I think a deck off the dining room, with a pergola or retractable awning, would be nice and useful. How about a screen porch off the living room on the west, with a fireplace sharing the chimney flue?

How bad are the bugs in your area? At our lake cabin, after dusk we can hardly sit outside without being eaten alive by mosquitoes - the screen porch is a necessity. At our house in town, where the City sprays for mosquitoes regularly, a deck is just fine.

I think a screened porch off the DR would be more useful. No bugs and even enjoyable in the rain! We put one on our house in StLouis many years ago - north side of house, so we installed multiple large skylights with some filtering of light due to a coating. They were wonderful - light came into kitchen and DR.

if you plan on larger scale outdoor entertaining, consider adding a terrace off the family room - gave a door off the porch for traffic flow as well. It will be lovely- best of all worlds!

Let's not let the interior walls limit our thinking. I'd just move it over slightly so it works off both the dining room and the family room with sliding glass doors so we don't have a clutter of door swings. And like suggested above maybe a pergola over the part of the deck off of the dining room.

If I understand correctly, the current dining/family and deck face east. Thus the only direct sun they get is early morning sun. Thus, any additional structure added there--screened porch, pergola, trellis, etc--will certainly reduce the current amount of natural light which you have in the interiors in the mornings. After mid-day, however, the sun is past south and whatever you do on the existing deck will not have much effect on natural light on that side of the house. ARG's idea is one worth considering!

Being in the SE US, one of the things I am most excited about in my new build is the screened porch...

More good changes! :-)

I too have outdoor spaces planned but we made screen porch facing view off a side wall of our basement. I agree that losing the light was not a great idea. I have seen many homes that thought this through and your instincts are right.. stay on them! Other thing to mention is if you had air coming through with big double doors, it might be such a nice relief to the house.

AnnKH the bugs are bad. I don't think I have seen the county out spraying at all this year. To compound the issue there is a creek that will be feet from the deck. This is one reason I believe the screen porch is a necessity. Now we do get mild winters, especially this past year, and I did use my deck at my current house for several months,

Anglophilia I really don't entertain to much but I still like the idea of a patio off the west side of the family room. I am planning a patio, a small area of grass, flowers and shrubs and then keeping the majority of the lot natural.

ARG said "Let's not let the interior walls limit our thinking".

I must admit I had not thought about your idea of placing the screen porch there. I still worry about the light issue though. I also had planned on the dining room having a big bank of windows to the outside but now half the guests would be looking into a screen porch. For windows I was thinking something similar to this photo. On those nice none humid/muggy days throwing them open and enjoying eating al fresco (well sort of).

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Being in the SE US, one of the things I am most excited about in my new build is the screened porch...

Jannicone I agree its a must have

CPartist I agree minimizing the sun from the west in all rooms is a must do. I did not catch that the master windows were off center so thank you for noticing that ----- it would bother me. I agree with flipping the pantry and laundry and had already requested it be done. It just makes sense.

I am still thinking on ARG's suggestion for the screen porch but if I were to add it to the south side of the family room, would you still suggest moving the fireplace? Would it not need to stay where it currently is to provide a focal point or an anchor to the design of those 2 rooms. Does that make sense?

What is the full size of the living room as I can't read the measurements?

I am still thinking on ARG's suggestion for the screen porch but if I were to add it to the south side of the family room, would you still suggest moving the fireplace?

I think adding the screened porch to the south side of the house would lose you more than you'd gain. I think you really need to bring that light in. I wouldn't put the screened porch on the south side at all. I think it would completely darken your house.

If you want to do anything, one thing I'd consider is to wrap the deck around to the south side and then maybe add a pergola. This way the light still gets through but it helps protect a bit during the summers.

BTW: I love the idea you have for the screened porch and I think ARGs idea fits your vision perfectly. It almost becomes an extension of your living room and dining room the way he's designed it. More space that when opened becomes indoor/outdoor space.

Plus since the back of the house faces east, you're not going to lose any light by placing the screened porch there except in the early morning.

Would it not need to stay where it currently is to provide a focal point or an anchor to the design of those 2 rooms. Does that make sense?

In reality, how often will you use the fireplace? (And I ask that question knowing that I put a fireplace in my SW Florida home. LOL) I think if done right the windows and/or doors out to the south of the house could become just as much of a focal point from the kitchen and dining room. Maybe even more so because people are naturally drawn towards light.

If you anchor your furniture in an L shape facing the outside and the fireplace on the west wall, I think you'll be fine. How about beautiful french doors? Or sliders? Or?

What is the full size of the living room as I can't read the measurements?

It is 14x17. I have a similar size room now and it feels just right.

The other option I have considered is not building a screen porch. The family room will have breezes from every which way with the windows open, and as such I can forgo the screen porch.....maybe. I plan on using casement windows. Thoughts?

Could I put the screen porch (a breezeway) between the garage and house? I just can't envision it but It would get morning and afternoon sun. The idea is to use this space as a patio or additional outdoor space right now.

Honestly I wouldn't put it where it's going to get afternoon sun since it will probably not be very usable for a good many months depending on where in the SE you are.

I know in FL I wouldn't be able to use a west facing screened porch from late April/early May until the beginning of November and maybe later.

Isn't the idea of the screen porch so you can sit out during bug season?