Porch plans

I got to sleep in a tiny bit this morning, and started thinking about our back porch we might do sometime in the next year.

Currently, we have a very small concrete area for a back porch. It is the bare minimum, just to keep from having a muddy place outside the back door.

It needs to be bigger. I can't picture anything like a deck, because of the way our backyard slopes down to the house. And a roof over it would be great. Those two elements might allow a small area to the side to store the riding lawn mower, which doesn't have a home right now.

Then just a small table and chairs would be perfect. I am not going to get too excited about a lot of furniture back there. We always say we are going to eat outdoors, but the bugs make it impossible.

I am researching whether we really need patio furniture covers on a covered porch. Of course, you see it in all the pictures, I'm just wondering if it is really necessary.