Lanai Living

Try to remember back to the days of pre-retirement when you were dreaming of coming to Florida full-time. Did you think that you would spend your mornings having coffee on the open-air lanai of your new home? Maybe, you dreamed of afternoons reading or having a snooze after a long round of golf. Now fast forward to the present, how did that work out for you? Often, there is the idea of how you think you will live in Florida and then there is the reality of how you actually live in Florida. Outdoor lanais are great if you don’t mind the layers of yellow pollen in the spring. May and June are often quite nice but still we have pollen. July gets a bit hotter with more rain and finally August pumps up the volume with heat and humidity so that it feels like a steam bath outside. There will be dried dirt pooled on the cement from daily afternoon showers and don’t you just love the lizards! Finally, if the pollen doesn’t get you, there will be aggravation at all the dirt kicked up when the lawn service mows and blows off all the driveways and walkways around the house. After a year or two of these conditions most people decide to enclose and air condition the lanai so they can use it year-round without worrying about dirt and reptiles. Let’s take a peek into two enclosed lanais. These lanais are narrow but highly functioning, pollen free and perfect no matter the time of year or the weather, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

  •  Add Windows to both
The lanais already had overhead drywall ceilings. All that enclosing the room required was to add glass windows and another set of sliders. The glass windows extend all the way to the floor so that all the wonderful light can continue to pour into both spaces.

  •  Paint
The walls received a fresh coat of paint that was the color of the home’s exterior. I don’t know the name of the paint colors, but I liked the warm and earthy tones of both home exteriors. Also, both colors worked well with the bright blues and multi colors each homeowner wanted to accent on their lanais.

  •  Flooring
The flooring that was installed for the bright blue lanai was luxury vinyl planking and looked like stone. This type of flooring is a great application for this space. The homeowners did not want to worry about water from the pool getting on the floor. Though this room is enclosed they still could leave the sliders open when the weather would allow.
The flooring for the lanai with many colors was just the cement floor that was painted and that works great for a lanai space as well.

  •  Indoor/Outdoor curtains bright blue
In a space like the bright blue lanai, I like to use indoor/outdoor curtains to add color and softness to the room. We had small rods installed wide enough to cover the wall between the windows and we installed the panels all the way to the ceiling. These panels are not functional, but they add a finished look to the space. The lanai with many colors received stationary window panels but they were not indoor/outdoor. This lanai did not have pool access and the homeowners expressed that they would not be leaving the windows opened for long periods of time. These panels were white fabric with a small print of green dashes creating lines on the curtains. The color is subtle but effective in applying another layer of color to the space.

  •  Blinds
The sun does shine in rather harshly at some points during the day on both lanais, so the windows had to have something to keep the sun out when it was too bright. The homeowner of the bright blue lanai had honeycomb blinds installed on the two large windows. These blinds blend in with the wall color and are not noticed. They drop down during the short time that the sun is too intense and then they go away when they are not needed. The lanai with many colors also had bright sun as the photo shows and the homeowners had sunshades installed to diffuse the sun when it is shining so intensely.

  •  Furniture
Each homeowner wanted the rooms to have two functions. The bright blue lanai wanted one half of the lanai for eating or playing cards and the other half for relaxing and reading. The eating side was large enough to accommodate a 42-inch table and four chairs. The table is a warm wood tone, and we had the chairs covered in a custom fabric which looks amazing! The relaxing side of the room has two recliners that almost tip you upside down creating an anti-gravity effect. These chairs are great for reclining and promoting circulation when in the anti-gravity position. Regarding storage, we were able to find a very thin buffet which we placed on the side wall. Also, we installed a round table in between the two chairs with a lamp for reading at night. The multicolored lanai had two functions as well. One function was for the bar area and the second function was for TV watching and relaxing. We were able to add storage in this space with a thin buffet under the TV as well. Both lanais are narrow but highly functional!

  •  Rugs
Even though the bright blue lanai may get a little wet when walking back and forth to the pool, the homeowners wanted nice rugs with lots of color. The rug underneath the chairs is a light background with large palm fronds in blue and green and it is striking. Finally, the rug in the eating area is deep royal blue with light aqua and it looks amazing under the table. All the colors in the room look good together and most of all the space is inviting! The multicolored lanai received two 5×8 sisal rugs that we abutted so they look like one long 5×16 rug. This allowed us to have a long rug under the chairs and a great soft landing for bare feet.
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