An Enclosed Front Porch to Enjoy For Better or for Worse

An enclosed front porch can be as just as much fun as an enclosed patio. It can be used to enjoy the weather outside without getting wet or too warm, and it can also be a place of protection from the weather and bugs.How you end up using and decorating your new enclosed front porch is up to you, but here are some ideas to get you started.The Open-Air, Enclosed Front PorchAn open-air, enclosed front porch seems like a contradiction, but it’s really not. The enclosed part of this project is that there is a roof, walls and windows now surrounding what once used to be a plain, open front porch. The open-air part of the project is that the windows and patio doors that are installed on this front porch can all be opened so that there is nice breeze coming through.With this type of enclosed porch you can enjoy sitting out on it with patio furniture with the windows closed or open depending on the weather.The Enclosed-Off Front PorchThe enclosed-off front porch is the same as the open-air, enclosed front porch, except it is turned more into a functional room rather than a place to be protected from the weather or to enjoy a cool evening. The enclosed-off front porch will still have many windows, but instead of a patio door it has a regular front door.It is also used more as a storage room for the tools you will need in the front yard (snow shovel, broom, etc.) and also as a mudroom to remove your dirty shoes and outerwear before entering the home. Because of the way an enclosed-off front porch is created, it can be counted as an extra room in your house and as part of your square footage, instead of just as a porch.The Smaller Enclosed Front PorchIf you have just a small front porch it can be enclosed just as much as a larger front porch. The only difference will be in how you use it. It won’t be able to be used as a place to sit and enjoy the cool summer breeze in the summer, or as a room additional to your home. Instead, it will be used as a place of protection from the weather.It will be a place where you can put groceries so they will not get wet on a rainy day as you go back to get more out of the car. It will be a place to get you out of the cold wind and blowing snow as you are fumbling around for your keys to open the front door. An enclosed front porch is a quiet luxury that most homeowners never realize how valuable it is until it protects them one day from having to endure the weather, hold on to their bags, and try to get in to the house all at the same time.In other words, once you have an enclosed porch, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.