Decorating & Design

The Lakehouse: Lynda Reeves On The Joys Of A Screened-In Porch

Author: Lynda Reeves

Updated on November 28, 2023

This is my story of designing our renovation of a century-old lakehouse in Ontario. Each month, I’ll offer a new chapter on the challenges and solutions, and a peek at our progress. You’ll be able to see the actual house come together on new episodes of our video series The Lakehouse.

It was always in our plans to rebuild the original screened porch on the back of our lakehouse. I’ve never had a screened porch. I’ve visited friends’ cottages on buggy evenings and sat in theirs, happily unaware of the mosquitoes lurking beyond. Here, at our place, there are these tiniest of bugs called midges that swarm every time we open a door and are so thick you have to avoid swallowing them. I’m told they’ll soon disappear, only to be replaced by blackflies, mosquitoes, deerflies and the occasional bat. I can hardly wait.

It’s late May when I write this and the midges just evaporated! The screens are almost all in, the furniture has arrived, the rest of the bits and pieces are coming someday, and I can hardly wait for it to be done!

For months, I pondered what decorating style of screened porch would best suit our house. I looked at many inspiration shots and was always attracted to dark interiors with traditional off-black painted wicker furniture. But something held me back. I couldn’t imagine that scheme in my head for this house. So I parked that vision and decided just to worry about the envelope of the room.