My screened-in porch might be the best lucky perk that my wonderful little house has. It offers the best of both worlds when it comes to being outside or inside. My screened-in porch definitely makes the house, and I hope my next house will have one too. Here are 11 reasons why they are the most underrated feature a house can have!

1. Feeling the breeze

Who doesn't like feeling a nice pleasant breeze against their face? One of my favorite things to do on a nice day is to sit outside on my porch and feel the breeze.

2. No bugs

If you're like me, you like being outside in nature, but you don't like getting bug bites. Besides the occasional spider, hardly any bugs get inside the porch area because it's screened in. If you ever feel paranoid though, just sprinkle a couple drops of lemon eucalyptus to naturally repel bugs .

3. Being outside when it's raining without getting wet

I love the sound of the rain, so being able to sit outside and listen to it without getting wet is a treat. Just don’t sit right next to the screen unless you like feeling a faint mist.

4. The furniture possibilities

The patio furniture definitely makes my porch. It’s comfortable and has a color scheme. You can be as creative as you want with the furniture on your screened-in porch!

5. Privacy

Unlike an open porch, a screened-in porch offers privacy. You have to look a little harder to see past the screen to even see if there’s anyone sitting on the porch, so it’s perfect if privacy is important to you.

6. All the options for decoration

Not only do screened-in porches offer a lot of creativity for the furniture, but they also offer a lot for decoration. You can hang things up easily because who cares if there’s a little nail in the wall? It’s just the porch!

7. Hearing and seeing nature without actually being in nature

Do you ever wish you could go hiking so that you can see nature, but for whatever reason, whether it’s time or distance you can’t? Well screened-in porches might not offer the exercise that hiking does, but they can offer the ability to hear and see nature. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat on mine and seen and heard different animals.

8. Great for guests

Love having people over? Screened-in porches are great for entertaining guests! There’s nothing better than sitting out on mine with a bunch of friends on a nice day or evening.

9. Sitting in the sunlight without sitting directly under the sun

There’s nothing quite like the sunlight poking through the screen and hitting the furniture. I can still enjoy the sunlight without getting too hot if I sit on my porch when the sun is out. If you’re sensitive to the sun but you still want to enjoy sunny days, screened-in porches are perfect.

10. Options for air conditioning or heating

Thinking about getting a screened-in porch, but you’re worried you won’t be able to enjoy it over the winter or in the summer? You can easily bring a fan or a space heater outside, or even install an overhead fan to keep the air circulating.

11. Relaxing

When I’ve had a particularly long day, there’s nothing better than coming home and being able to just collapse onto the couch in my porch. It’s so relaxing to just sit and enjoy the quietness and simplicity, especially if the day was stressful.

Bottom line, if you're searching for a house before, during, or after college, find one with a screened-in porch if you can because they really are the best!