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I'd love to see what kind of screened in porches you may have. I have been wanting one badly at this house out back (had one at my previous home & loved it), so we had a contractor come out yesterday, ran some ideas by him, and he is getting together a quote for us. I'm nervous because I'm pretty sure it's going to cost more than I am comfortable with. I should hear from him in a day or so. But, it doesn't hurt to find out! I'm thinking there are a few things we can cut costs on if need be.

So, show me what ya got, & if possible throw in a little detail about what size it is, what is used on the floor, ceiling, etc. Paint or stain, or a combo, etc.

Thanks!

Mine is not really a screened porch so much as it a three season room with three sets of six foot sliders on each wall. It's got a vaulted ceiling, sky light, sound surround (DH's idea, not mine) with the typical porch type seagrass furniture with an island type motif. the room was previously a deck and costs about $11K to finish off.

My favorite part is the ceiling pictured here.

Sorry! I have no idea why that came out so large! I usually size them so much they're too small.

anyway, just to add, all that goofy stuff is not up on the shelf anymore and DH added rope lighting behind it.

Our screened porch is our front porch that's been screened -- here is a pic of the front of the house.

And here it is from inside -- that's our front door.

And our breakfast room that we built on about 5 years ago -- it's 10 x 14 -- not very big but it's a great space for we've not had a place for casual meals. The "walls" are sliders -- the ceiling is 9 foot and flat. We have bead board on ceiling and what walls there are and a "brick" floor.

Martha

Linderhof, I WANT!!! Beautiful area I could spend all day in there!

Wanda,
Loving that ceiling! I am planning to use beadboard on my kitchen ceiling, still in planning stage.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Wanda, what a beautiful ceiling! Linderhof, that is a beautiful room!

We currently have a deck, which will be gone, & it will be from scratch. So far, the ideas we discussed are: white beadboard ceiling, gable roof, 2 ft. knee wall, (no spindles) with about an 8 in. ledge to sit stuff if I want (& a place for the cat to sit ), Trex (I think) floor, white trim outside to match house trim, fan, small stoop coming in the door at steps outside.

I'm thinking of changing the flooring to something other than the Trex. I can't see the need for that when it's going to be pretty much out of the weather. We can go with a slanted shed roof if we can deal with an 8ft. ceiling. But if we go with gable, it will be much more headroom.

Any other thoughts or ideas welcome.

Our screened porch is on the side of our house. We often eat lunch and sometimes dinner there. It is very small, just 7' X 14'. We screened it in ourselves but it had a ceiling (porch also above), pillars and flooring.

It was inexpensive because my DH did the work framing out what was necessary and making the screen panels.

He repainted the ceiling a couple of years ago and this is how it looked when he was done.

I had seen the trellis work design in a magazine and DH also constructed this. This is about 35 years and has held up incredibly well.

This is the porch when we first fixed it.

This is the little demi-lune table we eat from. I found it at our town swap shop (free) it hangs on the wall and is hinged so it can be lowered but we never do that!

This is ours, with the kids' super-soakers visible on the table. :-)

It measures 10x18. The ceiling and walls are wood (don't know what kind), except for the wall the porch shares with the house, which is brick. When we moved in the flooring was indoor/outdoor carpeting but we had that replaced and it's now slate-look porcelain tile. We love the flooring; it's been there for ten years and has held up beautifully.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: azul99,

The porch is off our dining room, to the right (behind the bushes; DH planted them for privacy) in this house photo.

My favorite porch activity: eating! Very relaxing, whether it involves coffee and bagels, or dinner with a nice leisurely glass of wine.

I'm in the market for new chair cushions for the chair/table set; those are pretty tired-looking. I'd love a rug out there as well, but with all the pollen in our area in the spring, keeping a rug clean would be a full-time job!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: azul99,

LOS; I love your porch, especially the lattice detail, that gives me ideas!

Azul99, your porch is almost identical to my previous one, except for the floor. Very pretty!

These sweet porches make me impatient for one!

Dear Donna,
I am sorry that I can't show you any pictures of the pourch that I grew with it, but that was years and years ago. What I do remember about it was that it ran the whole length of our large 4 bedroom, 2 story house. It was one story high and my sister and I used to sneak out of our bedroom window( which over looked the pourch) to listen to what our parents and friends were talking about!( Boy, did we learn about the "birds and the bees", as well as what our parents were like as kids!).
I do remember that when my parents remolded the house, before they moved in, was that they made sure that the door from the kitchen(which was off the porch) was wide enought for our kitchen /and or our dinning room table fit thru, so we could eat on the porch in warm weather. I also remember that somehow,(remember that I was very young) the porch had somekind of sliding glass windows that could be used to close off the screens so that the porche could be used in the winter.
I wish that I could be of more help to you, but it all depends on what and how you want to use your porch for. IE, do you want it just to be a place that you can sit out on for enjoyment of the outdoors without all the bugs, or do you want it to be a place that you can use to entertaine in the summer? Remember that how or what you want to use your porch for will determine how you design your porch.
After all, to sound like a designer, remember that " Form follows(sp?) function".
Mary

My DH and brother built our screened porch about 13 years ago, over the slab that was already there.

View from the other side.

Mary, what lovely memories of your porch! Sounds perfect! Basically, what we are hoping to accomplish is a place to sit & relax, eat, read, etc. where we have shade & freedom from bugs. We don't really do any entertaining, so to speak, just the occasional friend who drops in or family visits. Nothing fancy, really.

Nitalynn, how serene & neat your porch is! It looks similar to what I am envisoning as the height of the wall there. Nice that you have "handy" family members who can help with these things.

I'm loving all these pics, thanks for showing me.

LOS,
I love that trellis. I think it just makes the atmosphere of the porch!
I also like the little demi-table to eat at!

azu199,
Love that porcelain tile floor! I also love your view! Nice comfy porch and a great place to hang out! It is real nice how your DH planted the bushes for privacy! Nice house and yard too!

msmarymac,
Did you ever tell your parents about what you overheard?

Nitalynn,
I like the porch with the light color (color of the stone). Looks so relaxing and nice view of the greenery outside. Love the view of the deck!

We do not have a porch or a back deck (We did in our Virginia house) nor do we even have a back patio yet! I am envious of all of you!

Our screened porch is a freestanding structure placed so we get the best view of the sunrise. It is connected to our house by a little breezeway. This night time shot is the only one I can find quickly.[URL= ]Porch at night[/URL]

Ow how nice! What a great shot of the porch! How wonderful you can catch the sunrise!
Very nice!

Just want to offer a word of caution about lattice screening. Although LOS' is lovely, it is a custom-made screen. We recently purchased a vacation home with a screened porch. The POs covered the screens with vinyl lattice. Maybe its just me, but I thought the lattice was awful and we removed it first thing after taking possession. Here is a 'before' shot. The porch is a work in progress, so no 'afters' yet.

Here is our favorite room: our screened porch. It is about 26' X 9': its dimensions proved a bit of a challenge to furnish. So, I created three separate seating areas, with room for dining. It faces southwest, but the trees provide some shade. Roll-up shades also help with the abundant sunshine we have here in Texas.

The porch was a pretty bare bones spot when we bought the home. In 2007, as part of our remodeling project, we opened up the LR wall and created three sets of French door sliders to the porch. The porch got new stone tile floors because the original concrete slab was an awful mess. We added the two ceiling fans and a recessed ceiling pot light. I designed a large floor to ceiling louvered privacy wall, where the door is, but it is out of camera range in my pictures.

Another shot our porch:

One more:

Oldhouseluvr,
I agree the 4X8 kind cannot compare to custom.
aychihuahua,
What a nice space you created! I remember your posts about the project! I love the sliders! There is so much more interest with all those windows (sliders)!

I also like the color scheme! And the clock is nice too, but who wants to keep track of time when sitting out there!

quote:

I also like the color scheme! And the clock is nice too, but who wants to keep track of time when sitting out there!

LOL, MR. The clock is there to remind us when happy hour starts.

[/QUOTE]LOL, MR. The clock is there to remind us when happy hour starts.[/QUOTE]

Love your porch!

Busyjo, your porch is just about what we have in mind for ours, not a lot different. Very nice!

Oldhouseluvr, I have to admit, that was a pretty bad screen job!

aychihuahua, that is one beautiful porch, & you have decorated it so pretty!

I have my notifications "on", but for some reason am not getting them. Hmm...maybe I need to check my spam folder.

Donna, thanks.

As you can see from all the wonderful screen porches posted here, the key is to furnish them as you would any interior living space: with comfortable furniture made of the best quality materials you can afford, plus lamps, tables, rugs, fabrics and accessories.

The good news is there is an abundance of gorgeous, weather-resistant indoor-outdoor furnishings available, more so than ever.

Even salvaged or gently used stuff can come alive with a bit of elbow grease, paint and fabrics.

Have fun designing your outdoor room: guaranteed it will be the favorite spot in your house.

I'm so jealous of all of these beautiful screened porches. I grew up with a screened porch - a must here in MD in the summer b/c of bugs, especially mosquitos. Dh and my father built one onto our house shortly after we moved in and we lived out there for the first seven years we were here. We outgrew our house and needed that space to add a 2-story addition (family room and bedroom). I was never so sad the day they tore off the screened in porch. We can't add another off the back b/c I think we have reached the limit of impervious structure over our property (we live in a "critical area" by the water). I dream of somehow making use of our front porch to see if we can extend it by a few feet and screen it in, but not sure if we would get a permit, plus I wonder if it would look funny.

This time of year is when I get really sad about it. My neighbor has a huge screened porch and I drool over it. I'm loving looking at all the pictures of yours, even if it makes me jealous!

I'm so jealous - my screened porch is still filthy from the winter! BUT, that is the first project next weekend - get that baby cleaned so that I can enjoy it! I also don't have any pictures on this computer...

aychihuahua,
And where can I get some of that 'elbow grease'? chuckle...

I am wanting a screened in porch more than ever after seeing these photos and how everyone enjoys their porches!

I just put windows in mine getting to old to be screening

Green with envy here.

Wanda, I LOVE that fan. Now that is a fan I wouldn't mind having in my home.

I would take any one of your sunrooms.

Jeanette,
Love your windows! I have a living room and a Den off the kitchen would love a screened in porch so that the dragonflies, flies,bees, huge butterflies, lizards, frogs and snakes won't bother me while I read or enjoy my iced tea outside! Oh forgot how the squirrels come up to check what I am doing, then of course the Osprey comes to land on the fence to check out all the little critters for a snack. Everything is fine and peaceful till I sit still for a while, then the show starts! We have a preserve right behind our property where wildlife lives.

A screened in area means I would spend more quiet time out of doors, and in the evenings it is nice out here in Central East Coast Florida.

I used to have a house in Florida with a screened in porch, loved it!

Jeanette, I love your idea of windows because that means in the winter or cold rainy days you can close all the windows! Here in Florida a lot of sun porches or screened in rooms have Jalousie windows that open up and they don't let as much rain in when it pours here.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

These pics of screened porches are nice! I want one, but my view would be looking into the neighbors backyard; not a pleasant view.

Thanks for the kind remarks. Donna, I sent you a PM with size, materials, and a link to pictures of the construction process.

Well, after hearing from the contractor yesterday, I can say with certainty we won't be getting a porch this year! The quote they gave was close to about 2x more than what we thought (hoped) it might be. $15,500. I know materials aren't cheap, but wow. For our area that seemed steep. I guess we could get a couple more quotes, but I would imagine prices would be pretty close to that by others. We had one similar to it put on our previous home 9 years ago for $4,200.

Anyway, thanks for all the pics of the porches you posted. A gal can dream, can't she? LOL

Donna - I wouldn't assume that all of the quotes will be in the same ballpark. When we added on a family room addition, the estimates varied widely. We called four contractors and the estimates varied by $8,000 to $10,000+.

WOW...some really nice screened in porches, I would love to have one some day also.....good luck to you Donna....

Mine is kind of a mud room, too, because you walk thru it from the parking.

Annabelle, that room is one of my all time favorites from any decorating sight or forum. Love its warmth and that it is nautical without being beachy. Wish DH would have tolerated roll out windows but alas it was his project.

YOUR ROOM is the one! I just came across this photo in my 'dream' inspirational photos for how a sleep porch should look/feel. I LOVE this photo, so much atmosphere! I will note that it is yours. SO NEW ENGLAND!