly build an outdoor fireplace down the line (inspiration here)
When we started this project we assumed a sunroom would be quicker than a kitchen or bathroom renovation. In reality, removing eight doors and a ceiling, running new electrical, installing a new plank ceiling, and painting lots of trim all added up. There’s still tiling and the fans to tackle, plus the long-term dream of a fireplace, but the room is visibly closer to being a finished, livable space. Sunroom renovations can be surprisingly involved—but the payoff is worth it.