There are dozens of options for outdoor living spaces available to you. The trickiest part can be deciding between a deck, sunroom, or screen room enclosure. All of these options are high-quality outdoor living spaces, but screen rooms, in particular, are the perfect balance between indoor and outdoor living. Let's explore what makes a screen room the best of both worlds.

Exposure to Nature

For those interested in enjoying the outdoors without being directly exposed to the weather, a screen room may be the right choice for you. Many people decorate these spaces with standard furniture instead of patio furniture, but the space is usually not part of the original home. While these rooms will still have asphalt or metal roofing that matches your home's, they will have screens on all sides as opposed to opaque walls and vinyl siding. The great thing about this is that you can move between this space and your home without having to change your footwear, grab an umbrella, or take extra measures to protect any food.

Even on rainy days, you can still spend time outdoors without the risk of getting soaked. You could watch thunderstorms, listen to birds, or watch the sunset, all from the comfort of a membrane that is only semi-permeable. Fresh air and natural scents can pass through, but there's no substantial risk of the rain getting inside. Because of their hybrid nature, screen rooms allow you to spend more time in a space where you can experience nature without getting wet or dirty.

Insect Protection

Anyone who spends regular time outdoors in the spring and summer has likely experienced swarms of insects that became active after dusk. Whether they're drawn to your lights, sweat, or food, sometimes not even bug spray and bonfire smoke can keep them all at bay. The great thing about screen rooms is that they protect you from insect exposure while allowing you to enjoy the evening air. Screen rooms can be a place you move back and forth to during a bonfire or a place to read and sleep at night.

If you spend your time in the screen room, you'll have the rare luxury of an insect-free evening. It can be frustrating to host an outdoor dinner party with friends and family during the summer only to be bombarded with flies, bees, gnats, and mosquitoes. Insects are notorious for carrying diseases and, if they bite, leaving nasty, itchy bumps. With a screen room, you won't have to apply bug spray to be outdoors and then wash it off before you go to bed. Instead, the only insects you'll likely notice will be the chirping crickets and glowing fireflies.

Sun Dimming

On the average summer afternoon, doing anything in the hot sun can be unbearable. Installing a screen room may be the action you take that allows you to mediate the sun's restrictions and your desire to spend time still outdoors. When the sun does pass through the gaps in the screen, it will be slightly dimmed by the mesh. Therefore, it won't be as bright in your eyes or as hot on your skin. It may even feel like you're sitting simultaneously in the sun and the shade.

With that in mind, you'll still be able to soak up some vitamin D during the day without as high of a risk of sunburn. Having only a little sunlight can be beneficial when reading, birdwatching, sharing a meal, or working on a computer, which can sometimes be difficult in the bright sun. On another note, if you're someone who enjoys spending time in the sun but isn't always ready to go indoors afterward immediately, a screen room could be the perfect place to cool off and relax while still staying outside.

Low Maintenance

An important detail for any home addition is the maintenance required once it's been installed. Pools, for example, require annual chemical treatments, protective covers, and expensive filters to maintain. According to Angi, screen porches only require maintenance every five years or so. This maintenance is simple, too, as it only involves rescreening any panels that may have developed larger holes. Additionally, the whole process of rescreening only takes a couple of minutes.

These rooms are so low-maintenance because they are indirectly exposed to the weather, as opposed to directly. The screens installed will not leave room for rainwater or insect to enter or for the wind to blow leaves and grass clippings inside. Instead, the area can be a sanctuary to experience nature without the hassle of cleaning up after it.

Customizable

Like sunrooms, screen rooms are hybrid spaces between inside and outside, creating endless possibilities for decorating them. Many of these rooms are situated atop patios or paver stones, so it would make sense to add outdoor furniture. Their proximity to the home means you could use indoor furniture, such as a dining table and chairs, a love seat and coffee table, or a handful of armchairs with end tables. A small bookshelf and a chess set would not look out of place, even though the space is technically outside.

You could also update your screen room seasonally. If it doesn't make sense to have a dining table set in your screen room in the winter, you could exchange it with other types of seating that would be more appropriate in the colder months. At the end of the day and at the end of each season, the choice is yours to decorate and rearrange your screen room as you wish. If anything, being a hybrid space could mean twice as many possibilities for what to do with it!

Elegance

Screen rooms are popular favorites as far as locations for social gatherings go. Again, their hybrid nature makes them usable for events that normally occur indoors or outdoors. Graduation parties, holidays, and family dinners are all on the table. Suppose you're having friends over and cooking for them. You can use the screen room, as the venue provides a nice change of scenery. Such a space indoors and outdoors could keep people around for longer and extend your party into the evening.

Having the extra space can allow you to invite larger groups, as well. People often form small groups naturally at social gatherings, each with their own conversation. It can add to the experience when a guest has a larger space to explore, a greater variety of people to interact with, and a larger selection of activities to engage in. Inviting more people and providing new spaces for them to interact allows you to introduce people to one another and foster new relationships.

The most convenient thing about a screen room is that you can do whatever you want with them. They are great mediums for bringing outdoor activities indoors and bringing indoor activities outdoors. Frequently defying tradition in this way creates lasting memories and delightful occasions for everyone involved. For more information about screen rooms or to get started with our services, call Eicher's Pro Vinyl today. We look forward to working with you!