Thanks to all who have suggested ways to accomplish my idea of covering my pergola. When thinking of what I want most out of this space, I would say being able to sit out back in any weather (rain or shine)along with not having to contend with neighbor leaves constantly. I did intend to grow some old fashioned wisteria over the pergola, but somehow I misplaced the seeds. Using both the fiberglass along with the vines sounds like an awesome idea and would certainly hide the fact that it has a cover on it at the same time. And if covered, it would not matter that the fiberglass was discolored. As for whether it will slope or not: as of now, the pergola is actually flat on top, but we would definitely have to find a way to rais up the side attached to house in order to allow for run-off. Thanks again everyone! Oh, and I will certainly take a picture of the pergola to post.

Assuming you live in an area where it rains more often than where I live I would do a solid roof with skylights to provide light underneath. . I’m not a fan of the polycarbonate sheets idea.

DK, I’m glad you mentioned that having the back of the home facing south would mean the master suite would be warmer as well. I don’t think that would be optimal in the Deep South - it’s just sweltering, and I cannot tolerate being hot in our bedroom. Is it crazy that I may now try to position our new home to AVOID the hot afternoon sun??!! I like light and all, but since it was mentioned that it won’t be a dungeon, I think I’m good with just some light trickling in the living room. Hubs is very sensitive to light and would be as happy in a cave... so he’s not too concerned about a lot of natural light coming in. We are doing lots of recessed lights throughout the home, and almost all will have dimmers, as I enjoy them in our current home and like the ability to have something in between dark and “in your face bright” on occasion. :) Funny you mention landscaping, as my husband owns a landscape company! I know nothing about any of it, but I’ve heard him mention things like this several times when a client wants ABC plants for a certain location, but only XYZ plants will thrive there. After speaking with my husband about the whole skylight/sun tube issue, he was not a fan - and for the exact same reasons given here (additional heat, “putting holes in the roof”/compromising structural integrity, additional cost, cost of potential repairs, etc... so it sounds like that’s out. He did say he might consider a couple of skylights in the roof on the covered porch only, but feels like that defeats the purpose of a COVERED porch. I mean, he’s not wrong there. LOL All that said, there has been a ton of good information given, and I appreciate all of it! I welcome and appreciate any and all suggestions and opinions - I’ve learned so much from y’all! Keep ‘em coming!

We just added a screened-in porch off the back of our small house, which faces south. We added this as we were in the process of a remodel that opened up the back with lots of light... so I was pretty nervous about how it might feel with a roof limiting some of that light. Especially because we have only 8ft ceilings. It definitely reduces the bright sun but it still feels like we have plenty of light. The white roof and pillars help, as for the 3 skylights that are placed parallel with the doors. I would have loved a pergola both to preserve the light and because they’re charming, but in our area the bugs are too miserable to get much use out of an unscreened patio. This is the best before and after I can show - It’s definitely not gloomy but the bright spotlight of sun through each door is reduced.