Create the perfect set up to enjoy crisp autumn air and good company

Fall is prime time for enjoying a protected indoor-outdoor space like a screened porch. Here you can take a look at how design pros have set up screened porches around the country for fall fun, dinners, conversations and naps. Let them inspire a new setup or activity for your own porch. If you don’t have a screened porch, perhaps it will inspire an addition.

Watch Wildlife

Have a porch that overlooks woods and open. The untamed setting is just the spot for watching wildlife with binoculars or listening for birdcalls.

Nap

A swing outfitted as a daybed is perfect for a midafternoon nap. Add a handy basket that holds blankets at the ready for crisp fall days.

Get Away From It All

Give your dreamy garden pavilion a screened structure that overlooks a beautiful private garden, providing a calming oasis in the city.

Have Intimate Conversations

A long, narrow porch running along the side of a beach home can make the most of the modest-size space with two armchairs and a woven ottoman, creating an intimate area where family members can catch up, recall memories and share advice.

Take In the View

Give cushy armchairs to your screened porch. They provide relaxing seating for enjoying the views. Create an cosy arrangement around a circular cocktail table to encourage conversation.

Play Games

Construct your porch such that it allows the breezes to flow through it. While the space may have multiple seating options, you can add a game table where friends and family while away the hours playing backgammon or card games.

Catch the Big Game

Football weekends and crisp fall air go hand in hand. Set up a porch as an inviting open-air spot for watching the same. Adding a projector can use up one of the blank walls and double up the fun. However, if you have an outdoor TV, be aware of how it could affect the neighbors. Keep the volume at a reasonable level or invite them to join you on big game days.

Throw a Party

For a coastal home, a porch can act as a indoor-outdoor living. An expansive screened porch can have room for plenty of folks to gather, and a bar station makes it easy to have an impromptu fall cocktail hour.

Dine Alfresco

The summer heat relents in the fall, making it a good time of year for casual meals on the porch. Have a screened porch with comfortably curved and cushioned dining chairs that invite people to linger after dinner.

Enjoy a Hot Toddy

Of course, fall can mean very different things in different parts of the country. A roaring fire, blankets and warm drinks are musts for après-ski. The hearty types who hang out on a porch like this can welcome home the rest of their cohort as they arrive down the slope.