Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Patio, Porch, or Lanai?

According to our builder, our new home has a "Lanai." The definition of a lanai is "a roofed porch." I've always referred to it as a "patio." Well, we have a roofed patio, porch, or lanai.

In any case, here's a shot of our newly redone furniture. You'll be able to spot my tiny palm tree and red Anthurium plant that I bought while in the rental. They're both quite happy with the move. When the weather remembers that this is Florida and warms up a bit, I plan to buy more tropical plants.

We have had this outdoor furniture for over thirty years. It's aluminum, and I've had it repainted from the original beige to gray to match the house exterior.

There's a chaise lounge,



and a chair and ottoman,



along with a two-seater rocker



and a coffee table.



When we moved, I had new cushions made from an online company for $351, and then found a local company to sandblast, repair, and bake on a new dark, brown color for $450. They tell me that the furniture should last another ten years. We do have some straps to repair, but considering the fact that the rocker alone would cost more than the total spent, I'm happy.



Please notice all the furniture is empty. It's way too cold to sit out here.

We plan to have our patio, porch, or lanai screened in as soon as the homeowners association approves. So, what do you call it: patio, porch, or lanai? Take your pick.

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is the gracious hostess for Outdoor Wednesday. Participants post pictures of anything that they might find outdoors.


58 comments:

  1. I love the fabric!!!

    and I call it a porch!

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  2. I think its a porch. And it looks comfy.

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  3. Beautiful home and love the lanai.


    Regards.

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  4. Love your chairs and patio area.......my patio is covered with snow.

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  5. It looks so inviting, but I have heard that it is much too cold to sit there right now. It will warm up and be pleasant soon.

    I've had several of my good pieces redone and they are good for even more that ten years. It is like they are brand new again. Plus, the new stuff is sooo expensive.

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  6. It is beautiful. I love the colors you chose and hopefully you will spend a lot of time enjoying it once the weather warms up.
    Blessings, andrea

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  7. Whatever you want to call it...it is lovely.
    I love your new header picture.
    Too cute!

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  8. Your furniture looks great! I can't believe how cold most of Florida has been the last few days. Your temps are much better than Michigan's!

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  9. When I lived in Florida (in the 70's), we had a home with TWO Lanai's.. They were both screened in --and one of them had a flower garden in it. That was a neat house... It's the ONLY place we have lived that called the patio/porch/veranda a Lanai... I always thought it was because it was screened in. Maybe it's just a FLORIDA thing... ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  10. You can call it whatever. Guess it depends on where you are living. Seems the same thing can be called something different. To me, and in Texas, it would be a patio.Your furniture is beautiful and looks so comfortable. Love the colors.

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  11. Help! Which word is it....porch, veranda, patio or lanai? It depends on where one lives. In Maui it is called a lanai. In Illinois it is called a porch/patio. It really doesn't matter as long as your furniture is comfortable and pretty which it is. Enjoy the lawn furniture for another ten years.
    Joyce M

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  12. Love th cushion covers, Sally, but I am surprised that they aren't blue. I don't know why FL is the one who calls it lanai but whatever you call it, it's a neat place to stay when it is a little warmer...Christine

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  13. Very nice Sally! I love your furniture and your lanai!!

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  14. Everything is coming together so beautfully, Sally!

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  15. That looks really nice Sally :) Didn't they call it a lanai on The Golden Girls?

    p.s. You have an award HERE

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  16. I've never heard the term lanai before. But it looks nice! I'm sure you'll be out enjoying it in a few months.

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  17. Sally, the word Lanai is used in Hawaii for screened in porches/rooms. Often they have glass windows to keep out the rain! I must admit I've lived in many parts of the continental US and have never heard it called a Lanai except in Hawaii. NEVERTHELESS! Its a beautiful space and I love the furniture redo. The quality of the older pieces can't be beat. We have screened in porch and decks here in Georgia!

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  18. Oh Sally I LOVE the print you picked for your outdoor furniture!! I know everyone calls things different names but I have always called whatever overhang on the front of the house the porch, and outside in the back the patio.

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  19. I would call it a screened porch. That's what Southerners call them! LOL! But I also like the term lanai. Gives it some mystery, but I think Sue has reserved that term for her blog. :-)

    XO,

    Sheila

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  20. It is lovely. HGTV would call it an outdoor space. I would call it a porch. I would love to glass it in and have it as a sun room!! So many ideas. Your new house is beautiful!!

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  21. Oh your LANAI is divine dear. What a nice spot for entertaining and relaxing. I call it a porch, I wonder what the difference is, if any?

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  22. Very nice. I know you are looking forward to warmer weather so you can enjoy sitting out there. In California and Arizona it's called a patio. In Hawaii it would be a lanai. In the midwest, it's a porch. All the same thing. LOL
    Charlotte

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  23. I love your furniture set, Sally. It is going to be so nice for you to sit out on the patio/porch/lanai when your weather gets back to normal. I love the cushions and you are certainly right about the prices. They keep making them better, but the prices keep going higher.

    Up here we would call what you have a covered porch. When screened in it would be called a screened in porch. Heck, call it what you want!!

    Happy Outdoor Wednesday! :-)

    xoxo
    Jane

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  24. love the wise and frugal choices!

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  25. This is so pretty Sally. I love the pattern you picked out. Sooo pretty!

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  26. I would call it a patio but I like lanai too. Our new house has a covered wooden deck and I think that's what it should be called. Good job on the patio furniture!

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  27. Sally,
    I love your new cushions and great painting too - thank you so much for the links you included too. We call a screened in area down here in Florida a Lanai. When I think about it - it usually covers a pool also. I don't know if that's a qualifier or not - but whatever your area is it looks so comfortable and lovely.

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  28. Hi Sally...love the new look of the furniture! AND yes, when Florida remembers how to be Florida, you will get to spend some wonderful time on that Lanai (that's what they call them in the southwest), patio, or porch (that's my southern comfort word!)

    Bless you,
    Susan

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  29. Curtains vs Draperies
    Porch vs Lania
    Nitch vs Neesh

    An artist once asked me if I wanted him to paint a trompe loeil painting in my nitch or my "neesh". When I asked him what difference it made...he said the "neesh" painting would cost more than the nitch painting. LOL

    Love the cushions!

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  30. You have a beautiful home! I love the prints on the cushion!

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  31. I would call it a patio, but it's a lovely place to sit and relax by any name! I love the fabric you chose for the cushions, that furniture is wonderful! Happy Outdoor Wednesday! Kathy (btw, I ADORE your header photo)

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  32. Very nice material I love the pattern and color !
    Sally where is the snow ???(so jealous)
    I thought everyone in the world had snow....LOL!!!
    Diane

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  33. Hope the weather warms up soon for you. Nothing like having a patio that waits patiently and you can't use it because the weather won't cooperate.
    Living it up at Lakewood,
    Cindy

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  34. Sally your furniture looks great and I hope it warms up soon so you can sit outside and enjoy your new yard.

    Love your header photo! Are those some of your new neighbors passing by on a stroll?

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  35. Love the look of the "new" furniture on the new porch!

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  36. It's a porch to me to but I think it depends on the part of the country.

    Your furniture is gorgeous! You were so smart to refurbish it.

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  37. Oh Sally... I had to go to the dictionary to figure this one out... it said...

    a Lanai IS a patio... usually enclosed and used as a living room... so today... it's a patio... when you screen it in... well.. Lanai...

    in any event... it looks like a space that you'll spend many enjoyable hours relaxing and reading....

    cheers! Dixie

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  38. Hello Sally! I have an aunt who moved to Florida several years ago and she calls it a Lanai which I had never heard before. I call it a patio but lanai does have a prettier ring to it!

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  39. I have never even heard that word beforee. Thanks for educating me. It looks like a patio to me. I love the fabric on your furniture. It is great! Glad I stumbled on to your blog.

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  40. I like it very much (maybe even a lot.LOL). You and Johnny need to get out there and try to save our oranges.

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  41. I love your new abode Ms sally furnished with nice furniture and stuff. It very clean looks like the nieghborhood there are pretty nice too.

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  42. Sally, so beautiful, and hoping you will be able to use it soon.
    Blessings,
    Sue

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  43. I love the colors you chose for your patio. But lanai sounds much more exquisite. You will enjoy this spot whatever we call it! It looks great!

    Have a great day and may God bless it!!!

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  44. Love your porch furniture! ...especially the cushions! Really pretty! :) ~hugs, Rhonda

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  45. I have always called it a porch, but with beautiful furniture like that, lanai sounds so much more fitting (it's more elegant sounding). Love that picture in your header. laurie

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  46. I love your patio/porch/lanai furniture! Such a shame that it's too cold to use it at the moment. Up here in the Northeast, I think your outdoor space might be called a terrace - until you close it in, that is. Interesting how different parts of the world have such different ideas about things. But whatever you call it, it looks like a wonderful place to hang out.

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  47. I've always thought of it as a patio too. I have to wonder what the root of lanai means and how it is connected to outdoor structures.

    I lilke the fabric choice for your furniture. :)

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  48. Up here in hillbilly country we call it a porch. I remember on the tv show "The Golden Girls" they called their porch a lanai and it wasn't covered. I think the term lanai is a regional thing. Regardless, enjoy your outside living space when the temperatures rise.

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  49. Howdy Sally
    Oh how wonderful ,I'm not sure I like the thought of too cold to sit outdoors ,but I love the fabric and you got a great deal by reinvesting in your furniture .
    We call our area a patio ,my parents say porch :)
    It was 10 degrees here in Central Texas this morning .There I said it but I still can't believe it .
    Take care sweetie .
    Big hugs from Texas
    Happy Trails

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  50. Since we are freezing in Missouri, it's only right that you guys get a little of our temps, too! Right now, it's five degrees! Brrrrrr.....our poor patio is covered in snow and ice. Even though it's cold at your place, your lovely patio still looks so inviting...because I see GREEN on the ground and not white!

    I love it that you have taken such good care of your patio furniture so that you have been able to enjoy it for so long! It looks beautiful with it's new coat of paint and cushions! Dana

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  51. Cold? Oh Sally warm it up before I get there OK?
    It's looking like a warm cozy home out there Sally.
    Do you just love the new place? I think I know the answer to that one.
    Happy Weekend and Happy PS.
    Love Claudie
    xoxo
    Not participating today.

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  52. I call it beautiful Sally. Your furniture is just beautiful. Oooo,how wonderful to sit somewhere warm, but you're also not so warm. :(
    Hurry Springtime..

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  53. I guess it depends on where you live. I would call it a patio (East Coast) once you enclose it I might call it a porch. But if I were living in Hawaii I might call it a Lanai regardless of it's enclosure. I love the colors and the fabric. Very welcoming.

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  54. O, Sally..your furniture looks FANTASTIC...of course, I am loving the red!! I think you did great...
    Once you screen in the patio/porch/lanai, can it be called a SUNROOM? ;o)
    Gosh, your new home is so so pretty.
    xo bj

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  55. Hi Sally, your newly redone outdoor patio furniture looks marvelous..I would call your area a patio since it is level on the ground..I call my outdoor space a Deck since it is elevated 16 feet off of the ground..outside of my bedroom over looking the marsh...
    Have a relaxing time on your patio after it warms up in Florida..
    Hugs, Baba

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  56. Oh, Sally, your furniture is just beautiful. I have heard it is really cold in Florida now. Stay warm ~

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  57. Nice outdoor furniture. If it is in front of the house I usually call it a porch. In the back like yours I call a patio. If it is raised then it is a deck. Once it is screened in--a lanai and finally if it is glassed in--a sun room. Lots of choices. But you can call it what you want to call it.

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  58. We've always called it a covered porch, but I have heard it called Lanai in Hawaii and Florida.
    I love the fabric and I'd love to have that rocker! It's too bad the weather had to be so cold as soon as you moved into your new home. Too bad for the crops, too.
    cindy

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Sally