Screened In Porch Ideas: 20 Cozy Layouts for Lounging, Dining and Fireside Nights

Put the fireplace at the far end of the porch, away from the house, and arrange the seating to face it. Here a slipcovered sofa runs along one side and a rattan chair sits across from it, with a long wood coffee table between them, so the fire is in view from every seat and the path down the middle stays clear.

The fireplace is painted white brick with a log mantel, and the gable ceiling rises above it with a fan at the peak. Sage pillows, a green plaid throw and a few pumpkins on the table make it feel like October. A masonry fireplace on a porch is a job for a mason, planned with the roof.

Hang the TV on the house wall, the one solid wall on the porch, and set the sofa across from it with its back to the screens. That way you watch against a solid wall instead of the bright screens, and the view stays behind you until the movie ends.

Leather, rust pillows and a wool rug make it feel like a cabin den. The console below the TV holds baskets for remotes and blankets, and lanterns on the coffee table give enough light once the sun goes down behind the ridge.

Hang the daybed across the end of the porch, where it gets the view and nobody has to walk past it. Its ropes tie to a beam that runs from wall to wall; a daybed with a mattress and two people on it is heavy, so ask whoever builds the porch whether a beam can carry it.

The colors are terracotta and mustard, from the kilim to the pillows to the throw. A wicker chair and a jute pouf give a second spot to sit, and big plants in baskets fill the corners without crowding the middle.

A long, narrow porch takes a long table well. This one runs down the middle with three chairs a side, and there’s still room to walk around it to the screen door at the end.

The runner, the plates, the chair cushions, the cabinet and the hydrangeas are all blue and white. A lantern pendant hangs low over the table for dinner after dark, and the fan above keeps the air moving on a still evening.

A narrow porch can still hold a reading spot. Put a built-in bench along the house wall, where it takes no walkway, and a wingback chair with a lamp at the far end. Baskets under the bench keep books and throws within reach.

This is the porch for a view screen. Phifer, which makes screening, says its UltraVue2 and SeeVue give “the maximum clarity” of its screens, and calls SeeVue “excellent for porch applications”. On floor-to-ceiling screens like these, the clearer screen shows the most.

A small porch needs only a small table. A round bistro table for two needs a spot about 8 x 8 ft, and a bench along the house wall gives extra seats without another chair in the way.

Lemon yellow carries this one: the chair cushions, the pillows, the tulips and the striped napkin. The concrete floor is stenciled in a tile pattern, and a round jute rug marks out the breakfast spot.

A big porch works best as two rooms. Give each one its own rug: the sectional and chairs on one, the table on the other, with a clear path between them from the house door to the screen door.

Navy ties the two together, on the sectional cushions, the pillows and the edge of both rugs. Each zone gets its own ceiling fan.

If the porch is for the cats too, start with the screen. Standard fiberglass tears under claws. PetScreen, by Phifer, is sold as cat-resistant and dog-resistant and “strong and durable enough to prevent tearing by dogs and cats”. It does cut more of the view: Phifer puts it at about 36% open.

Then give the cats somewhere to be. Shelves up the house wall, a sisal tree, a bed and a planter of cat grass keep them busy, and the sofa stays for the people.

A porch added to a manufactured home works like any other: a glider along the house wall, next to the door, and two chairs across from it around a small table. Everyone faces the yard.

Country decor here is red and white gingham, a braided rug and red geraniums in a galvanized bucket. Two hanging ferns fill the upper corners, so the floor stays clear.

In Florida the screened porch is usually a lanai: the covered part under the house roof, with the screen cage running on over the pool. Keep the dining table under the roof, out of the rain, and the loungers out by the water.

Phifer calls its 20×20 No-See-Um screen “commonly used in pool and patio enclosures”, and it keeps out the gnats and sand flies a regular screen lets through. Turquoise cushions and a striped rug carry the pool color under the roof.

A plant porch puts the plants against the screens, where the light is, and the chair in the middle. Tiered stands hold the small pots, the big monstera and banana plants stand in the corners, and the ferns hang from the ceiling.

The ceiling is painted dark green, and the frames match it. Fuchsia cushions and orchids pick up the crepe myrtle outside. Saltillo tile doesn’t mind wet pots.

A simple porch is mostly white and wood: white cushions, linen pillows, teak frames and one jute rug. Three pieces around a coffee table are enough, with the fourth side left open toward the screen door.

The color comes from outside, from the dogwoods and the lawn, and from a bowl of green apples. Two potted boxwoods stand at the corners.

Black frames call for black screen. Phifer says its black aluminum screen has a coating that “greatly reduces the glare” of metal screen, and that the view through it “is sharp”. At dusk the screens nearly disappear and the pines outside show through.

A long fire table sits in the middle with the sectional on two sides and lounge chairs on the others. String lights run across the ceiling. Check the maker’s rules before you put a fire table under a roof, because they differ a lot: EcoSmart Fire asks for 72 inches between the burner and the ceiling, and Room & Board says its Adara fire table shouldn’t go under any overhead structure.

For a nap spot, add privacy. White outdoor curtains on rods along the screens close around the chaise in the afternoon. A sun screen helps too: Phifer calls its SunTex screens “excellent choices for daytime privacy screening”. It also warns that a lit room shows through at night, so draw the curtains after dark.

Navy and white, with a jute rug, is the Hamptons look. The chaise sits at the far end, away from the door, and the sofa faces the coffee table.

Line the rocking chairs up along the screens, facing out, the way a Southern porch does it, and hang a swing at the end. Small tables between the rockers hold the iced tea.

The ceiling is haint blue, the pale blue-green painted on porch ceilings across the South. Coral pillows and a coral rug pick up the azaleas, and ferns hang between the columns.

A screened in patio sits on the ground, on the concrete slab behind the house, instead of up on a deck. A small townhome yard can take one: a flat panel roof off the back wall, screens on the other three sides and the sliding door opening right into it.

The furniture is low and simple: a sofa, two rope chairs and a round concrete table. Olive pillows match the grasses outside. For a covered patio without screens, see our covered patio ideas.

Old houses had sleeping porches for hot nights, and the idea still works: two beds along the house wall, heads to the wall, with a trunk at the foot and a lamp on a nightstand.

If you sleep out here, the gnats matter more than on a porch you sit on. Phifer says its 20×20 No-See-Um screen “provides the maximum protection” against small insects. Dusty rose quilts, lace and a floral rug keep it Victorian.

A deck you already have can become a screened porch: a roof over it, screens between the posts, and the sliding door stays where it is. Seating goes near the door and the table goes at the far end, where you can watch the yard.

The furniture is resin wicker with orange pillows, and pots of orange mums at the corners make it feel like fall.

The space under an upper deck can be a screened patio. The deck above is the roof, the stone wall of the house is one side and the lake is the view. It needs a ceiling under the deck boards to keep the drips off, like the one here between the beams.

A round game table in front, with the sectional behind it, gives the family two places to spend a rainy afternoon. Teal cushions match the lake. For more ideas for a patio with a roof over it, see our covered patio ideas.

Clear vinyl windows close a screened porch for winter and keep the screens. They slide in tracks, so on a mild day you open them back up: Sunspace says its four-track vinyl windows open 75% of the way, with a screen built in. If you’d rather glass it in for good, that’s a three-season room; see our 3 season room ideas.

For Christmas screened porch decor, put the tree in the corner and run evergreen garland along the half wall. Plaid and mustard pillows and a tray of pinecones and candles finish it. The heater is electric and mounted high on the house wall, away from the tree and the fabrics. For the front door and steps, see our Christmas porch decor ideas.