My porch is entire width of the house,screened in floor to ceiling,I like it but Id rather have it enclosed.

I have an enclosed porch and although it functions as a mudroom it is really cold (nearly unusable) during the winter and it makes our house look like a big box. So I think I would rather have it screened in instead of the glass.
You know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Most likely if my porch was open I would want it closed!
-renee

Your porch was closed in at a later date. Go ahead and rip it open if you like. Those brick bases should have posts on them to hold the roof up. I think we're both seeing the ones that are kind of wide and squared up on the bottom, tapering upwards?

Here's another vote to open it. I think it would give a better and less boxy appearance to the front of your lovely home. Are there more windows inside the porch? Your door will also be more of a focal point once the porch is opened. I think the addition you are doing looks great and is sensitive to the lines of the house. Can the construction crew do the porch while they are on sight?

Good luck. Can't wait to see pictures.

Oh, open it, definitely, especially if you don't like the space it creates inside.

My sister's name is Daina Adele and she lives in Nebraska. Wouldn't be you would it?????

We have an unheated enclosed porch and love it.
It holds the wood for our woodstove, so we can walk out there in stocking feet and reload.
It keeps the chill winter winds off one wall of our kitchen and family room.
It keeps the wind from blowing in directly when we open the back door to the house.
It is a good place to put plants in the shoulder season between winter and summer.
It is a good place to keep barn boots and jackets, small garden tools and gloves and recycling bins.
It is a great place to sit and have coffee in the morning on cool days, since it faces the southeast.

We made the windows removeable so that we could install screens, but after 15 years, we only change out the screen on the door, and that works fine.

{{!gwi}}

Our porch isn't original but it's about 90 years old. It was made with large windows that opened completely for the summer. It was retrofitted with screens/windows, but I'd like to restore it someday (item #321 on the priority list...). I love it. Sleep out there in the summer sometimes, gets the sun in the winter and is warm at times. Here's a pic of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Headline News: Sisters Reunite on Internet! Yeah, I saw the kennebunker, and thought "Gee, my sister lives in Kennebunkport." I see you have a website, see you there! Daina.

How about something midway-- open porch up- removing the siding & windows & etc. -- but with screen panels to keep bugs out. To some extent the screening does protect the porch keeping a lot of rain & snowfrom from landing on the porch floor. Although of course it wont keep out a big downpour with strong sideways wind.

I opened up my porch recently and put in large white storm windows (w/ glass panels that move up and down) - looks pretty good but I find I really didn't need the glass, I think the screening would've been enough and in fact would be nicer bc it would let in more breeze. Youre right it won't ever be useable in the winter, so why not make it as wonderful as possible for summer use.

I have mixed feelings about our enclosed porch.

Pros:
- great storage place for large stuff like drywall
- great holding place for extra construction garbage (we have to pay extra for more than 2 bulk items, so our old carpet etc went out there as it was disposed of 2 rolls at a time)
- great place to leave groceries as the car is unloaded (the dogs get into them otherwise)
- great place to store garden equiptment and yard tools (since the garage isn't attached and doesn't lock it's a little safer)
- great place to sit and have lunch on a warm day
- keeps the cold wind away from the front door and windows
- keeps the outside dirt 'outside' the house (we have enough indoor dirt!)

Cons:
- doesn't allow for light into the living room
- isn't in keeping with the original design of the house
- is too cold to be really used in the winter

I agree with corgilvr and kennebunker (your sister?).
I think you should open it up and have a couple of nice square posts on the corners. It would make a much more attractive and well-defined entry.

Ressurecting and old post here. It has been years and we have been working on one aspect or the other of our old home, but we finally got around to the porch issue. Here is is as of today. (I still need to decide where else to add more red color -trim vs door.)It has been wonderful. The house just feels more welcoming!

Closer up:

Brilliant work, dainaadele. It is a though the house had been kept under an unfortunate spell for a time and you finally rescued it by returning it to its original welcoming demeanor. Congrats.

We have a second story enclosed porch. It aggravates me. We can't use it in the winter, as it gets far too cold. Therefore, can't be used as a sunroom. ut it's not really a screened-in porch, either, so you can't use it as that function in the summer. There are screens in all the windows but it's not the same as a screened in porch.

If I had 5000 dollars dropped out of the sky, I'd convert it to a real sunroom in a second. We have two porches and a deck so no real need for a screened porch at this house.

Wow it looks amazing! Great job, that porch is amazing and is probably more historically accurate. Plus, what a pleasure to be out there and enjoy it. Congratulations, and enjoy, thank you so much for posting!

Wonderful transformation! The porch looks so much better now and probably provides you with a much better place to unlock your front door and not get rained on :)

Krycek- What room opens onto the second story porch? Would an open porch work in that location? If you could redo it as a deck/porch off the master bedroom, for instance, that might be very nice in the summer.

Your vision of the porch was RIGHT ON. A Cinderella story definitely. Love the way you've beautified this house.

It's off of one of the guest bedrooms. Anything could really work but I'm not sure if we'll be in this house long enough to justify turning it into a sunroom or screened in porch :(. Otherwise I would do one of those.

We already have a balcony off the master suite so we're ok in that regard :).