We had a builder do the work and after all these years I really don't really remember what type of insulation was used - though I'm certain there was some. The old open porch was entirely removed and replaced with the new three season porch so they most likely would have used whatever is typical for exterior walls. If we want to sit out there on a winter day we just turn on a small space heater for a bit and it's very comfortable. On a sunny day we don't even need that.

Our porch has lyptus floors and ceiling, no need to stain, it's already pretty dark, we just oiled it with Bush Oil. The walls are painted in BM Sail Cloth, mixed in Aura Low Luster exterior paint, another good creamy white is BM Marscapone. I'm sure you will love you porch, we love ours. These pics aren't the greatest and are a couple of years old, but they should give you an idea of the wood floors and ceiling. Good luck- sandyponder

Thanks for the eze breeze tip, scrappy. I did some searching and they look like a promising option! Some people complained that the windows had no R value and thus didn't work great for keeping plants through the winter. (All we would do would be herbs, I think.) But it sounds like you and your company were able to stay very comfortable, regardless of the windows' lack of insulation. With the space heater, how long into the winter can you use the room? We've only lived here for a few months, littlebug and lavender_lass, so we're still figuring out traffic patterns. Right now this side door is our main avenue to the car / outside, but that might change to our back door once we redo our kitchen and mudroom. (Thanks again, lavender_lass, for your advice over on the kitchen forums!) I'd want to keep a pathway on this new porch, either way, so the most you could probably do would be a couple chairs OR a sofa and a table for herbs. There's not a ton of space, and I agree that that might mean it's not worth glassing in. I'm still stumped, I guess. Maybe the best option would be to frame the openings, staple on some cheap screens, and add a Habitat Restore screen door -- then we can see how we like it as a screened porch. But we could also frame the windows with the idea that we might add single-pane windows in the future. That way the conversion wouldn't create too much extra work. klem1, I appreciate your suggestions on how to make the glassing in work. I hadn't really thought about shades but you're right -- they could allay a lot of my worries about the summer heat.

My only concern would be the floor. My house had what must have been a small screened in porch off the LR - it is built on a slab, whereas the rest of the house has a basement. Previous owner, installed sliders and a small gas furnace. Gas furnace finally died, couldn't find one small enough for the space. Windows lost their seal. We had the glass in the windows replaced about 14 years ago. Then, about 10 years ago, I installed baseboard heat with a thermostat. The porch gets sun all day - front faces east, side (longest wall) faces south, and back (shortest wall) faces west. The house AC keeps it comfortable in the summer and the baseboard heat keeps it about 70 except when it gets in the single digits. Even then, it's in the high 60's. I bring in many of the plants from my terrace for the winter - they love all that sun. There is a nice size attic above the ceiling and the ceiling is insulated. It is wood bead board. It's my favorite room in the house - SO pleasant on a cold day to sit in the sun and see "green" instead of "brown" outside.