So we have been trying to come up with a solution for almost 2 years for our back yard project. We currently park on the street because it is the easiest way into the house. But with small children, we want a safer, easier entry point, as well as a screened-in porch. Because of a change in elevation, there needs to be a set of stairs, and we have also considered stepping down into the screened-porch to make it a bit more private from the neighbors. The porch will come off of our kitchen, which gets great natural light from windows all across the back of the house. We don't want to lose all of this light, but we figure it will be ok if we still get quite a bit of filtered light through the porch.