Lucky you! I am so jealous! Really you can just think of it as you would an indoor room. You can add drapes that are made for outside to block the sun, and get furniture meant for outside. Plow and Hearth catalog has a lot of outdoor furniture and funishings that you may be interested in. You can add lighting as well, or even a ceiling fan. An indoor outdoor carpet would add color and there are beautiful ones made now. Grandin Road also has beautiful products to inspire you, as would the ideabooks of Houzz!

it is very pretty....
I would do an L-shaped sectional on the left near exterior wall with one back facing house and the other back facing the left screen. OR 2 loveseat size pieces forming an L. With the 2 pieces I would have an end table at the corner between them and a coffee table. With a sectional I would do the coffee table and maybe end tables on each end of sofa.I would put a round table and chairs in the far right corner with a pendant light coming down above table. Either curtain panels on the corners draped back...or roll-up blinds/shades. A big outdoor area rug around seating area. I would add some windchimes as well hanging from the left corner! :)

Thank you both very much. One of you provided a design idea and one of you provided a place for us find some pieces, perfect combo :) we were thinking L shaped on the left hand side as well but now you have me thinking about the seperate love seat idea. Thanks!

Or you could do both curtains draped back and blinds! sorry, wouldnt let me edit above.
What colors are you decorating with inside? And I guess I should ask what is your budget and style/taste?

Inside is very neutral. We like traditional style I'd say. We haven't decorated the inside yet, just furniture mostly but it is all very southern style traditional like dark woods, light fabrics. I don't really know/have a budget yet because we don't really know what to look at/for yet, haha.
How would you put up drapes in the room that has all screens. They aren't windows, just screens.
Thanks again. Love the input.

Rods for drapes can be put up above the screens on the wood. Right above the curved part of the screens.

My gosh...you have so many options out there. I guess I should have also asked what your lifestyle is like? You could make it so that it is just an outdoor dining area...A big table with cushy chairs around it with an awesome chandelier.....you could do a hanging bed out there! The possibilities are endless! :)
Oh yea, and you have to have some potted plants and trees out there for warmer months. I have a tree on my screened-in porch that is covered in white christmas lights in a far corner and I love the mood it sets!

I used conduit pipe for my curtain rods on the porch....you can leave them as is, or spray paint them any color you like. Copper piping looks good too, just more expensive.

Very cool, I like the little tree idea. I didn't ever think about putting drapes out there. That could be really pretty. There is already a ceiling fan at the peak of the porch so I couldn't do a chandelier.
We like the idea of the relax type seating like couches but I think we need an eating spot also to avoid the bugs. Trying to fit both of those in is proving difficult.

You lucky person :-)
I found you an ideabook that you may find interesting and the ideas above are great too:
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/screen-the-porch-for-more-living-room-almost-all-year-stsetivw-vs~379050

That's beautiful, unfortunately we don't have that much space out there. I think the separation of the pieces looks nice in that picture and we won't have much distance between each item.

stik07, if you click on the words Ideabook...under the photo, it will show you more ideas, but you cn also search the ideabooks by typing in screened porches, or even just porches to get even more ideas.

Ohhhh. Haha. Sorry, I'm still getting used to houzz. Thank you all for your help. It's much appreciated.

have you thought about what you would like on the outside? perhaps adding some kind of vines for shade? that would also give you some privacy. maybe around the steps an arbor?

We actually haven't thought about the outside at all. We talked about maybe adding a stone patio at the foot of he stairs to have a little seating out in the elements but other than that we haven't given it much thought. We tend to like things clean looking so I'm not sure how far we'd get into the vines :) I love the outside the box ideas though. Lots of things we wouldn't have thought about.

yes...listen to handymam! also go to the search space and type in "outdoor furniture", then click photos to the right of that. You will be smitten and amazed! some beautiful ideas!!!!

I love my curtains on the porch. Transforms the space completely. I actually sleep on my porch in the spring and summer sometimes. I have a futon type couch out there that I collapse when I want to sleep there. Love it. I'm in SC, you said southern, so I'm not sure if you're near me or not. But yes, the bugs suck in the summer here, so that is my retreat! Also I have a tv out there as well. I know, I'm awful! Morning coffee and morning news and sometimes even a movie night out there with popcorn! Can't beat it!!!

p.s. You can get a hanging light fixture to put in a corner if you ever wanted to. The swag type you hook to the ceiling and then let the chain or cord go down the wall. I am assuming you have plugs out there as well???
IKEA has a lot of cool swag type pendants. OR you could do a floor lamp in a corner as well/ Just treat it like an indoor room with weatherproof materials!!!

I'll shut up now, sorry! lol

I would be living out there like mpoulsom if I had a porch like that!!

We're actually located in the northeast, we just happen to have southern style :)
I was surprised to find that there are no outlets out there besides the ones attached to the house.
Everyone tells us about Ikea but we don't have one within at least 200 miles of us which seems like a shame because people rave about the place. I'm definitely going to search around here for outdoor furniture and the patios as you all suggested above, can't wait for the inspiration to strike :)

We have a bakers rack on our porch that I love when we have company as I can set it up as a bar. Ours is a bit larger so we have a dining and seating area, but you could always do a small two stool bistro set in addition to seating area. Regret putting a tv out there- we used to play scrabble, cards etc- now a game is always on!

Make sure that anything you place close to the screen can tolerate rain. Rain combined with wind may go trough your screens.

Thanks for the heads up on the tv :)
I know we'd be out there everyday lounging on a sofa but the problem with that is we have a large family and wouldn't have space to sit down and have our hamburgers and hotdogs at a table. We would hang out on the porch a lot more in terms of just relaxing but don't know if we can sacrifice the eating table altogether. What does everyone think about just having sofas and chairs and people eating like that instead of a regular patio table?

Roman shades in sheer sunbrella would be great, as they can pull up high when you don't want to cut the view. I imagine that once the leaves are out, bright sun is not an issue?

Eating like that sounds like home, lol! Just be sure to have end tables with your chairs to set drinks on and I don't think it is a big deal.

The back of the house faces north so in the spring/summer we won't get direct sunlight on the porch on the afternoon. I'll have to look into shades as numerous people have suggested them now.
Does anyone have a specific item they think would go well in our space? A certain size table/love seat we should be looking at?

Someone was awesome and ran outlets the whole way around my porch....it is handy for sure. I'm a music lover too, so music is nice to have sometimes as well.
One thing that you can do is buy your seating and table or tables first. Then live in it for a bit when it warms up and figure out what you are missing as far as your needs and what you would use it for most. Everyone is different. I just happen to be an outdoorsy person and love the fresh air. My porch is just like another living room and bedroom combo for me. My daughter is grown, so I only have the grandchick that comes over to visit now. We actually spend a lot of time out there together. She also takes naps out there! :)

Good idea :)
We are a relatively young couple, 30's, with a baby on the way so I wouldn't want to go too crazy, but I know we'd love to be out there just laying on a sofa relaxing if we had to choose but I just hesitate to give up all the table seating. Maybe like you said we just use it as an outdoor living room and we eat elsewhere. I mean who doesn't want to nap outside on a comfy sofa with a soft breeze blowing ? :)

[houzz=]

This is kind of an interesting line of furniture that I've not seen before. very unique!
My first inclination is to say something with wicker, but I like this a lot! and the rug is cool too!

Well I would think get your basic pieces and have a spot/corner to put the baby swing and/or the pack & play for the time being!!!! :) Then you will probably want to consider using a trunk type coffee table or end tables to hide baby toys in later when the lil monkey starts playing and crawling! :)

That's actually a really nice set. Nice mix of contemporary and traditional and the rug is beautiful. Now if only that were for sale in my area and not too expensive :) that's very different than the normal wicker or rattan sets I see everywhere. Great find I can use as a reference. Thanks!

Awesome space to play with ! Have fun !! It's just started snowing here in UK too ! Brrrrr !!! Keep warm !

Lots of great advice but I wanted to add that I would love to see you add a super comfortable upholstered rocking chair (outdoor). It would be a wonderful place to be with the new baby! I would consider placing it on the left of the sliding door up by the back of house. You get a bit of protection from wind etc there. I used to love sitting outside on a warm but rainy day with my babies!

Great suggestion. I always loved the calmness of rocking chairs and I hear babies like it too, haha :)
Definitely a good option. Thanks for throwing that out as well.

[houzz=]

That looks really comfy, and equally as expensive, haha. I love how that doesn't look like an outdoor room at all. Beautiful decorating. I have a feeling that's probably more than we will want to spend on our outdoor set :)

cha-ching! yes! lol restoration hardware!!!!!!!!!!

Just checked Target. Their prices are reasonable and they have a nice dark rattan that might work well with your inside furniture. Yes it may seem standard fare but sometimes that's ok! http://www.target.com/sb/patio/-/N-5xtq9Z56h4q#?lnk=snav_rd_belvedere........plus they have a nice looking rocker! I hope the link works but if not its the Belvedere line. With a great indoor/outdoor carpet and some great colored pillows you could make a truly inviting space. I was thinking that you coul do two love seats in the corner with a corner side table and then a coffee table of some kind along with a couple of floor pillows for additional seating. Then see if you have room for a small round table and chairs in the other corner. I think you would be making a great place for your growing family and still have plenty of varied seating options when a crowd comes overdo visit!

I saw this comment from someone about the rug. The comment is 8 months old so I wonder if Target still has the rug:

I noticed that too! If target does have that rug for that price.....that would be great! I would love to have one myself! :)

I just would like to inform you that I changed my username from smgolf12 to suzanne_m.

Hope these curtain designs will give you some inspirations.

Plppp.

Mistake in comment above. Baby playing with computer

mpoulsom, I know this is an old thread so hope you are still around :) We just bought outdoor curtains for our screened porch at the beach. It's about 20 feet long by 10 feet wide and we're trying to figure out the best solution for curtain rods and hardware that won't rust. You mentioned using conduit pipe or even copper. We went to Home Depot and looked at all kinds of options including galvanized pipe, electrical conduit, closet rods, copper (which didn't seem to be terribly expensive) and even plastic PVC pipe which seemed to be a very good option. Not sure what to use! Our curtains were just delivered today and we hope to install when we head to the beach this weekend if we have all the rods and hardware! So.... what's our best and easiest option??

I think whatever floats your boat, to be honest. If in long stretches, use the one you know won't have any bend to it. Of course, you will have to place brackets, so figure out which size brackets you want to use, then get that size piping.
Remember, if you use any of the metals, spray paint them if you want a color other than an oxidized/patina look (over time)!

I haven't been here in ages, but miss it!

We have a mid - century collection with good quality and reasonable price. Please have a look https://www.houzz.com/photos/products/query/manhattan-home-design

We decided on the copper pipe and love it! It was one of the fastest projects my husband ever did . We used flanges for the ends which we spray painted with Ace Hardware copper metallic and it matches perfectly. We used elbow joints around the corners and bell supports, all in copper. We wanted to put Velcro between the panels to attach when weather is bad to keep rain out but it's not staying put on the curtains. Maybe because they are a polyester water repellant fabric and too slippery. Picked up some great rope tie backs at Bed Bath & Beyond for $2.99 which was even cheaper with coupons! Now our porch feels like a room. Until I convince hubby to eventually make it a 3 or 4 season room! Pollen was so bad I had him use the leaf blower to blow it all out. But for now it should be a great extra living space at our beach house. Can't wait to use it once the pollen ends!