If you’re lucky enough to have a sunroom, Thanksgiving is the best time to show it off. Why? Being surrounded by nature while you’re eating Thanksgiving dinner is an experience. Watching the activity in your backyard, looking at nature and maybe even some light snow while eating or lounging in a climate-controlled environment: it doesn’t get better!
Whether you’re turning it into a banquet room for Thanksgiving dinner or a sports lounge to watch football, there are tons of ways you can prepare your sunroom for Thanksgiving guests. Here’s how.
1. Feast!
If your sunroom is close enough to bring out the turkey, gravy, fixings, and sides from the kitchen, and if your sunroom can accommodate your Thanksgiving guest list, getting it ready with a table and the right settings will make for an unforgettable Thanksgiving experience.
Enhance it with festive bird feeders near your sunroom so you can see the cardinals, blue jays, and other bords who didn’t fly south for the winter. You can even turn up the ambiance with a garland of autumn leaves, gourds on the windowsills, and
Don’t feel like moving a whole table in there? Take some folding tables and drape them with a festive cloth. Chair covers also go a long way to turn an old folding chair into a seat fit for Thanksgiving.
2. Kids’ table
Not enough room for everyone? Turn into the “kids’ table.” Take a folding table or two (smaller ones perfect for littles if you have them) and transform your sunroom into a childhood oasis.
Before dinner, set up the kids’ table as a craft station. Place a second (possibly disposable) tablecloth on top of the tablecloth you’re using for dinner for easy cleanup. After all, there’s already plenty to do regarding cooking, cleaning and entertaining! Then, lay out construction paper, feathers, googly eyes, and glue. Glitter is very, very optional as it gets everywhere!
Then, have your younger guests make their own name tags. You know the drill: trace your hand on a piece of construction paper, cut it out and voila! Turkey name tag. For easy cleanup, here’s where the second tablecloth comes in. Have your littles leave the scraps and supplies on the table. Then, making sure every cap is screwed on tight, take the tablecloth, fold it over the mess, and stow it away to clean and organize later. If the tablecloth is disposable, remove all reusable supplies (glue, markers, etc.) and then take the scraps and debris, fold the tablecloth over it, and throw it out. Simple!
3. Sports lounge
If you already have a couch and a TV in your sunroom, turn it into a sports lounge. If you can, do some furniture rearranging to accommodate extra chairs. Folding chairs can work in a pinch with a cover. Put out some festive throw pillows and blankets in honor of your favorite team, if you have them. If not, some fuzzy throws will work.
Then, put a cooler or two in the room and fill it with ice and refreshments. As far as snacks go, you don’t need to go crazy with putting out snack bowls, taking up precious space in your dishwasher when it’s cleanup time. You can take some folding tables and establish a buffet station with chips, pretzels, cheese puffs, and more. Alternatively, place the chip bags in a decorated cardboard box – upcycle an old cardboard box (or enlist the kids) and decorate it to store snack bags. Decorate the box with leaves to add to the outdoors feel of your sunroom.
Thankfully, a lot of these great decorating ideas can be done without a sunroom, but you want the extra magic of a climate-controlled room with a giant view of the great outdoors, give us a call today! We’ll walk you through your options. Check out your free estimate here.