You love spending time on your porch, but after a few minutes, you’re covered in bug bites and need to go inside to escape. Sometimes you want to sit outside, but it’s rainy, and the seats are damp because of the wind’s angle. You’ve screened in your porch, or you’re thinking about it, but now you have to figure out how to go about it. Try some of these Screened In Porch Ideas to improve your porch.
1) Indoor/Outdoor Curtains
Since your porch has screen or glass windows, you’ll want curtains for it. You can’t use indoor curtains, because while a screened in porch protects the area from most rain and other elements, curtains will still get wet. Instead, get indoor/outdoor curtains like these ones from Amazon. These ones are a light sky blue that’ll make the area feel like a beachfront space or make it feel more open since the curtains are sky-colored.
2) EZ Screen Kit
EZ screens are a great patio and porch renovation tool. You can get a kit to use for screening in your porch or a part of it and fit these fiberglass screens into your porch to make it bug-proof. This way, you can enjoy your porch the way you’re meant to, and you can install the screen yourself without the expense of a contractor by using EZ Screen Kits. Of course, it might be easier if you hire a contractor!
3) Indoor/Outdoor Sofa
Your porch is screened in, which gives some protection from the elements, but you still need to be careful about what furniture and decorations you use if you don’t have glass windows to keep it dry. Build an indoor-outdoor sofa so that if small amounts of moisture get in, they won’t destroy your sofa. You can follow this video by Jonny Builds to learn how to make your own sofa so you won’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on furniture. If you know how to break down a pallet, you can even get pallet wood free.
4) Cottage
Screened in porches are excellent for any place where you spend a lot of time outdoors, like a farmhouse or cottage, and they lend themselves to that style of decorating. Screen porches are even like small cottages in some ways. They’re rustic and close to nature, and they make you feel cozy as they keep out the elements. Try designing your space with cottage decor like the pieces in this picture to complete the cozy cottage feeling.
5) ”Found” Decor and Natural Decoration
A porch is a way of bringing the indoors outside or the outdoors inside. If you still want to feel close to nature after screening in your porch, one way to do so is to add nature decor. Read this article from Greenhouse Studio to learn how you can use “found” decor to bring nature inside. “Found” decor is items you find around the yard, making it seem more natural since you’ll be using things that are native to the area.
6) Screening Systems and DIY Screen Kits
If you’re trying to find the easiest way to screen your porch in yourself and save on labor costs, kits might be the answer. Look for screening systems and DIY kits like these ones from Patio Concepts. The great thing about these is that they’re customized for your porch so that you can make sure it’ll fit without having to hire a contractor. They also save you the trouble of making dozens of trips to The Home Depot or Lowes for materials you forgot to get.
7) Add New Doors
If your porch is screened in, you might think it’ll be hard to make any modifications to the structure. For example, adding a door off the side and front is an excellent way to make a small porch feel open or make it so that you don’t have to walk around the porch to get to different areas of the yard. Use this video by This Old House to learn how to add doors to your screened in porch, and look for other videos to change your windows and even make a porch addition.
8) Privacy Curtain
If you’re trying to decide how to screen in your porch, you don’t necessarily have to build a complete screen or window setup. After all, you might only need screens part of the time, or you might only want them for privacy other than bug and rain protection. If you only need privacy, think about getting privacy curtains like these that you can open up for light or close up so that your neighbor can’t peek in.
9) DIY or Professional?
Should you hire a contractor to put in your screen or do it yourself? If you do it yourself, you’ll save money on labor, but run the risk of making mistakes a licensed contractor wouldn’t make. On the other hand, a contractor will know what they’re doing, and you’ll likely end up with a high-quality screen. If you opt to do it yourself, you can minimize your risk by using articles like this one by Patio Enclosures that include step by step instructions.
10) Blinds
Part of the luxury of a screened in porch is that it can feel like a regular outdoor porch or a room in your home, depending on how you design it. If you have glass windows, you can make it so that it feels like both or alternate between making it seem like an indoor or outdoor room. Use blinds like the ones in this picture to make it feel like an indoor room, then open the blinds to let in full sunlight and open the windows to make it feel like a regular, unscreened porch.
11) DIY Crate Coffee Table
A screened in porch is a cozy place to relax and feel safe from the elements while enjoying the outdoors. It’s reminiscent of an old cottage or farmhouse, and certainly of rustic furnishings. Make rustic furniture to add to the authentic charm of your screened in porch, and create a homey and thematic room that’s close to nature. You can use tutorials like this one from Feeling Nifty to build furniture like this rustic crate coffee table.
12) DIY Removable Screens
Are your remodeling because your existing porch has too much damage to the screens. Maybe you’re screening the porch in yourself and looking for ideas. One way to reduce future maintenance on your porch and keep it looking nice with less effort is to design it with removable screens. You can watch this youtube video to learn how to make removable screens and install them so that if one gets damaged, you can just remove it and fix it, then replace it.
13) Flameless Candles
If you don’t want a cluttered porch but prefer to have a usable gathering space, one effective way to decorate it is with light. Choose light fixtures with beautiful designs that throw attractive light, such as colored light. Since you need lights anyway, they won’t contribute to the clutter, and they’re the decoration that’ll be most visible when you come outside to sit on the porch. Try getting flameless candles like these because they’re rustic and old fashioned like a screened in porch, but they’re less dangerous than regular candles.
14) Natural-Looking Shades
When you screen in your porch, you’ll probably have a bug screen, whether it’s a mesh screen or a glass window. From there, you’ll want something to preserve your privacy and provide shade, like a curtain or blind, but you can also get creative with it. Since your porch is an outdoor room, try getting natural-looking shades like the ones in this image to make it blend into the yard. Choose shades that match your decor but also fit your yard, whether you’ve got palm trees, pine trees, or cacti.
15) Terrarium
Your porch connects the indoors to the outdoors, creating a lovely room to enjoy near the sun and trees or other yard features while also providing the protection of a covered room. A screened in porch can resemble an indoor room, but it always has that connection to the outside. To keep that feeling of being connected to nature, put a terrarium on your porch using the directions from this article. This way, you don’t have the mess of keeping plants in pots in an enclosed space.
16) Outdoor TV
Have you ever wanted to put a TV on your porch, but didn’t feel comfortable putting electronics outside, even with a mesh screen over your porch? Here’s the good news; they’ve got outdoor TVs. With an outdoor TV like this from Amazon, you can mount the TV permanently on even an exposed porch. This way, you can feel comfortable watching it all year long since it’s designed for outdoor use. If you have a glass-covered porch, you’ve even more reason to get a TV since no water should get inside.
17) Under Deck
If you want to add a screened in porch but don’t even have a porch yet, there are plenty of options for you. The first step is to choose a location, and you can actually design a porch underneath your deck or another porch to keep from wasting your yard space. Use this tutorial by TheRandyMan to learn how to build a waterproof screened in porch underneath an existing deck for a double-decker outdoor space!
18) Fiberglass
When you go to build your porch or screen it in, you’ll need to pick the best material for the screen. What’s most durable? Which material is cheapest but still gets the job done. What’s the most attractive material you can use? The short version is this; use fiberglass. Read this article by James Moylan for the long version and learn a bit more about brands and other considerations when choosing a porch screen material.
19) Retractable Bug Screen
A bug screen is an obvious part of a screened in porch; after all, that’s probably the reason you screened in your porch, alongside some possible rain protection if you have glass windows. That said, you might want your porch to be open every once in a while, so you can lean your head out, hand popsicles out the windows to the grandkids, or otherwise access the yard without going outside. Try using retractable bug screens like these instead of permanent ones to keep bugs out at night and open things up during the daytime.
20) Nature Decor
One of the last significant decisions you’ll have to make about your screened in porch is what decorating scheme to use, but what’s the difference between a screened in porch and anything else you decorate? The main difference is that the screened in porch is halfway between an indoor and outdoor room, so you want to make sure to include elements of both indoors and outdoors in your decoration. Try designing a nature-themed room like Julie from Life of Bliss did, and have some of the cushioned and indoor-like decorations that she mentions in this article.
21) Retractable Side Screens
If you only want to screen your porch in for privacy, think about other ways you can get privacy without the expense of a screened in porch project. One effective way to get that privacy without having to build a lot of new things is to add a simple retractable privacy screen like this one from Amazon. The screen retracts sideways, so you can mount it to your wall and have it block a section of your porch from view. Then, scroll it back in to have an unobstructed view when you want.
What does your screened in porch look like? Did we miss any ideas that would make a great space to enjoy? Please tell us in the comments below!
