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    Drafty, cold and damp are not the words you want to use to describe a sunroom. But, unfortunately for a St. Louis couple, these were exactly the conditions they faced in their unused solarium. Originally an outdoor patio with an overhang roof built with the home in 2009, the couple had it glassed in shortly after moving in with the hopes to make it a more livable space adjoined to their living room. While the solarium had a great outdoor feel, it was built on top of garden pavers, so moisture seeped up from the pavers giving the room a damp feeling when it rained.

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        It started, innocently enough, with plans to take down a wall that isolated the kitchen from the living room: a simple, minor demolition meant to create a larger kitchen with visual access to the living room. But after Renee Pipher and fiancé Kevin DeRossett initiated the project with the help of interior designer CJ Knapp of Yours by Design, they began to see greater potential in their Smithton, IL, ranch home.

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    “That’s Macy’s little room,” says homeowner Mary Jennings, referring to the 10-by-10-foot nook off her master bedroom — an area so tiny it might have been tricky for some designers to outfit. Knapp, though, created a cheerful design centered around Jennings’ 9-pound Bichon Frise, who naps daily on the custom 4-by-6 hand-knotted Jaipur rug. Jennings uses the room, too, mostly for reading on the contemporary – and comfy – chair-and-a-half by Sherrill Furniture.