Become a ‘porch potato’ this fall

No one will ever accuse me of being a couch potato. I can't idle my engine long enough to stay in one spot for long. As soon as I sit down, I pop back up like a jack-in-the-box and rush off to do some forgotten task or another. But if I could slow down a bit, I'd love to be a porch potato and plant myself on my screened porch for the entire season of autumn.

I'm passionate about screened porches. When you live in a climate where freezing winters and blistering summers drive you indoors far too often, you learn not to take this outdoor sanctuary for granted.

So when the broiling summer gives way to fall, I'm thrilled to take the party back outside and enjoy my screened porch once again.

My zealousness for porch living is met, and perhaps even exceeded, by my friend Jean, who has created a three-season screened porch that's to die for. All it took was some careful planning, the right furnishings and killer seasonal accents to make her outdoor room the place to be for the whole family from the moment the first snow melts until the flurries start to fly again.

Jean's ranch home backs up to a wooded glen and brook. One of the first major projects she took on after purchasing the home was to add on a large screened porch so she could drink in the view.

Since Jean loves to entertain, she knew the new porch had to be located near the kitchen and other common rooms in her house. It had to be spacious enough to hold a crowd, be filled with comfy furnishings, and reflect the casual, yet sophisticated, style that marks the rest of her home. That's a lot to ask from a room made of timber and screen, but her wooded retreat meets her criteria perfectly.

The porch is situated just off the dining room, so all you need do is open the lovely French doors and the al fresco room is ready for business. Jean filled her outdoor retreat with rustic and refined furnishings.

My favorite addition is the set of brown wicker chairs dressed up with sink-in-soft reversible down cushions that sport an English hunt scene on one side and soft gold chenille on the other.

For everyday use, Jean creates a conversation cluster with the chairs along the porch's outermost wall. But when she hosts a dinner party outside, she pulls the wicker chairs up to a dining table to make an opulent, but comfy, dining group.

When summer's over, Jean remakes her porch for fall by layering up the cozy seating arrangement. She drapes the table with a quilt topped with a dreamy paisley throw, and plays up the warm brown tones and twiggy texture of the wicker chairs by adding accents like a birch basket tray used to hold dishware.

This fall, you can become a porch potato, too. Just layer up with the rich tones and textures of autumn. Cover your outdoor dining table with a quilt. Set each place with gold, green and brown majolica. For a centerpiece, fill a squat iron urn with a bevy of gourds. Decorate your outdoor hutch with a phalanx of pumpkins, a basket filled with hedge apples or a cluster of lanterns.

Finally, replace the summer cushions on your outdoor seats with pillows made of paisley, checks, stripes and floral fabrics. Toss a shawl over the arm of a chaise for chilly evenings.

Then snuggle in and enjoy the cool breeze. If you can, plant yourself there until the snow starts to fly.

Mary Carol Garrity owns three home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and wrote several books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills@mail.lvnworth.com. Her column is syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service.