What Is A Florida Room In A House? Find Out Here!

If you’ve stumbled across this article, chances are you want to know what is a Florida room in a house? Perhaps you are thinking of building your own Florida room, or maybe you want to learn more about these cool rooms. Either way, you’re at the right place!

Here, I’ll be covering both the brief and detailed definitions of Florida rooms and the various features, types, and decoration ideas that come along with them.

What is a Florida room in a house?

A Florida room in a house refers to an additional room attached to a house. It was either during its initial construction or as an add-on feature after the house was built. Also known as a sun room, these rooms provide natural light into the home through a framework of large transparent glass walls. Typically, they are built out into the backyard, to make a great private space.

Florida rooms provide a warm and cozy feel to your home. They often feature indoor house plants, comfortable couches, chairs, tables, and a roof fan or other cooling device.

History of Florida rooms

These beautiful attached rooms originated in the 1950s when they grew in popularity in Florida for their stylish designs (1). They are designed to let in lots of natural sunlight and fresh air. Because of this, Florida rooms have been on the rise not just in America but all over the world.

You may know Florida rooms by other names, such as patio rooms, sunrooms, sun parlors, or garden rooms. All of which refer to a similar concept but emphasize different features.

One of the motivations that led to the concept of the Florida room was cultivating an outdoor living space free of downsides. This includes things such as mosquitos, dirt, and harsh weather elements. These rooms were designed to promote a sense of outdoor living that can’t be achieved with regular house rooms.

A fantastic incentive to build yourself a Florida room is that they add value to your property in terms of its financial cost. So, if you feel like they are a little pricey, remember that you could also see Florida rooms as a strategic investment for your assets.

Features of a Florida room

In truth, many different types of Florida rooms offer unique features that the homeowner chooses to emphasize on. However, some key features remain consistent across all types of Florida rooms, the most prominent being the large glass walls that allow natural sun to shine in from outside.

Other common features include couches, tables, and lamps for comfortable sitting areas and ceiling fans or HVAC systems for temperature regulation.

Many Florida rooms also have insulation properties that reflect the harsh weather elements and undesired temperature of the outside climate. This allows you to maintain the room temperature of the home.

In terms of physical location, these rooms are typically situated next to the backyard, at the back of the house away from the public eye. This provides its inhabitants with a sense of privacy and relaxation.

Many homeowners also choose to build swimming pools and barbecue stations in their Florida rooms, making them a great summertime getaway for family and friends.

What is a Florida room used for?

The way that people use Florida rooms varies from person to person and family to family. Depending on the season, the purpose of these rooms changes throughout the year. Sun porch rooms are used for sitting and relaxing with a book, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee, or conversing with a loved one.

They can also be used as a playroom for children or as an entertainment room for people of all ages. They feature outdoor kitchens and swimming pools to promote outdoor fun.

Depending on the household, different Florida rooms focus on different centerpieces. These dictate different core activities for the room. Some Florida rooms are not so focused on the outdoor living aspect. Rather, they promote indoor activities complemented by the relaxing atmosphere of the large glass windows and natural light seeping through.

For example, rather than building an outdoor kitchen or a swimming pool in the room, some families go with soft cushions, a television, and a gaming console (2). This gives a semi-outdoor vibe while still getting to do comfortable indoor activities.

Designing your perfect Florida room

Many design options for Florida rooms offer unique benefits and aesthetics to suit your needs and desires. Below is a list of the common features you may choose to emphasize or diminish. These can set the foundation for the type of Florida room you envision.

Glass windows

This is perhaps the most significant feature that directly impacts the atmosphere of the Florida room. The type of glass used for the window will directly impact the amount of sunshine that enters the room.

Double-paned glass offers great insulation to maintain healthy plants in extremely cold weather. The cold will be absorbed as these panes reflect weather extremities and help keep Florida rooms warm all year round.

Outdoor kitchen

An outdoor kitchen is a popular choice among owners of Florida sunrooms. They provide an opportunity for semi-outdoor cooking that keeps smells and messes away from the main indoor space.

Outdoor kitchens are the ideal way to prepare food for the outdoor living area, as you can open up the windows. Let all the cooking fumes out, and can more easily access the backyard to serve your guests or family members.

An outer set of culinary equipment, a sink, a refrigerator, and a barbecue station can help provide a more pleasant outdoor grill area. You won’t have to deal with insects, winds, rainfall, or overwhelming sunlight.

Backyard

The location of your Florida room is probably going to be the backyard. This is the optimal private and spacious spot to create opportunities for more activities. However, you could also feature this room on the side of the house. Particularly if it offers extra space and a nice view that exceeds your backyard’s.

While not a popular choice, you can also situate this enclosed porch room at the front of your house. In this case, I’d recommend tinted windows to promote a sense of privacy from the public eye.

Swimming pool

Depending on the size and location of your Florida living rooms, you may choose to build a swimming pool as the centerpiece. Indoor swimming pools are much easier to clean and maintain than outdoor ones. You won’t have to deal with leaves, pests, and other nasty elements making their way into the pool.

Furthermore, you can enjoy swimming during winter weather. The natural sunlight on a nice summer day without its heat being too harsh on the skin.

Decoration ideas for Florida rooms

Once you’ve decided on the core features of this new space in your home, you can start to add decorations. This will make your Florida room an even more pleasant living space for the family. For example, you could add a dining room table and chairs inside to create a vibrant dining area for the family with a nice outdoor view.

You could also add curtains to give you better control of how much sunlight you want to enter the room, as sometimes it can be too much on an extra hot and sunny day.

To create a more conservatory feel to your Florida room, you can decorate it with plants resting on tables. Hanging from the ceiling and walls to make a nice winter garden room for yourself to relax in.

These rooms are also excellent to fill up with your favorite lamps and lanterns to create a unique nighttime vibe for winter and summer nights. You may also opt for a screened-in patio to promote even more natural light coming in while allowing constant exposure to fresh air while keeping nasty insects out.

Final thoughts on Florida rooms

All in all, a Florida room can make a huge difference to your home. Both in terms of a positive living experience for you and the family and a great financial investment for your home’s monetary value.

They can be designed and decorated in all ways that suit your needs and desires. There are many activities that these rooms can enable for you and all members of the household.

What is a Florida room in a house FAQ

What’s the difference between a sunroom and a Florida room?

There is essentially no difference between a sun room and a Florida room, and many other names refer to the same thing such as patio room, lanai room, screened in patio, sun parlor, or garden room. Regardless of the name you go with, all these related terms define an additional attached room to a house (usually in the backyard) that has clear windows that allow natural sunlight into the room.

What are Florida rooms for?

Florida rooms are used for many different things depending on how the homeowner chooses to design it, though generally speaking there is usually an outdoor element that comes along with them. Some common uses for Florida rooms include semi-outdoor living spaces, rooms for raising plants, entertainment rooms, swimming pool areas, and outdoor kitchen spaces.

Can you use a Florida room as a bedroom?

If desired, you can use a Florida room as a bedroom, though I would recommend adding drapery panels to allow the inhabitant to control the amount of sunlight that enters the room. While not a popular way to use a Florida room, you’ll find recent posts on the Internet advocating for this option for overcrowded homes where extra sleeping space is necessary.

What is the difference between a Florida room and a screened in porch?

A screened-in porch can be a feature of a Florida room that opts for a screened wall design instead of the common glass panel window route. Essentially, a screened-in patio or porch provides protection from insects and promotes fresh air flow, but comes at the cost of a crystal clear view into your backyard.

Sources

(1) – https://www.myflorida.com/

(2) – https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/video-game-console

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