This was the thread that helped me put a name to the style of garden that I love best. I have been working towards the cottage style for many years and never get tired of the evolution of it. Loved reading them all again today. Cheryl

The structural part of the back porch looks to be original - at least the brick in the pillars is same as the house. The screening, door, steps, rail, ugly glary light fixture, etc can go though. Perhapsjust leave it as a simple open porch with railing/new steps + nice wood screening around the bottom to conceal the space underneath + a little carpentry to tidy up that wood trim up under the roof + a nice attractive ceiling light fixture + Id rethink gutter/downspout somehow. Contingent on condition of structural elements - not always possible to save everything but its nice when it can happen.

The problem with applying typical span tables to pergola construction is that with a floor or a roof, the members are acting as part of a system. For example, that 2x6 rafter is connected to its neighbor via plywood sheathing, and there's generally also a cross tie connecting it to the rafter on the other side of the peak. That reduces the likelihood of sagging or deflection. When you have a single lonely 2x6 rafter hanging out there by itself, it's going to do everything it can to sag or twist or check - especially pressure treated lumber. And like K&D mentioned, it's going to look way underscaled. In this pergola we did a couple years ago, we used 2x10s and you can see how anything else would've been a mistake: As far as the corner bracing goes, just know that you're asking a lot of a simple mechanical post/beam connection to keep that freestanding structure from swaying. I would look at beefing up to 6x6 posts. If you're planning on just doing a post base mounted to the deck and not embedding your posts in a couple feet of concrete, there's no way. Several years ago we did a closed roof pavilion and the clients wanted no angle bracing. We dug down and embedded the posts, and we had custom fabricated steel braces fabricated for the post/beam connections. Didn't matter, physics didn't care. We still had a couple inches of movement until the mason finished the fireplace and we tied into it as a structural pier. A closed roof pavilion is a lot more weight up top than a pergola, but the forces are the same.

I pulled up this photo. The brick is a little darker but similar to yours, I thought. I like the idea of a green for your shutters and I wondered about painting both door and trim a dark color, maybe a dark purplish almost black. I think the column could be pulled from your chart, a warmer tone than your current white - maybe Swiss Coffee. Think about whether you'd like that same color for your railing and maybe a dark brown from your brick for the treads and risers. Here's a screenshot of some greens that might work. This link will let you identify all the colors shown, if you want. I love your brick. https://benjaminmoorefrance.com/en/colors/1560