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If you love the sun but live in a place where the weather turns cold and damp for a good part of the year, don't despair. With a little imagination and redecorating, you can create a welcomed retreat that will be wonderful 365 days a year.

One of the most beautiful places on earth is the Adirondacks where pioneer families would regularly spend their summers. There, they could relax in their slant back Adirondack Chairs that offered sumptuous relaxation during the long hot days.

If your home has a sunroom, you can create an Adirondack-style retreat quite easily. Chances are your sunroom (in some places around the country they're called Florida rooms), lets lots of light in through the windows.
If you have an open porch instead, consider closing it off with windows. There are many window designs on the market today that allow you to keep the winter weather out while letting the cool spring and summer breezes through without affecting your home's appearance. Plus, you gain additional space that was only seasonal before.

In redecorating your sunroom or porch, you want to create additional light in the space. You can do this by adding a bright color to the walls with paint or wallpaper. Stay away from stark white as the main color of the room. Instead, go for something that creates contrast ' a light tan, peach or even yellow will do the trick.

Of course, furniture is an important addition to your vacation retreat and nothing says relaxation like Adirondack furnishings. For history buffs, Adirondack Chairs have been around for more than a century. They were invented by Thomas Lee, who was vacationing with his family in the Adirondacks in 1903.

Since then, these chairs have spawned countless offspring, including porch swings, tables, ottomans and lounges. They come in a wide range of materials from traditional wood to plastic.

When selecting the right Adirondack Chairs for your sunroom or porch, you'll want to go with wood. While the plastic or resin versions are great for seasonal entertaining outdoors, you'll want something that's a little more durable for every day use.

There are no hard and fast rules when selecting Adirondack Chairs. You can go the traditional route and select the classic version that's been a staple of patios and lawns for the last 100 years. Or you can go with a more contemporary look and select chairs that feature an all-in-one retractable ottoman or built in side tables.

Natural wood and white are the traditional colors of Adirondack Chairs, but today you can find them in virtually any color. You may even want to get them in natural wood and paint them yourself in a color that's complementary to the ones you've chosen for the walls.

Finally, be sure to add the little touches that make a retreat comfortable. Area rugs for the floor will keep the winter cold at bay and floor lamps and table lamps will provide additional lighting for reading. For special evenings, consider adding hurricane lamps to the room for additional warmth and romance.