With sconces and a delicate
chandelier, this screen porch is
ready for evening entertaining.

Screen Porch

A screen porch differs from an open porch with the addition of perimeter walls of large screened panels that allow fresh air to circulate but help keep out bugs. Creating a screen porch is a fairly inexpensive way to expand living space and to enjoy the outdoors. It's typical of vacation home construction, where use of the porch is often limited to summer months and more elaborate enclosure is unnecessary, and of temperate climates such as Florida. The screen porch often has a casual, comfortable, unpretentious feel. As with an open porch, a screen porch offers little or no security, so furnishings and accessories tend to be lightweight and mobile enough to be moved indoors at the end of the porch-sitting season.