I like light without rain to control the amount of water. 50% sun lexan roofing. It comes 4' wide and 8' to 24' long. It has creases to overlap the seams. Hurricanes breaks most orchid structures including the lexan roofing. Will your structure be in the shade or sun? Lexan needs to be in the sun. Also with the Lexan, there is possibilities for heating in the winter. I have roll down curtains of Eisenglass that go down and stay down all winter. Most of the year they are rolled up and out of the way. I can maintain 50 deg. with an outside temp of 38. If it gets lower I add duct tape. Fill the cracks. It is nice to have a electric for a fan, lighting and heating. And water and a bench. A big utility sink not hooked to the main drain. Some shelves for supplies. The best wood to use is cypress. It is rot resistant and stands up to the weather. It is a Florida wood. It is replenished as fast as it is cut. Reasonable price. There are a few very expensive and exotic woods that are better but due to price and very good longevity along with local greenness, the pick is cypress.

Sid, I agree with Paul, you could make 3 tiers on the South and West walls, but I would only go with 1 lower bench on the north and east. I would also suggest make the middle and top teirs only say 1 foot wide, otherwise the lower benches will receive too much shade in summer. Also be mindfull of the top teir being too lose to the roof, I've found some plants can't hack the heat/light up there in summer, so you may need to run black cloth behind it to cut down reflection. That's what I've found anyway in NZ with my set-up, which is quite similar to yours. Also, remember most of the light entering (April-October) will depend on what you are using for the walls too ? Are you putting shadecloth, windbreak or panelling on the east & north sides ?? Good luck ! Graeme

I have loved the design of that house since you first showed us the pictures of it. It looks great with all the plants in it. I know what you mean about it seeming big empty and then all of a sudden it is full!

If you're buying a brand-name shade such as Bali or Levelor, it really doesn't matter where you buy it as the seller doesn't make the product. I bought Bali DiamondCell Shades from blinds.com, an online seller, and they came out fine. An advantage of a physical store (be it Home Depot, Lowes, or wherever) is that it will have fabric books where you can see and touch (small) samples. However, the online stores such as blinds.com will send you samples. Of course, you have to measure the windows though, oddly blinds.com (and, perhaps other internet sellers) will remake the blind if you make a measurement error. I would recommend you measure your windows and then step through the purchasing process on a site such as blinds.com. You'll see all the options (and limitations) even if you decided not to complete the purchase process and to go to a store; very educational for the consumer! Blinds are pretty easy to install -- I did -- but if you don't want to do it, you can always get a taskrabbit.