Well I have a screen porch about 14x16 with an A shape roof with tongue and groove ceiling that follows the eves if that makes sense. It is 18 yrs old - the T&G is pine with a basically natural marine varnish - it is aged and is beautiful with the light gleaming on it at night - especially candles. It has on,y been revarnished once and it didn’t really need it but the painters were here and had the scaffolding. I used for 15+ yrs an 1865 oak table with a old oak church pew bench and 2 chairs my grandfather made. These were finished with shellac and were kept basically french polished and stayed fine even though they were in the front corner and most exposed. The polish made the difference - or you can use orange oil but you can also clean well and coat with a satin Helmsman marine varnish but orange oil on regular wood finish works great but you have to keep it up every few months. Do not use pledge - it doesn’t protect and silicones make refinishing difficult without sanding into the patina. I also have an oak fodder chopper from the 1800s with a big black iron wheel - it was also on the front portion and didn’t get the french polish mix (I ran out) for the past 5-6 yrs and I couldn’t move it due to it’s weight to get the back side. It now needs a cleaning and will get a marine varnish. The only thing that has happened where the shellac and polish was exposed to more rain mist and the sun - is it greyed. I have a southwest exposure with no trees so sun is an issue on the things on the front of the porch. Everything is still out there except the big table which is back inside doing duty. and looks like they just came from inside. They are polished now with orange oil to keep them water resistant. The cedar lamps I use out there were made by my grandfather and had shellac finish. The shellac he used was old flake type you mixed yourself not the junk in the big box stores. He used mostly orange but sometimes ruby. As far as the rain exposure - it mostly comes in about 18-24” on whatever side it is blowing if a storm. Hurricanes etc everything is grouped closer to the center and covered. Other than that such as for regular non windy showers, the floor doesn’t get wet but I have about 18” eves on the two sides but no overhang on the front portion. I have a ceiling fan that was used in the house for years (a cheap fan from lowe’s) that we put out until I could find an exterior fan I liked and could afford. That was 18 yrs ago and it still works..it was already about 7-8 yrs old mind you. So the rain and moisture has only affected the ball chain but if I wipe it off with wd40 paper towel it cleans it up and holds it for another couple yrs. I do have GFCI outlets 3 on the inside of the porch and 2 on the outside of the porch with a breaker in the box that turns the back and front porch outlets on and off if needed. I use regular household lamps table and floor lamps- for the same reason someone else mentioned - the exterior lamps I have seen I don’t like - just too modern for my taste or too spanish, etc. And way too expensive as in $600-700+ for anything I kinda could use. They are plugged into the GFCI outlets and I would recommend these for anything plugged into a “wet” environment. I am getting ready to put out a pair of marble lamps and I would suggest to try and find lamps that are of stone, or iron. If wood - just polish and clean with orange oil. The nice thing with old wood is it might be old oak or walnut or mahogany - that do better with weather. Windows that lasted 100+ yrs and even longer in Europe and can be refinished last a another 100 yrs - were made of old growth mahogany, walnut and oak. Mahogany is terrific for furniture too - heavy. I’m thinking of rewiring my lamps due to age and will use exterior wire and fittings from an electrical supply house - they are all mostly 60+ yrs old and the ones on the porch have had 18 yrs of damp so probably time. On the shades - the ones from walmart, target will give you at least 6-8+ yrs yrs provided you brush them off and put them away when winter or bad storms hit. You can buy the shades that you cover in fabric yourself - there is the frame and a “shade” that you remove the film to expose the sticky surface that you attach your fabric too. I like these as I can coordinate it with my fabric on the walnut settee cushions but I don’t find these last as long. If you have old lamp forms, it really isn’t hard to remove shabby fabric and install/sew on new fabric - any will work but if you find a sunbrella fabric that is really helpful. It is just lately - I haven’t like their patterns. Like I say, you can use old shades - if silk and in good shape - wouldn’t use those as they are too valuable. Even paper will work - but spray the inside and outside with exterior water based clear varnish or whatever they call it. There are ones made to use on paper. Also spraying the metal frames before recovering will help with rust. Everything on my porch from Jan through pollen is orange oiled, pulled to the center and covered with cotton sheets and then tarps with the tarps pulled under the legs to secure. By Jan 1, it is too cold to be out there and I always have the iron table and chairs and bench that is on the connecting deck to sit and enjoy nice days. Hope this information helps both with lamps and furniture.

The secret is to cover it with an itchy grey wool carriage blanket. Worked for grandma! I just visited her old house yesterday and the old sleeping porch. It was about half the size that it was in my memory. I know some folks who put up a tent in their backyard and also you could use mosquito netting over the bed or put it in a gazebo. I did find a wolf spider in my bed while sleeping in a friend's tent. I spent the rest of the night on the porch on the couch. It was nice while it lasted. I have a bed on my porch but the yard is so noisy with road traffic it isn't as nice as I would like it to be.

First of all, paint those panels. There is primer and paint for metal. It will look a lot nicer once its painted. Second, is to get a concrete sealer and seal that concrete, since all the scrubbing in the world, wont eliminate that pee smell, when the weather turns warm. Then make sure the flooring you put down, will work with humidity, and weather changes. Vinyl planks, may be a better option, than laminate. You can buy some nice colored lattice, for the bottom. I would also buy some good screening and staple screening all the way around before you put the lattice. It keeps critters from getting underneath your sun room. The screening will keep the wasps and bees from taking up residence under it. Shades will be a must have. Or some type of slatted roll up blinds. You mentioned gray for the brick. Dont forget this is a sun room. It should be cheery and bright. While I do like gray, I dont think I would put it on the brick, in that room. Use color. Sun rooms, should be happy and comfortable places to sit. Figure out a color scheme, before you do much of anything. so you have a plan for it all. Make it a fun room, you will enjoy for a good part of the year.

I’m not sure that you’re going to be able to achieve what you want while also mounting these receptacles to the 6x6 posts because the junction boxes need to have a certain volume by code (in cubic inches) to fit the cable (wires) and device (receptacle,) so they will have some depth to them. So either you have to figure out a way to make the posts bigger in order to recess the junction box, or you need to find some kind of attractive surface mounted exterior junction box and I don’t know of any. You also have to run the cables to the junction boxes. How were you planning to do that? Under the floor? Is this a raised frame floor? Or is it a slab on grade? You will need to protect the cables from rodents if they will be under a raised floor, so you may be using conduit with either type of floor. Conduit is also used to bring cables into a surface mounted junction box, so something to think about. I used the INBOX by Arlington at my house and they are extremely attractive, but the boxes are pretty deep. I think they took up the entire 3.5” wall depth. The box is recessed and the cover is flat and almost flush with the siding. I chose the white box with white cover and it blends right in with my white siding. My electrician turned me on to these and he loves them. I originally had the ugly metal cover that you refer to with the little flaps that lift up and stay up when in use. These are no longer allowed by code for uncovered outdoor applications. Now you must have an “in-use” cover, such as the bubble that you refer to, so that if you leave something plugged in, the cover can close completely to protect the receptacle from rain. The INBOX has an in-use cover (see pics.) I have a receptacle on my covered front porch and I changed it to an INBOX even though my electrician said it wasn’t required because it’s covered. I am unsure if your application would require in-use covers or not, although you may choose them anyway like I did. Code minimum is the bare minimum required by law, you can always go above and beyond the minimum requirements. I also changed one on the back of my house that does not have a roof above. It was grandfather in with the old metal flap covers but the INBOX is a huge aesthetic and functional improvement! I also have surface mounted receptacles on the outside railing of my deck and they are not overly attractive, being gray with gray conduit attached to bring the cable in. I am unsure if they make anything attractive that is surface mounted, but you may want to search for deck mounted receptacles for some ideas; most of the ones that I have seen are intended to be recessed into the floor of a deck and that is a possibility if you want to go with floor receptacles, although it wouldn’t be my first choice if it was me. I think if it was me, I would box out an area on the post so the receptacle can be recessed into the box and then go for the INBOX. Either box out the entire post bigger, or just the bottom 18” or so where the receptacle will be located. Maybe 9.5”x9.5” posts or 9.5”x5” posts would get you the 3.5” interior space that you would need to recess an INBOX if using 3/4” finish grade lumber for the box (see sketches, and I made a mistake on one of the sketches. It’s supposed to be 5”, not 5.5”.) http://www.aifittings.com/catalog/inbox/