What is the best way to furnish your screen porch to maximize your space? I believe it begins with the design of the screen porch.
The more doorways you add to the porch the less functional it becomes. If you think about it, everywhere there is an entry/ exit from the screen porch, there needs to be space for people to walk (at least 2’ in front of each exit). This begins to diminish where you can place your furnishings. Prior to designing the actual porch, think about how many people will use the porch on a normalized basis? Don’t design for the once a year Thanksgiving party but rather for the people that will use it most weekends.
How about furniture? Do you intend to eat your meals inside the porch? We find it makes the most sense for the dining table to be inside the porch (no insects), rather than placed outside on a patio or deck. To get the most out of your space, I recommend thinking about a round or octagonal table. This design allows for seating the most people in the least space!
Having a sectional is wonderful as your porch will quickly become your favorite place to relax and entertain in the house. Please the sectional right up against one of the screen walls to maximize space. If you buy a decent quality outdoor furniture, the weather will not be a factor. We have had ours for 14 years and it still looks great and is comfortable.
We have added two rocking chairs (I always reserve one for me and my glass of wine). These are very welcoming and our guest always gravitate to the rockers. We have a beautiful center table between the sofa and the rockers that are wicker with a glass top. This serves for serving drinks and appetizers. We have a large flat screen TV that we installed on the back wall so we can watch our NetFlix and other favorite stations. Finally, we added a large area rug that really adds warmth and beauty to the entire space. If you want to see more examples of furnished screen porches, go to archadeckofcharlotte.com.
