Cheap Awning?
 

My sister got a new house down in florida, shes renovating it now.

It's a mess though. But she has a huge kitchen area with one of the walls being nearly all window. And then we laid heavy tile down while I was down there.

That sun heats the floor up a LOT and its on it all day. It's not so much a problem right now, but I see that being a major pain in summer down there.

We talked about it and she agreed, but she honestly doesn't have the money to get an awning, most of her materials she got on clearance and what she didn't get there she got used or literally dug out of the trash.

But any ideas other than hoping to luck into a perfectly sized awning that passes for a girls tastes? The worse part is is that window is all you can see as you pull in the drive way, so I'd say shes going to be even more picky about it.

do you have a picture of the house? that would go a long way toward helping guess a "pretty" design.
Offhand I would say a light wooden frame with canvas stretched over it so water runs off should work. Canvas (or similar) should be inexpensive.
Or a light wooden awning with vertical wooden pieces to help block sun most of the day would also look nice.
The costs may seem prohibitive, but could easily be offset with reduced AC use.

The sun angle will be a lot higher, requiring less depth of awning. A few boards, artistically arranged, may be enough. Would she like Coroplast? With a rolled edge, it can be self-supporting and professional looking. (If you take the lettering off with acetone. :-)

I like the coroplast idea a lot really. I'll try and get a picture.

What sucks is she's down in florida and I'm in WV. Just trying to save my family some money (:

get some shade fabric and conduit, make it look modern.

Plastic (PVC) roofing on a PVC pipe frame? Home Depot.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/NCL/F143.jpg

I made this little snow roof for my Sanyo. It will also provide some shade during the summer months.

The snow slides right off it, unassisted. :D

How about a pergola? Kits can be pre cut at most lumber yards or you can get plans online to re-claim some lumber and DIY. Then start some native vining plants growing up it we have Hops for local brewers and Goose berries on ours.

After we tore out the old fiberglass awning and replaced it with the pergola an greens we noticed a huge difference in the comfort level under it. Heat can escape and it keeps the sun off.

It can be on a tight budget with reclaimed lumber and any imperfections in the materials can be covered up by the vines.

Photo was found online to use an example as ours is snow covered.

http://i.imagehost.org/0036/Pergola1-main_Full.jpg