Design / Do you know the difference between a veranda and a lanai?

Do you know the difference between a veranda and a lanai?

Get your design lingo up to speed, then dive in and decide how to enhance your home’s outdoor areas.

by Charlene Oldham April 20, 2017 at 4:00 AM January 19, 2025

Balcony: A platform on the outside of a building enclosed by walls or balustrades, supported by columns or console brackets. The platform projects from the wall of a building, usually above the ground floor. Balconies are typically small and are not used as social spaces or for entertainment purposes.

Deck: A flat, usually roofless platform adjoining a house. Decks are typically made of lumber and are elevated from the ground. A deck can include spaces for barbeques, dining and seating. Decks are generally enclosed by a railing. In some cases, they can also be covered by a canopy or pergola.

Lanai: A term frequently used in Hawaii to describe a specific type of porch. Most often it’s used to describe an enclosed porch with a concrete or stone floor. Lanais are slightly different from sunrooms because most often they have concrete floors and are situated on the ground adjacent to the home.

Patio: A paved outdoor area adjoining a house, generally used for dining or recreation. The term comes from Spanish, where its meaning is different (inner courtyard). Common materials employed when building a patio include concrete, stone, bricks, but also tiles or cobbles.

Gazebo: A free-standing structure with a roof and open sides. Gazebos can be square, rectangular or round, but the most popular shape is a six- or eight-sided formation. They can consist simply of a roof supported by posts, or can incorporate a low wall, two or three feet high.

Pergola: A garden structure built up over a path or narrow terrace, lined with evenly spaced columns or posts that support a wooden-framed roof without sheathing. Often, vines are trained around the wooden framework of a pergola, and the pergola may lead from one building to another.

Porch: A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a house or building. The structure is external to the walls of the building but it may be enclosed in certain types of frames including walls, columns, or screens, extending from the main structure.

Terrace: Derived from the Latin word for earth. As such, the term was used for a structure that was built on the earth, usually from rock, tiles or wood. In modern times, the term is also used for open or communal areas found on rooftops. In many places, the term patio is also used interchangeably with terrace.

Veranda: May be a large porch that’s a room for entertaining or it may be a gallery running along one or more sides of the home, roofed, perhaps with a railing. Often a veranda will wrap around a house—think Victorian or New Orleans style here–perhaps on the front and both sides. –The Simms Team, Florida Realtors

St. Louis At Home May/June 2017

Charlene Oldham

Oldham is a freelance writer and Teach For America alumna who has taught middle school, high school, college, and adult education classes in the St. Louis area.

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