Cozy And Inviting Screened In Porch Decorating Ideas {My Porch Refresh}
Screened in porch decorating ideas that will create a lounge-worthy oasis that’s cozy, inviting and is a place where you’ll want to spend all of your time.
Here in the south, we take our porches very seriously. Very. No matter whether they’re covered, screened in or totally open to all the elements, we love our porches and are always looking for great porch ideas to turn them into a lounge-worthy oasis where we are tempted to wile away all the hours of the day. I recently gave mine a refresh that I want to share with you.
The whole reason my porch needed a refresh is because sometimes I do dumb things. Things that make me smack myself in the head and wonder what I was thinking. Like the time that I wanted a cheery kitchen so I painted it the brightest most neon lemon yellow ever. And that time that I put a whole container of ice cream in the refrigerator and you guessed it – it made a huge mess before I discovered what I had done. Oh yeah – and then there’s that time that I went the wrong way in parking lot (we won’t talk about that one), m’kay pumpkin? And and and…I could go on and on. Let’s face it – we all make mistakes and do dumb things every now and then.
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Well, I recently corrected one of my blunders and this was a decorating one. Our back porch has gone through four iterations in the span of the almost five years that we’ve lived here – from a space filled with all the leftover porch furniture from our former home, to a space where we want to spend every waking hour of the day.
The screened in porch is one of the things that we seriously loved about this house when we first looked at it. It’s open on three sides, so it catches all of the breezes and looks out over our backyard and all of the trees surrounding it. We absolutely love spending time out there.
We also absolutely love the porch swing that we added a couple of years ago! I get so many questions about where it came from and I found a gorgeous one for you that is at an awesome price. If I was still in need of a swing, the one at this link would definitely be the one I would purchase. I love the back of it.
You might be wondering what my decorating blunder was. Well, the easiest way for you to see it is to click HERE and take a look at what my porch looked like the last time I gave it a freshening up. Do you see the mistake that I made? I’ll give you a hint – it has to do with color.
Before, there was too much floor space in the middle of the porch, which caused it to look like all of the furniture was lined up against the walls. I solved that problem with the addition of a cute little bench that I can use as a coffee table and gives me a spot to display some pretties. It’ll come in handy when we need some extra seating out here too.
The other wall of the porch received a little facelift too with the addition of a new chair and different accessories on the small chest. The previous chair looked okay in pictures, but was beginning to fall apart and the lamp that used to live on this chest got knocked over and was broken.
If you happen to come looking for me any afternoon, I’ll be right here taking a nap. 😀
Your screened porch is lovely. I have one here in Louisiana and fight the pollen, too. I noticed that you have a wooden painted chest in the room. How does it survive the humidity and heat? Is there a special paint you use to keep mildew and moisture from ruining it? I would love to add wooden furniture especially a farm table to my porch. Any suggestions? I also wondered if you had room for a small dining table on your porch and why you opted not to add one? Thanks, Tamra
Hi Tamra. So glad you like my porch! I painted the chest that you’re referring to with exterior house paint, so it does just fine out on our porch. It gets a few mildew spots on it, but they wipe right off when I give the porch its annual cleaning. I just wouldn’t recommend putting any furniture that isn’t rated for outdoors (even if it’s painted with outdoor paint) in a place where it could get rained on. Before this latest refresh, I did have a larger round dining table, but it always made the space where the small round table is now too tight. Plus, it’s just my husband and I most of the time so I really don’t need a larger one. Hoping to eventually put a larger one on our deck though. 😀
Love both of your porches!Very pretty!
Looks great! Love that swing!!!
I am constantly trying to find new ways to make my front porch look nice. I love those hanging blue lanterns on board…did you make them or can I find something like that? I have 2 floor to ceiling wrought iron pillars and think that would look awesome! I just had a ourdoor shade hung to block the west afternoon sun.
I love you ideas.
Hi Judy. I cut the size boards that I needed and painted them to look like driftwood and then added a hook from the gardening section at Lowes to hang them from. The tutorial for painting anything to look like driftwood can be found at this link: https://www.worthingcourtblog.com/how-to-get-driftwood-look/
Your porch is lovely. I would love to come and join you on your swing. We don’t get a lot of porch time in Florida during the summer unless we get in the pool first. But all the other seasons are great.
Hi Suzy, your screen porch is so cozy! I too, spend alot of time on mine. How do you clean your floors? I have accepted that my porch will never stay as clean as I would like and that is part of outdoor living but wondering if you have any good tips for cleaning the whole porch and floors? Enjoy your porch! Thx for sharing!
Hi Michelle. I hose my floor (including the outdoor rug) down once each year with just plain water, once the yellow pollen has stopped falling here. After that, I just vacuum it all and spot clean the rug as needed.
Thx, Suzy! I was debating the hose idea!!! Almost done with the pollen here!
I am envious of your porch. I can see why it sold you on your house. I think it looks great in all the pictures, and I didn’t see any obvious blunders in your before pictures! Great job decorating.
Thank you, Sharon. My “blunder” was that I used mostly blue accessories when I had that big aqua rug staring me in the face. lol Not awful, but it bugged me. 😀
Love your porch ideas. I am trying to figure out how to hang a sea glass/acrylic 17×21 wood framed picture inside a screened porch ( we do have a wooden shelf half way up ). Would love to stabilize in case of windy weather. Any ideas would be so helpful ,
*le sigh* It’s SO beautiful. The BEFORE and the AFTER. I love both of them. I wish I had the eye to see the mistake but all I see when I look at them is how gorgeous they are and how much I want a screened in porch so I can sit outside ALL SUMMER. Thank you for sharing them and nourishing my soul on a grey, cold, and rainy day.
Suzy,
What a lovely porch!!! You have really good decor taste with the pillows on the porch bed and I love the basket on the trellis. I wish I could find a basket like that. I need 2 if you don’t mind me asking where you found yours. I love the blue cabinet out on the porch. We still have so much YELLOW POLLEN down here in SC; I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get out there to clean out front porch. We have a nice size front porch; both width and length. I’ve bought decorations for the walls and 2 rockers but we need to invest in a porch swing. I just love everything you show us Suzy, you’re so talented and share all your little secrets to help us make our homes look better or put together better. That’s what I need help doing; putting everything together so it looks together. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing what you have for us next week!!!!
your blog friend,
jean
Hi Jean. You always leave the sweetest comments and I so appreciate that! 😀 Here’s the link to the basket you’re asking about: https://rstyle.me/n/diphqrb7z57
Suzy, We had a screen porch at our previous house and I really miss it. I’m doing a post on that porch this coming Monday. Now all we have is a deck. BTW, thank you for telling me about your new wicker chair from your IG Stories. I bought 2 and they’re perfect for our deck, as well as comfortable!
That porch is a dream! It is everything beautiful and a lovely place to relax.
Love the clean, simplified look! Just what you want to rest and relax! Beautiful 🙂
Thank you so much!
What a lovely spot for a nap and a cold glass of sweet tea! Love those enormous sea glass colored beads! Do you have the source?
Hi Roxanne. I got those beads at an outdoor vintage market, so I’m sorry, but I don’t have a link or source for them. 🙁
How lovely! I am using your porch as inspiration for my own. Please, could you tell me where you purchased your rug and who the maker is? It’s perfect!
Thank you so much! The rug came from Ballard Designs.