51 Reasons You Need a Screened Porch

 

1. Spring
2. Summer
3. Fall
4. Winter (depending on where you live)
5. Shade
6. No mosquitoes
7. No flies
8. No bugs. Period
9. Your dog will thank you
10. Your cat will thank you

 

11. Ceiling fans swirling overhead
12. Soft music + breezes and birdsong = heaven
13. Rainstorms
14. Sweet tea tastes better on a porch
15. Coffee tastes better on a porch
16. Wine tastes better on a porch
17. Hot chocolate tastes better on a porch
18. Everything tastes better on a porch
19. Sunshine
20. Porch Swing

 

21. Bird watching
22. Stargazing
23. Froggie serenades
24. Cricket serenades
25. You will love it
26. Friends will love it
27. Family will love it
28. Neighbors will love it
29. Future buyers will love it
30. Flowers will love it.

Geranium

 

31. Fun to decorate
32. Wicker furniture
33. Naps
34. Moonlight
35. Romantic dinners
36. Porch parties
37. Every day feels like a party
38. A retreat
39. Garden views
40. Lamplight in the evening

Decorate a Screened Porch for Summer

 

41. Reading outdoors to the sound of nature, minus the bugs
42. Childhood memories of when you played on a porch
43. Tradition-nostalgia
44. An escape when the A/C is on the blink
45. Blood-pressure reducer
46. Stress reducer
47. A place to think, to get away
48. No TV
49. No phone
50. A mini-vacation with a 5-second commute. Every day.
51. It’s been on your wish list for years

 

Thinking of adding on a screened-in porch to your home? In the posts below I share all the things I learned while adding a screened porch and a front porch to my home 10 years ago.

Screened Porches: How Much Do They Cost to Build?

9 Great Features for Your Screened Porch

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Front Porch?

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



 Never miss a Between Naps on the Porch post! 

*Subscribe to have updates delivered to your Inbox. 



Comments

  1. Sandy Bruce says

    Really enjoys your porch decorating!!!

  2. Rebecca A Dexter says

    James Farmer has a lovely book on porches…love that man!

  3. sandra D Joliet says

    Still dreaming of a screened in porch. Love seeing yours

  4. Mary Boger says

    I totally agree!! All those reasons and more.
    a nd my cats adorned their time in the porch.
    Unfortunately mine is only a three season room.
    Divine spot to watch a ball game and nap.

  5. Kathleen says

    What a fun post! You have the best porch ever–so inviting.

  6. Amen! Add icy gin and tonics to the list!! When I broke my arm and leg on Eclipse Day last summer and couldn’t walk for 3 months, my screen porch was my refuge and place of healing.

  7. Such a sweet photo of Max 🙂 And the sunshine on the swing made me immediately feel drowsy.

  8. Loved all your reasons for having a screened in porch. I had been wanting one since we moved here almost 7 years ago. The husband thought it was a big waste of money but I persisted for 6 1/2 years on why we needed one. Well one day he decides that he wants a Big Green Egg….and he also wanted a custom table built to house it….when I mentioned that what wads going to happen to the worlds most expensive grill when it rains outside he promptly said “Oh maybe we need to build a porch to house it one”….Do you think…so we hired a contractor at the recommendation of a neighbor who used him back in august. it was suppose to be a 3-4 week job….It got done in October. People need to expect problems like sub-contractors not showing up or doing bad work. All in All it came just like I thought. We did a beautiful slate floor and a tongue and grove mahogany ceiling ….half walls of headboard that are fully insulated incase we ever want to make it a real room (never happening). in the end it cost just over $50,000.00 with the fans and the outlets and the this and that….I don’t like that the tin ceiling leaked where they attached it to the brick house…and they didn’t do a great job ceiling the slate floor…it looks wet in spots but the Big Green Egg is very happy and never gets wet and we use it almost every day….

  9. AMEN….agree with everything on the list! We have had screen porches on our last two homes and they were a big selling point. We moved last year to an apartment home and the unit we have has a screen patio…large enough to hold the furniture I had on the old screen porch and with a great view of a beautifully landscaped area bordered by farm land where there are deer and turkeys….bliss. The front of our building has the same layout but there are no screens on the front units “for aesthetic reasons”. One, we would not have moved into this building if we could not have a screen porch/patio, and Two…everyone who visits us says “wish we had screens, too”. Don’t get to enjoy the winter out there in this part of PA….but it is BLISS every other season!

  10. I plan on building your porch soon. Thanks for letting us see it again

  11. I totally agree with all the reasons listed! I had wanted a screened in porch for years and finally talked my husband in to it four years ago when we were replacing our siding. The first day we used it he decided it was just about the best idea I’d ever had! The one down side is how dirty it seems to get over the winter months and what a big job it is to clean. We’re going to look into a local company that will remove screens in the fall and replace them with glass panels, and then switch back to the screens after pollen season is over. That would also extend the time we’re able to use the porch in fall and spring. I found a tool I really loved for cleaning it this year – an SKG steam cleaner. I used it for steam cleaning the cushions, floor and rug, and I’m going to try steaming the screens with it too. I realized how dirty the screens are, though they don’t look it. How do you clean your screens?

    • I’ve just been taking these soft clothes I ordered on Amazon, getting them good and wet, then wiping them gently across the screens. These are the ones I ordered and I use them for a lot of things because they hold on to so much water…like a sponge almost: https://amzn.to/2LFuNPJ
      The steamer sounds interesting! Let me know how that works, Barbara.

  12. Snowflake281 says

    What’s not to love about a screened in porch? As soon as I started following your blog, I have fallen in love with yours. Last October my husband & I closed on a seasonal home in FL. We just finished having our back porch (or as Floridians call it….the lanai) extended by 10’ and had it screened in. Unfortunately, one of the largest sections of it is going to need replacing because when a representative from the company came by to give it his final inspection he noticed a few imperfections. So although we won’t be able to enjoy it until we return to FL in the fall, we both feel the way you do. Even in its unfinished state I can tell that it’s going to add so much to the overall enjoyment of our home. I can’t wait to add all our personal touches to it and get to really enjoy it. One thing we did add though was a large flat-screen TV. Suffice to say I am so looking forward to enjoying my days when in FL between my naps on the porch!

  13. All great reasons! We live on our screened porch year round. We actually installed French doors and floor to ceiling windows on the original screened in porch of our 1930s home. Then added Phantom Screens. Now we can have a screened in porch when weather permits or close the doors and windows and have a light filled sun room to enjoy in extreme heat or cold weather. A win/win!

  14. You get an A+ for all the right answers !! franki

  15. A tragedy has turned into a miracle for us as we suddenly find ourselves building a brand new house! I immediately sent my builder all the pix I have been saving of your screened porch for so long–my dream come true! I told him that for me, he is building us a screened porch with a house attached!
    Our only difference is that we designed a gas stone fireplace that heats from both our living room and/or our screened porch which back up to each other!! I’ve always wanted to use the porch as many months of the year as possible, so a fireplace to me made perfect sense here in VA. Still can’t believe we are building ‘your porch’ that I’ve loved for so long! Hugs!

  16. Cathy Enders says

    The porch is my favorite room – from early morning coffee until a nightcap!

  17. I love my screen porch, but would you believe it’s already gotten too hard to enjoy it for long? On to the unscreened porch in Maine.

  18. Nan, Odessa, DE says

    Don’t forget the card and board games.
    Plus paper dolls if you have a young one.

    Hang some solar stars/lights and it is beautiful year round!

    SO enjoy your blog.

  19. Agree x 51!

  20. your 51 reasons are perfect!!

  21. We have two screened in porches. One has Easy Breeze Windows which makes it more useable and also stays cleaner. Love, love, love the porches!

  22. How about: nighttime meals with family on the porch, parties and cookouts, listening to the wind chimes and watching squirrels at the feeders. Getting away from football/wrestling/the 2 millionth viewing of THAT movie/other unfun tv shows dh is watching *lol

    We love our porch!

  23. Diane Eg ert says

    Talked me into screening in my deck . Always loved my grandmas porch.

  24. Cyndi Raines says

    Yes,yes and yes! I have a lovely large deck and a big covered front porch, but neither have screens and I wish at least one of them did. However, I still use them both a lot and we enjoy them so much. Love your porch Susan! Maybe in Heaven, my little cabin will have a screened in porch, but then I won’t have to worry about bugs, lol.

  25. Amen! So agree with all your reasons and then some – have had screen porches on last two homes, loved them, and they were a great advantage when selling the homes. Now in an apartment home in a 5 story building we have a screen patio – just slightly smaller than our porch. Love it, and love that we have a view of beautiful landscaping bordered by farmland. Enjoy seeing deer, birds, etc – and the privacy. We were the last in this building and this was the one unit available – thankful for the screen patio. The front of the building has patios, but not screens. We would not have moved if it was not a screened area. Here in PA we can’t really use it all year, but for most of the year it is BLISS!

  26. Like I didn’t have enough reasons to be “pea green with envy” (as Scarlett would say) about your porch. ; ) Seriously, there is nothing like a porch and I so enjoy sharing yours with you. I remember reading a book about porches entitled “Front Porch Tales: Warm Hearted Stories of Family, Faith, Laughter and Love” by Philip Gulley. He is a Quaker minister that wrote for a paper (I think) and his columns became a book. He does outline how important porches were–people could drop by without coming into the house, folks could watch out for the neighborhood children, etc.–and he thinks that when builders quit building porches, it impacted our whole way of life. It’s on Amazon–give it a whirl while you are listening to the night sounds we all love and waiting for the nightly appearance of the fireflies (lightnin’ bugs to us.)

  27. Awwww…. Susan,
    so glad to see a pic of sweet Max… ♥
    and… oh, of course, I totally agree with all the reasons you mentioned! 🙂

  28. Shirley Ore says

    I love my screened porch, I enjoy seeing your beautiful porch. I am going to get me some lamps and try to spend more time there in the evenings…My cat, Ollie loves the porch.

  29. Cyndi Raines says

    Yes, yes and yes! Love all your reasons and agreee. I love to take a quick cat nap on my porch swing! I have a large covered front porch and a big deck in the back, but neither have screens, wish they did. I enjoy both very much anyway. Here’s to summer fun!

  30. Janet Kennedy says

    Agree with every reason! I used your article on designing and building a screened porch, almost exclusively, when we decided to add one to our home. And we absolutely love it! Best money we ever spent. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Only thing I did wrong was to buy furniture before porch built. Pieces I bought are too big. They take up too much space. We had wanted to have a dining area like yours but couldn’t fit a table with other furniture. Readers, learn from my mistake- don’t buy anything for your porch until it is completed. Then measure it and any pieces you are considering. Make a floor plan and make sure everything you want will fit. Then, enjoy! You will always be glad you added your porch.

  31. I have loved your porch since I first saw it I had 3 people look at my deck for a screened porch conversion. It was more than I expected. 60,000 to 100,000. The main reason I nixed it was because I could not have a vaulted ceiling I did not want a shed roof. I thought it would block my view.

    • Wow, that’s a lot more than what I paid. It was 10 years ago, but that does seem like a lot more. I don’t blame you, Kay…I much prefer the vaulted ceiling or just a regular ceiling than the shed style roof. Did you get several estimates? I remember when I was getting estimates for adding on my porch, the quotes ranged from reasonable to ridiculous.

  32. Cindy Hodges says

    I love your porch….I have one and love sitting out there! I also love your sign…Summer Breeze! Can I ask where you got that?? Thanks for sharing pics!

  33. Debra Taylor says

    Hi, there! First of all, I love your blog! I lived in North Georgia for 20+ years before moving back home to SC in 2010 to be close to my Dad who was in his 90’s. I frequented many of the same shops you do in Atlanta! We are just before gutting our home that was my Grandparent’s home and farmplace and is over 100 years old. (Picture white farmhouse with a wrap around porch sitting back from the road, metal hip roof, old oak trees and crepe myrtles, HUGE oak next to the house that shades the entire side yard and 12 acres of land.) The best part is we’re adding a screened porch with a fireplace! I cannot wait!
    My reason for writing is to ask about your screened porch. I’m using yours as our inspiration! EVERYTHING you describe is exactly the way I want ours to be. We are also doing decking around the porch. Your FAQ post answered a lot (thank you!). Just one question…

    1. The KDAT flooring sounds perfect. Do you know specifically what type of subflooring was required? I suppose we can follow your suggestion to ask the flooring folks what they recommend, but thought you may know more since you wrote about it originally.
    And, anything else you can think of that will help us!

    Keep blogging, please! From everything you post, I think we are almost identical in our taste.

    Best,

    Debra Watson Taylor

    • Thanks so much, Debra! I can’t remember the name of the subflooring my contractor used underneath, but recently I was told by another builder recently that he thinks the floor could have been installed without subflooring since KDAT is designed for porches. Here’s what I would do, I would call Yellawood, the company that makes this flooring and asked them specifically what they recommend. My flooring has done well over the last 10 years, but you may not even need the subflooring underneath. Here’s the website for YellaWood: https://www.yellawood.com/products/kiln-dried-after-treatment/kdat-tongue-and-groove-porch-flooring/ They have a “Contact Us” at the bottom of their page. I would definitely ask for their recommendation.
      Best of luck with your renovations! Sounds like a beautiful place with all that wonderful land!

  34. joy Lamb says

    What happened to your beautiful soft curtains on the porch? I copied them on the corners of my porch and my daughter found that exact Summer Breeze picture………………………I love all y our posts

    • I still have them and love them, they are in my upstairs linen closet right now. They are probably looking a little grayish by now, it may be time for me to buy more. When I’m back home in Georgia (still in Ohio helping with my grandchildren right now) I may put them up once I get the pollen off the porch. I know it’s knee deep out there by now! I do still love how they look!

Leave a Reply to laura janning Cancel reply

*