Bermuda Post

Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

How to Plan and Design the Screen Porch of Your Dreams

How to Plan and Design the Screen Porch of Your Dreams

Designing a screen porch? Use these tips for planning the location, choosing materials, and decorating your new indoor-outdoor space.

A custom-built screen porch gives you an outdoor living space you can enjoy almost year-round. It's the ideal setting for a cool lemonade on a hot summer afternoon or a warm mug of coffee on a crisp autumn morning. Your screen porch can serve as a quiet, private spot to start your days and an insect-free entertaining space in the evenings.

Depending on your climate and lifestyle, you might prefer a true screen room with no windows or a three-season room with windows that can open and close. Either version can be an attractive way to extend your living space. With careful planning and a few design tricks, you can create an ideal screen porch that bridges indoors and out. Use the following tips on planning and designing a screen porch to get started.



Best Location for Your Screen Porch


Deciding where to place your screen room can be crucial to your enjoyment of it later. First, consider the climate. A porch with a southern exposure is likely to get too hot in southern regions, whereas a northern exposure will likely be too chilly for homes in the North.

You should also consider the view from the screen porch and how secluded the area is from neighbors or the street. Take into account the direction the breeze usually comes from, and think about where you might place an outdoor grill. You don't want smoke to blow into your screen room on barbecue nights.

It's best to place a screen porch near rooms that you use often, such as the kitchen. This makes eating meals out on the porch convenient. However, if you'll be blocking the kitchen's only source of natural light, you might want to place it in front of an adjacent mudroom or laundry area.



How to Design a Screen Porch


When determining the size of your screen room, decide whether you want only a sitting area or a place to dine, too. Keep in mind that a long, narrow porch (at least 8 feet wide) can provide adjacent spaces for seating and dining and lets more light into the house than a square room.

If possible, build a room that is open on three sides. This increases the feeling of sitting outdoors (sans bugs) and helps air circulate. A peaked roof will allow you to install high windows, which also help with air circulation, and provides space for a ceiling fan. A gas or wood-burning fireplace will ensure the room is comfortable on chilly spring and fall evenings.



Ideas for Screen Porch Windows


Screen porch windows that can be removed and clipped back in during cooler weather also extend the screen room's use. However, they can limit design possibilities. In a room that's fully outfitted with screens, you aren't limited by window sizes and can use larger pieces of screening to provide more of an outdoor feeling. However, this will also require all-weather furniture and lead to more dirt and dust in your screen room.



Screen Porch Decorating Ideas


When decorating a screen porch, first determine how the room will typically be used. A screen room dedicated to entertaining will need enough comfortable seating for guests and a coffee table or a few side tables for setting beverages or snacks. Add warmth and personality to a screen porch with a large indoor-outdoor area rug and cozy pillows or throws on furniture. Be sure fabrics are outdoor-safe if the porch has no windows. If you plan to dine out on the screen porch, make space for a table and chairs. When decorating a small screen porch, keep in mind that a circular pedestal table, as opposed to a rectangular one, will be easier to navigate around in a tight space.



Choosing Screen Porch Materials


Building materials will have a large impact on the style and cost of your screen porch. Wood is a popular flooring choice for these indoor-outdoor spaces. Cedar is more expensive than some types, but it will stand up well to the elements. Plastic decking made from recycled materials is typically more expensive than wood, but it's virtually maintenance-free.

If the screen room is built on grade (at ground level), it can be built on a concrete slab, which is the least expensive flooring option. Staining the concrete adds a more upscale look. Stone, slate, or porcelain tiles also are good choices for screen porch flooring. On the walls, beaded-board paneling provides a cottage look, while wood produces a more rustic appearance.

The overall cost of a new screen porch can vary greatly, but for a starter 12x12-foot screen room that matches the style of the house, expect to pay $5,000 to $10,000. For a custom look, you could pay up to $25,000 or more.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×