We do not keep the animals indoors, but all 3 cats and 2 of the 3 dogs have access to the sunroom via doggy door. I keep it 40-60 degrees, except during the afternoon when the southern sun heats it up to a balmy 80 or better. Nevertheless, ALL try to convince us of their sorry condition and that they really should be kept as indoor pets...
I love my sunroom. It was our very first salvage project on this house, begun in hopes of saving my Florida bougainvilleas and orchids all of which succumbed to the first freeze of our first winter here, a mere day or two before the room was completed almost entirely out of salvage yard materials. Ok yes, it was for the dog and cat we brought with us, too. Fortunately for me orchids are easy to come by here and my collection has been more than replaced, and I have come to terms with letting our 4 years in Florida satisfy me for the glamorous bougainvillea. (This is made easier by the fact that in person they are unruly, have cruel thorns and drop their colorful bracts daily.)
I might rather call this room "The Conservatory" if only there was space for a piano, because "Sunroom" really doesn't do it justice or convey the joy it brings to my life. I winter over certain 'temperamental' favorites here like my variegated lemon, key lime, and orchid trees, amaryllis, my christmas cactus (blooming to the right of Sylvester), and this year the one fuchsia that was both successful in our hot-humid climate AND a beautiful specimen, too. I even have a tomato in bloom that I am anxious and ready to pollinate with my fine soft paintbrush and then wait expectantly for the first fruit! (it's across the room to the left of Syli). I have been known to start vegetable seeds when the planets align, which, interestingly, they have, sort of by accident, but more on that later. And "Greenhouse" is too utilitarian and singular in purpose, whereas "Doghouse" well, no, although I will reluctantly admit that it smells that way when the sun is hot and the dogs are damp.
The "Pampered Paw Palace" comes to mind when the labs are curled up in front of the heater on their padded carpets and the cats are snuggled in their faux shearling cat bed on the perch near the ceiling. The perch was a fun project: it is come to by way of a series of 3 catwalks. The lowest, where Syli is seated crosses half the slider, then there is a corner turnaround about two feet up from there and then another catwalk goes across the top of the entire sliding door to the 2x3 carpeted perch which used to be the hinged hatch of an old outbuilding.
I will not say that it is easy to keep this room clean. The firewood ring sits just through the slider on the left and litters the floor with bark. Between that, the repotting of plants, the shaking of wet dogs and the occasional deer leg or dead animal that is drug through the door for idle chewing, it is actually almost impossible to achieve. (Another good reason it can't be called "The Conservatory".) Since nothing else will do and the sun is very much there when it is shining, I guess it will remain the "Sunroom" for now. Whatever it is called, I love it.
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