The sunroom of our 1970s home was dark, depressing and dated, with mission brown aluminium windows, a grubby fibreglass roof and dark red-brown 70s brick walls. We gave it a mini-renovation for $500. We rendered the dark red-brown brick with both Cement Australia Render It and Dulux Texture Full Cover. We painted the mission brown aluminium windows and timber supports. Painting aluminium windows is a great way to give them a boost if you cannot afford to replace them.

You can either paint your aluminium windows with a brush or spray paint them. If you use a brush, first clean the windows really well (use methylated spirits or isopropyl alcohol on stubborn spots. Tape the edges, prep with White Knight Rust Guard S.L.S Etch Primer and finish with a gloss paint, like British Paints InColour Full Gloss Enamel in White.

Spraying windows is faster but will require more careful prep as the backspray goes far. To spray paint aluminium windows, tape them and cover the surrounding areas with newspapers or a drop cloth. Coat the frame with a primer like Flodd ESP Easy Surface Prep. Once that is dry, apply your top coat paint like White Knight Rust Guard Topcoat Epoxy Enamel or one of the glossy spray paints from Rustoleum. Do several thin coats or as many as you need, rather than one or two thick coats which can cause the paint to sag and run and destroy the look. We went for a glossy finish.

Finally we replaced the dated fibreglass panels with new Colorbond ceiling panels that instantly lightened up the space. Our once-dark, depressing sunroom feels so much lighter and more cheerful now.