smilobean, I'm a minnesotan too (and we know winter!). I built 12x13 cedar screen porch in 2005. I have black aluminum spindles and weatherbest decking. I had ReadySeal applied in 2006 and it has performed nicely. I used deep red color and its beautiful and the cedar still shows thru. I used a company called Roof2Deck to apply and they did a great job. The initial application was pricey, but the maintenance is supposedly much cheaper. I may have them touch-up my porch this year. But you can order the product on-line and DIY. Hope this helps, and would love to see some pics. jasper

Yes Julie, it is Brookside (on Huntington), so I am sure it is the same one that you saw . It was a strip to the studs remodel in 2009. Originally I was lamenting that it was a little bit too "redone" but based on feedback from our new neighbors it sounds like prior to that it was inhabited by a bit of a hermit (and a family of raccoons) so am now grateful. We moved from Johnson County, and I think a "new" 1920 house may be an easier transition for my husband and I who aren't the handiest folks around. We had a contract fall through on a house that was closer to the Waldo area (74th and Summit) and am now very grateful it worked out that way because we love our new neighborhood. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. We have been taking full advantage of the other restaurants, but haven't made it there yet, so that will be next on our list! Jamies - thank you for your detailed response. With the way that you described, I have a little more vision. I especially like the thought of taking the house color around the base, and feel like maybe that would tie the porch in in a way that I feel that it is lacking now. I will definitely do the mockups that you recommend and think that it will be very helpful. The one thing I am having trouble envisioning is transitioning the trim around the roofline. I guess the next question will be on staining and color, but think we'll likely go the transparent route since i like the look of the grain. Regarding the rug, I remeasured and think I can get the next size up which will span the length of the couch so make it feel more like it fills the room. I guess this means vacuuming my deck which I may come to regret (as kswl points out) but I do like the coziness that the rug provides

Thanks for the smart points about rain, klem. And I agree -- there are just so many options, and people are so opinionated about those options, that it's hard to know what to do. My biggest concern remains the weather and how that will affect things, but I know that's a local issue. Maybe I should walk around the neighborhood and survey some people with porches about the sun and the temp, etc. Without adding any new information, my wife and I are divided on what to do -- she thinks just screening it is fine, but I think it would be really nice to have glass for the late fall / winter. If we had to decide today, I think we would either do simple / cheap modern storm windows (which could be opened to the screen on the bottom half during the summer) or do something a bit more adventurous. What I'm thinking on the adventurous front is to screen it in, but do it in a way where there's space to add the old-style wooden storm windows later -- just simple single-pane units that slide into the windo frames and attach with this: http://www.houseofantiquehardware.com/screen-hooks-storm-sash-window-hanger?sc=12&category=91 . The main thing would be attaching the screen on the inside of the frames, or at least creating an outside sill deep enough for the storm windows to nestle within it and still be flush on the outside. Then we could remove the storm windows and store them in the garage during the summer (though that wouldn't help with rainstorms you mention). Does that make any sense? If we did that, we could see how we like the screen in the spring and summer, but add the glass later in an affordable and removable fashion. I haven't seen many people try this, but I think we could build the storm frames and get the glass cut by a local shop. Basically we would recreate something like this company's product: http://chicagogreenwindows.com/storm-window-primer/

staining would look more natural use a white stain