Screen Time: Stylish Ways to Keep the Mozzies Out This Season
From outdoor curtains and mosquito nets to retractable flyscreens on windows and doors, Houzz has you covered
Nothing compares to entertaining outside on a balmy evening, or enjoying a good night’s sleep with the windows open… until mosquitos arrive. Mozzies, flies and other insects relish warm weather as much as we do, but thanks to these stylish screening solutions you can relax outdoors and let the scent of summer waft into your home, without unwelcome winged guests crashing your party.
Retractable insect screens work in a similar way to roller blinds and usually feature a spring-loaded system that neatly rolls the mesh back into its frame when not in use.
Retractable screens are often the best option if you need mosquito netting for apartment balconies or patio enclosures. These designs can withstand wet weather and you can often choose from standard strength mesh or heavy-duty aluminium.
In this balcony, hidden screens have been fitted vertically to slide up and down on tracks that blend invisibly into the verandah’s pillars.
Need insect screens installed at home? Contact window specialists near you for a quote and browse images of their work
Retractable screens are often the best option if you need mosquito netting for apartment balconies or patio enclosures. These designs can withstand wet weather and you can often choose from standard strength mesh or heavy-duty aluminium.
In this balcony, hidden screens have been fitted vertically to slide up and down on tracks that blend invisibly into the verandah’s pillars.
Need insect screens installed at home? Contact window specialists near you for a quote and browse images of their work
Horizontal retractable insect screens
Tracks can also be fitted horizontally, which lets screens slide across wider openings then retract inconspicuously to one or both sides when not in use. Freedom Retractable Screens of Australia fitted this home on Queensland’s Gold Coast with retractable flyscreens, which make use of a pillar-less system to minimise disruption to the tranquil view.
Tip: Most retractable flyscreens can span openings up to nine metres in length.
Tracks can also be fitted horizontally, which lets screens slide across wider openings then retract inconspicuously to one or both sides when not in use. Freedom Retractable Screens of Australia fitted this home on Queensland’s Gold Coast with retractable flyscreens, which make use of a pillar-less system to minimise disruption to the tranquil view.
Tip: Most retractable flyscreens can span openings up to nine metres in length.
Fixed flyscreens
In this home in Invermay, Victoria, designed by Moloney Architects, the casement windows’ sidelights are fitted with fixed window screens, while the larger expanses of glazing are not. This mix of screened and unscreened openings ventilates the home and provides plenty of natural light, while stopping mosquitos in their tracks.
In this home in Invermay, Victoria, designed by Moloney Architects, the casement windows’ sidelights are fitted with fixed window screens, while the larger expanses of glazing are not. This mix of screened and unscreened openings ventilates the home and provides plenty of natural light, while stopping mosquitos in their tracks.
Hinged screen windows
Some of the most traditional mesh screens are the hinged varieties that most of us have had at some stage in our lives. These can be fitted to windows as well as doors.
Most hardware stores sell and cut flyscreen mesh from about $10 per metre, which you can use to create a screened porch. But beware this common DIY trap – although it can be straightforward to replace fly screens, constructing them from scratch is best left to the professionals.
Some of the most traditional mesh screens are the hinged varieties that most of us have had at some stage in our lives. These can be fitted to windows as well as doors.
Most hardware stores sell and cut flyscreen mesh from about $10 per metre, which you can use to create a screened porch. But beware this common DIY trap – although it can be straightforward to replace fly screens, constructing them from scratch is best left to the professionals.
Hinged screen doors
Flyscreen doors often do double duty as security screens too, which is the case in this stylish home in Auckland, New Zealand.
Dora Doors custom-designed this metal screen door to reflect the home’s heritage style. Here, security-grade mesh lets air and light in, but keeps more than just insects out. The decorative metalwork in the frame also complements the timber fretwork and transom window above the front door.
Tip: Security screens can be fitted to windows as well as doors.
Flyscreen doors often do double duty as security screens too, which is the case in this stylish home in Auckland, New Zealand.
Dora Doors custom-designed this metal screen door to reflect the home’s heritage style. Here, security-grade mesh lets air and light in, but keeps more than just insects out. The decorative metalwork in the frame also complements the timber fretwork and transom window above the front door.
Tip: Security screens can be fitted to windows as well as doors.
Pivoting screen doors
Are you keen to repurpose an old door with some flyscreen? Pay a thought to the mechanism you use to open and close it as well as the style of door.
This beautiful pivoting screen door in New York, USA, appears to be a regular style. However, when opened, the pivot hinge sets the door apart as a distinctive design. When closed, the door blends seamlessly into the screened porch and frames views of the garden.
Similarly, the metal sliding tracks above the repurposed barn door pictured below are a design feature in their own right.
Are you keen to repurpose an old door with some flyscreen? Pay a thought to the mechanism you use to open and close it as well as the style of door.
This beautiful pivoting screen door in New York, USA, appears to be a regular style. However, when opened, the pivot hinge sets the door apart as a distinctive design. When closed, the door blends seamlessly into the screened porch and frames views of the garden.
Similarly, the metal sliding tracks above the repurposed barn door pictured below are a design feature in their own right.
Sliding screen doors
Screen doors come in all shapes and sizes to suit every site and style, so don’t let convention dictate your design.
This sliding batten-screen door in Martha’s Vineyard, USA, gives a nod to the building’s rural history. Old sliding barn doors such as this one can be easily repurposed with wire mesh to create a stylish screening solution.
Tip: French doors, panel doors, bi-folds and other types of sliding doors all offer unique opportunities to transform regular doors into custom insect screens.
Browse more gorgeous barn doors
Screen doors come in all shapes and sizes to suit every site and style, so don’t let convention dictate your design.
This sliding batten-screen door in Martha’s Vineyard, USA, gives a nod to the building’s rural history. Old sliding barn doors such as this one can be easily repurposed with wire mesh to create a stylish screening solution.
Tip: French doors, panel doors, bi-folds and other types of sliding doors all offer unique opportunities to transform regular doors into custom insect screens.
Browse more gorgeous barn doors
Fixed screens for balconies and patios
Need a permanent mosquito screen for your patio enclosure or apartment balcony? A fixed flyscreen could be your answer. Look closely at this verandah and you’ll spy a subtle mesh affixed to the woodwork pillars and railing.
Need a permanent mosquito screen for your patio enclosure or apartment balcony? A fixed flyscreen could be your answer. Look closely at this verandah and you’ll spy a subtle mesh affixed to the woodwork pillars and railing.
Large-scale insect screens are not only at home in traditional houses. Their barely-there nature means they suit almost any dwelling, even cutting-edge contemporary designs such as this fabulous screened-in courtyard.
Japanese shoji screens
Are you keen to embrace a screen that stands out, rather than blends in? Traditional Japanese shoji screens, with their beautiful and breathable washi or shoji paper panels, offer an option that sits between pervious flyscreens and impenetrable walls or glass doors.
Today, many shoji screens use fibreglass, frosted glass or acrylic panels, but traditionalists can still opt for true washi paper inserts. This translucent, porous material welcomes diffused light and balmy summer air indoors, but screens against mosquitos and bugs. Unlike fibreglass, glass or acrylic, washi paper inserts don’t withstand wet weather well, so shoji screens are ideal for undercover use.
Are you keen to embrace a screen that stands out, rather than blends in? Traditional Japanese shoji screens, with their beautiful and breathable washi or shoji paper panels, offer an option that sits between pervious flyscreens and impenetrable walls or glass doors.
Today, many shoji screens use fibreglass, frosted glass or acrylic panels, but traditionalists can still opt for true washi paper inserts. This translucent, porous material welcomes diffused light and balmy summer air indoors, but screens against mosquitos and bugs. Unlike fibreglass, glass or acrylic, washi paper inserts don’t withstand wet weather well, so shoji screens are ideal for undercover use.
Laser-cut screens
Laser-cut screens protect a home’s inhabitants from glaring sun and prying eyes, as in this London bathroom. They can also offer protection from marauding mosquitos when the smallest of perforations are used to puncture the screen.
Because it’s rare for the apertures to be as fine as those on flyscreens, laser-cut designs are not quite as effective at keeping insects out as good old-fashioned mosquito mesh. However, they pack a stylish punch and still prevent most bugs from flying inside.
Laser-cut screens protect a home’s inhabitants from glaring sun and prying eyes, as in this London bathroom. They can also offer protection from marauding mosquitos when the smallest of perforations are used to puncture the screen.
Because it’s rare for the apertures to be as fine as those on flyscreens, laser-cut designs are not quite as effective at keeping insects out as good old-fashioned mosquito mesh. However, they pack a stylish punch and still prevent most bugs from flying inside.
Exterior mesh curtains
Mesh curtains (sometimes referred to as wire or metal curtains) turn the intensity up a notch from the mesh used in flyscreens. These offer a contemporary and more sculptural look than your humble insect screens. Mesh curtains are also usually thicker and have a looser weave, resulting in slightly larger apertures, so mesh curtains are not entirely foolproof in stopping insects in their tracks. Nevertheless, they offer a fashionable and reasonable deterrent.
For best results, hang your mesh curtains so they just scrape the ground. Depending on their weight you may not need a track on the floor, which is the case with this outdoor stainless steel curtain.
Tip: Aim to choose mesh curtains with apertures no larger than three millimetres in diameter to form a bug-proof barrier.
Mesh curtains (sometimes referred to as wire or metal curtains) turn the intensity up a notch from the mesh used in flyscreens. These offer a contemporary and more sculptural look than your humble insect screens. Mesh curtains are also usually thicker and have a looser weave, resulting in slightly larger apertures, so mesh curtains are not entirely foolproof in stopping insects in their tracks. Nevertheless, they offer a fashionable and reasonable deterrent.
For best results, hang your mesh curtains so they just scrape the ground. Depending on their weight you may not need a track on the floor, which is the case with this outdoor stainless steel curtain.
Tip: Aim to choose mesh curtains with apertures no larger than three millimetres in diameter to form a bug-proof barrier.
Outdoor fabric curtains
The whimsy of these breezy beauties is reason enough to rig up some alfresco curtains, even if you don’t have an insect problem. Outdoor curtains such as the ones in this French home in Provence come in as many colours, patterns, designs and dimensions as indoor curtains, though the most important consideration is to choose a fabric specifically designed for outdoor use. Many fabrics filter ultraviolet light, so have an added sun protection bonus.
Tip: Use weather-resistant hardware so your curtain fabric isn’t stained by rust.
The whimsy of these breezy beauties is reason enough to rig up some alfresco curtains, even if you don’t have an insect problem. Outdoor curtains such as the ones in this French home in Provence come in as many colours, patterns, designs and dimensions as indoor curtains, though the most important consideration is to choose a fabric specifically designed for outdoor use. Many fabrics filter ultraviolet light, so have an added sun protection bonus.
Tip: Use weather-resistant hardware so your curtain fabric isn’t stained by rust.
Alfresco tents and canopies
Similar to outdoor curtains for balconies, patios and terraces, fabric tents and canopies can be draped over pergolas – or even erected outside as freestanding structures – to create a type of miniature marquee. When sealed well, canopies deter most mosquitos and insects from entering your enswathed paradise, though some will still manage to sneak through the cracks.
Spraying natural insecticides on your curtains can help, as can citronella candles, which also add a poetic note to the pretty picture – but keep the flames away from any fluttering fabric.
Similar to outdoor curtains for balconies, patios and terraces, fabric tents and canopies can be draped over pergolas – or even erected outside as freestanding structures – to create a type of miniature marquee. When sealed well, canopies deter most mosquitos and insects from entering your enswathed paradise, though some will still manage to sneak through the cracks.
Spraying natural insecticides on your curtains can help, as can citronella candles, which also add a poetic note to the pretty picture – but keep the flames away from any fluttering fabric.
Mosquito nets
Is there anything more romantic than gauzy mosquito nets draped around beds, billowing gently? I think not. These whimsical designs are like humans’ consolation for mosquitos’ existence. Here, they usher a Mediterranean feel into this bedroom.
Mozzie nets don’t offer full protection from bugs, so the best approach is to combine them with other options to deter insects from flying into your home in the first place. If, however, your existing flyscreens are less than perfect, hanging a mozzie net from your bed is usually the easiest and cheapest way to guarantee an uninterrupted night’s sleep this summer.
Is there anything more romantic than gauzy mosquito nets draped around beds, billowing gently? I think not. These whimsical designs are like humans’ consolation for mosquitos’ existence. Here, they usher a Mediterranean feel into this bedroom.
Mozzie nets don’t offer full protection from bugs, so the best approach is to combine them with other options to deter insects from flying into your home in the first place. If, however, your existing flyscreens are less than perfect, hanging a mozzie net from your bed is usually the easiest and cheapest way to guarantee an uninterrupted night’s sleep this summer.
Mosquito-repellent plants
Many plants deter bugs, though only within their immediate micro-climate: plant them in one corner of your garden and you’ll still find mosquitos in another. If you have window boxes or planters near your front or back door, fill them with mosquito-repellant plants or flowers such as marigolds and geraniums, or herbs including lemongrass, lemon balm, citronella, lavender and rosemary, which are also great additions in the kitchen.
Many plants deter bugs, though only within their immediate micro-climate: plant them in one corner of your garden and you’ll still find mosquitos in another. If you have window boxes or planters near your front or back door, fill them with mosquito-repellant plants or flowers such as marigolds and geraniums, or herbs including lemongrass, lemon balm, citronella, lavender and rosemary, which are also great additions in the kitchen.
Your turn
What have you done to combat a mozzie problem? Share your ideas in the comments below and like or bookmark this story. Join the conversation.
More
Thinking of renovating? Read this first: Speak Out! How to Communicate Your Likes & Dislikes to a Designer
What have you done to combat a mozzie problem? Share your ideas in the comments below and like or bookmark this story. Join the conversation.
More
Thinking of renovating? Read this first: Speak Out! How to Communicate Your Likes & Dislikes to a Designer
Sponsored
The humble flyscreen has come of age with new retractable models sweeping the market. These sleek and subtle designs are operated by hand or remote control, and can be retrofitted to most doors, windows, patios, balconies and terraces.
Here, the retractable flyscreens are so subtle you can barely spot them. The casement windows on each side of this beautiful bay window have been fitted with pull-down insect screens – click into the image to enlarge it and you will be able to see the frames at the top.