Whether big or small these screened in porch decorating ideas will bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. With some easy steps, these screened porch ideas will give your porch a greenhouse vibe and make everyone want to stay for a while.
SCREENED IN PORCH DECORATING IDEAS
After the winter has passed I love bringing life to my back porch and love sharing screened in porch decorating ideas. Whether it is spring or fall these porch decor ideas will last all year long.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase using the links below. All opinions are all my own.
Porch Decor
With all projects, I like to encourage you to do some research. Look at Pinterest, google images or magazines for porch decorating ideas. I share some of the popular home decor magazines if you need a few suggestions.
But a great place to start is my porch category. There is small front porch decorating ideas and back porch ideas and holiday porch ideas too.
Once you have all your ideas keep them handy for when you do some shopping. It is great to refer back to them so you stay on target with your design.
Local Nursery
Let's jump straight to the one thing that will bring life to your porch and that is plants.
If you are like me then you will need some help with shopping for plants. Let me encourage you to go to your local nursery for help.
Tallahassee Nurseries is where I love to go look for plants, flowers, decor and more. I also love to go there just to walk around and get inspiration.
But let's be honest this girl needs some help so I ask Jonathon for direction on what kind of plants for my back porch.
He shared with me several important things I thought you might like to know.
When you arrive at your nursery bring photos of your back porch and know what direction it faces. My porch faces the east so it gets morning sun however, I also shared that I have some large sweet gum trees in my backyard that shade the porch. That was important too.
Jonathon recommended I look for plants in the greenhouse.
Okay so now we know to shop in the greenhouse for our screened in porch but we need some help with the details and that is where Kelly came into play.
Did I mention that I brought my own pots? Well, I showed Kelly my pots and told her all the places I wanted plants for my screened in back porch.
We started with succulents for the hanging macrame planter. I showed her the hanger and told her where I planned to place it.
Because the macrame hanger was going close to the screen she recommended certain succulents. She actually picked all the plants based on how much light they would be getting on the screened porch.
Remember me saying to bring photos of the space you want for plants? Well, here is where those photos come in handy. She could see what my screened in porch looks like and how much light each area of the porch will get.
We continued to shop for plants in the greenhouse using my pots as a guide.
Then at the last minute, I decided to add a container garden to my greenhouse style back porch.
I love container gardens!. Kelly did her magic and created one in a matter of minutes but if you need more direction on how to create container gardens check out my recent spring front porch decor post. It has step by step instructions and a video too.
Pillows
Now that we have plants for our porch lets add a few other details that will warm up the space and make it feel cozy.
Screened porches are like another room of the house but at the same time, they are exposed to the elements. So be sure to look for items that can withstand the elements like outdoor fabric pillows.
When planning your pillows consider all shapes and sizes. And repetition is a good element of design.
On these chairs, I have two matching pillows. They pull together the colors of my cushions and offer a few other fun colors for the back porch.
Now if you have a hammock swing or any cozy place you can go for layers of pillows. People can curl up in this swing with all these pillows.
I have to share a secret about these pillows. They are not outdoor pillows. We bring them out whenever we want to get cozy on the swing.
It makes sitting her for longer periods of time more enjoyable.
And last its nice to have a long horizontal pillow on the love seat.
Remember me saying that repetition is a good element of design. Well, this piece has the same vibe as the hammock swing so it pulls together the sofa with the swing.
Plants
Okay, we have all the pillows and furniture in place so now it is time to add our plants.
Let's start with the macrame piece and hang it by the screen over the chairs.
Because the swing is on one side I thought something hanging on the other side would balance the space.
Next, let's place the container garden on the end table by the swing. Because it is pretty large I decided to let it be the focal point of that table.
I added a candle and a few outdoor books to give it some accessory company.
Didn't Kelly do an amazing job on the container garden?
I also left room for a person to put a drink or book.
Next, I placed the plant Kelly planned to be the longest from the sun.
But I didn't have a cute pot for this plant to go in so I decided to try out painting the pot it came in with some Fusion mineral paint.
I simply sat the pot on a paper towel and start painting. I would pull on the paper towel to turn it around to paint on the other side.
It was so easy and dried within 20 minutes. I did have to apply two coats to keep the orange color pot from showing through.
And last I added some plants to the shelf by the screen.
This sweet fern is called a rabbit's foot. I thought it was funny because Eugene our rabbit loves to hang out on the porch. This plant was made for him. LOL!
The succulent was one of my daughters' plants. She added it to the shelf to give more color and design.
In fact, Hannah loves succulents so much she grabbed one before we left the nursery to add to the design.
Isn't this plant beautiful! He is hanging out on the shelf too.
Art
Now let's think about accessories. I already had accessories on my porch so I kept the shutter, clock and barn quilt. But this time I wanted to add a little something different next to my shutter. So I created a botanical free printable to go there.
If you want to print out one of these botanical prints simply subscribe to my email.
The details for how to make these outdoor frames are on my DIY framed botanical prints post. I even share how to make them outdoor proof so they won't get messed up from the weather.
Accessories
Now add a few accessories. Think in layers. I already had some accessories so I mainly moved things around a little until I got it the way I liked.
Here is an example of layers. The weather vane is a tall item in the back, the plant is the next layer down and the lamp is the bottom layer.
Another accessory tip is to place items in odd numbers. Here is an example of an odd number of accessories using three.
Conclusion
Well, there you have a greenhouse inspired screened in back porch decor idea.
It is pretty easy to create this type of porch design. Plants seem to brighten up any space and make it feel warm and inviting.
And with the help of a local nursery like Tallahassee Nurseries you will come home with the right plants who have a better chance of surviving.
I hope this email has inspired you to decorate your screened in porch.
Now all you need is a cup of coffee or tea, a visit with friends or a good book to enjoy your new outdoor room.
Happy Decorating!
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Kristie Perkins
Saturday 31st of July 2021
Love your porch, what color ceiling did you go with?
Linda McDonald
Tuesday 3rd of August 2021
Thank you! The color is a Duran color by Duron at Sherwin Williams. I have more about it in this post along with other beautiful blue porch ceiling colors. https://lifeonsummerhill.com/haint-blue-paint-colors/
Zooey Barnett
Wednesday 10th of June 2020
Your porch looks amazing, it will be huge inspiration for me! And the hammock with these pillows - I've been dreaming of something like this. Can I ask where did you get yours? It's gorgeous! I've been looking at some hammocks in few stores but the quality wasn't that good for the price :(
Linda McDonald
Thursday 11th of June 2020
Thank you! I am glad you got some inspiration from my porch. :) I found this hammock swing on Amazon. I noticed recently that the link I had in the post is now going to a larger hammock swing. I found this one that looks just like it and it comes in white and natural. https://amzn.to/2BSzaq5
penny
Wednesday 26th of February 2020
I love everything in your porch.
Linda McDonald
Thursday 27th of February 2020
I am so glad you love it!!!
DEOCRATING WITH BARN QUILTS | LIFE ON SUMMERHILL
Tuesday 19th of November 2019
[…] is my own barn quilt that I featured in the post Screened In Porch Decorating Ideas. Barn quilts are so versatile. The neutral look of this barn quilt fit just right out on my […]
MARIE
Monday 17th of June 2019
What is the color of the house?
Linda McDonald
Tuesday 18th of June 2019
If you would like the color of the walls on my back porch it is Kilim Beige by Sherwin Williams. Let me know if that answers your questions. If not send me more details and I will do my best to answer. Thanks! I hope you have a nice day!