Recessed Lighting Planning for Screened Porches in MD & VA

Recessed lighting transforms screened porches into sophisticated outdoor living spaces with clean, modern aesthetics. Whether you're in Montgomery County, MD or Fairfax County, VA, proper planning ensures optimal illumination and functionality. Before installing recessed lights in your custom screened porch design, understand these six essential factors to maximize both style and performance in your outdoor living investment.

Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens have been in the market of making upscale outdoor cabinetry for many years. They've seen trends in outdoor kitchen designs come and go, but not every concept has proven as enduring as powder coated stainless steel kitchen cabinets or Infratech infrared heaters. With that unique perspective, Mitchell Slater, president and founder of Danver Cabinets, spoke to Design Builders about his favorite products and innovations to prevail in stainless steel outdoor cabinetry.

The Scenario

Bill and Eileen are two of many Virginians who call Great Falls their home. They purchased their 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom house in 2002 and have since grown to a family of five with three young daughters. With the amount of room the property has, the couple will be living there for the foreseeable future and has already completed several renovations to its interior.

With a reinvigorated kitchen, a basement-turned-bar and game room, and an expanded master bedroom, the couple's attention has turned to their deteriorating 25-year-old deck that is showing signs of its age. As Bill and Eileen come from large families, they are looking for an outdoor makeover to support the scale of holiday gatherings they are accustomed to as well as birthday parties, play dates, and other events year-round. With their current set-up not meeting these needs, it's time to makeover their outdoor living space.

Sunroom Addition in a Historic Bethesda, Maryland Neighborhood

In the Carderock Springs neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland is a home with a recently completed sun room expansion. While this may not seem extraordinary at first, consider how residential planner Edmund Bennett's execution of this 1960's-era community earned it an official spot  on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.

Consequently, homeowners looking to modify their houses here are forced to abide by strict standards enforced by various covenants and an Architectural Review Committee (ARC). These regulatory bodies are legally required to maintain Carderock's architectural aesthetic, making contracting more of a challenge.

The elements of a great decking design should compliment your surroundings and be inspired by what you already have

A Darnestown client was in need of a new deck. With her original 30-year-old installation falling apart, she explained her desire to have a fresh deck design that would compliment both her spacious lot as well as the large hardwood trees and native plants that surrounded it.

Her demands? For the space, which would be used mostly when her children and grandchildren visited, to be contemporary and functional. She said she had given up gardening years ago due to the pesky local deer population and that she and her husband did not spend a lot of time outdoors when the kids were not around, but that it still had to be aesthetically pleasing when viewed indoors.