Transform Your Home: 7 Great Conservatory Designs in 2019
Wednesday, 24 April 2019
A conservatory lends a classic feel to any home, but that's doesn't mean it needs to be old fashioned.
There are many types of conservatories which are easily updated to fit with your home's modern interior design. You can also improve on the features of an existing conservatory or build a new custom-designed one from scratch.
These are some aspects of contemporary conservatory designs that can help to bring your conservatory up to date.
Choose Modern Materials for Your Conservatory
One of the biggest modern trends is energy-efficient homes. Many of these cost-saving and environmentally friendly upgrades rest on the kind of building materials used.
If you've inherited an old fashioned conservatory, these modern touches are probably lacking. You can choose to upgrade to a more modern and cost-effective look by changing up the existing materials.
Appearances and economy aside, there are other reasons to update your conservatory too. If you experience extreme temperatures inside your conservatory depending on the season, it's time for a change.
Other factors that warrant a new roof include excessive noise when it rains, leaking, mould or condensation.
These are your options:
Polycarbonate Conservatory Roofing
Cheap and easily attainable, polycarbonate is easy to maintain and can last for up to 20 years. Yet you're looking at 2 decades of poor thermal efficiency and excessive rain racket.
Solid or Tiled Roofs
These kinds of roofs maintain an even temperature inside your conservatory and can help it to blend seamlessly with your home.
A solid roof on a conservatory doesn't have quite the aesthetic appeal of glass although it's long-lasting and simple to maintain. Adding a glass panel or two is a best-of-both-worlds solution.
If you're installing a heavy tiled or solid roof on your conservatory, you'll need to reinforce the existing supports and rafters to hold it up.
Double Glazed Windows
Double glazed windows are the ultimate material for both the top and sides of any conservatory.
Their thermal and aesthetic value far exceeds those of all other materials and they'll give you 20 years of loyal service. For extra luxury, double glazed windows also come in two additional varieties:
Self-Cleaning Glass
While self-cleaning glass may seem like a lazy man's luxury, there are safety issues to take into consideration too.
For ease and enjoyment, you can't beat self-cleaning glass - if you can afford it. Self-cleaning glass costs between £3,000 and £7,000 to install.
Aluminium frames also help to keep things comfy inside your conservatory. They come with a thermal break to prevent heat transfer via the frames.
Tinted Glass
This feature works like sunglasses to protect you from the sun. It also stops your furniture from fading in the summer glare.
Interior Conservatory Designs
Despite their traditional appeal, the sky's the limit with regard to conservatory interior design. You can amend your furnishings and decor to match the season or purpose of your conservatory as often as you like too.
Here are some ideas for 2019:
1. Vividly Victorian
The curved lines of a Victorian conservatory provide a bright space that blends seamlessly with the outdoors.
Frame the exterior of your conservatory with lush evergreen specimens to create a year-round tropical feel. You can complement this look with pale hardwood floors, light furniture, and brightly accented soft furnishings.
If you prefer, create a minimalist look with a white base colour. Alternatively, you can emphasize cosy comfort with beige and grey basics.
2. Georgian Glamour
Georgian designs are slightly edgier. They're often larger than their Victorian counterparts too. This means you can use your Georgian conservatory as an extra dining area or an extension of your kitchen.
Most Georgian conservatories flow easily into outdoor spaces. So, choosing a floor that blends seamlessly with the outdoors often works best. Think stone and terracotta tiles if you want to open up your conservatory and let the outside in for entertaining purposes.
Both these flooring options are a good fit for angular modern furniture, bold statement pieces, and minimal decoration.
If your conservatory has decorative mouldings and trims, modern design elements create a pleasing contrast.
Of course, a country atmosphere with wicker chairs, stone floors, and fat cushions works just as well. Especially if you're using your conservatory as a winter shelter for potted plants.
3. Lean-To Luxuries
Lean to conservatories generally have a modern look to them already, which is easily complimented with modern furnishings. Painting your conservatories supports and rafters in a warm shade of dark grey looks fantastic if you've got a room full of modern sofas and tables.
If you'd rather tone down the 21st-century look, opt for wood and wicker to take off the edge. Wood rafters and floors also look stunning if your conservatory butts up against a stone feature wall.
Muted floral prints and potted plants also work well to create a homelier feel in these stark spaces.
4. Glorious Gables
Both Edwardian and Victorian conservatories sometimes come with a gable to add dramatic appeal and extra light. The middle of these overhead attractions work well as a focal point over a dining table or central seated area.
However, there are no set rules and a gable shouldn't have much effect on your overall design choices.
5. Go For Glass
Structural glass is about as contemporary as you can get. If your house has a ramshackle conservatory dragging it down, give it a lift by replacing the original structure with a modern glass one.
You won't lose any more garden space but you will gain great light and good looks. Structural glass is quick to install, easy to maintain and suits any kind of house design.
6. Shabby and Chic Does the Trick
What could fit better with a traditional conservatory than a vintage look? Shabby chic is still very much on trend and easy to achieve. Just go with whatever grandma gave you.
Wrought iron fits the bill perfectly, floral upholstery is a win and you can never have too many vintage tins or frilly cushions. Shabby chic is a great way to go-with-the-flow if you want to update your old-world conservatory without laying out a lot of cash.
7. Ultimate Entertainment Areas
While this elegant look suits larger conservatories, you're only limited by your imagination. The latest accessory in modern conservatories is water.
Hot tubs and splash pools have made their way into many an extension, allowing homeowners to get maximum year-round enjoyment from their extended home.
Other Things to Consider
Unless you have tinted glass installed, anything that you place in your conservatory is going to take a beating from the sun.
Take this into consideration when choosing colours, fabrics, and furnishings. It pays to note that metal and leather can get uncomfortably hot when they've been in the sun all day too.
Installing conservatory blinds is a good way to maintain carte blanche with conservatory decoration. You can roll them up out of sight when the conservatory is in use.
A Little of What You Fancy
If you're building a conservatory from scratch there are no hard and fast rules. You have a huge range of conservatory designs to choose from.
As long as it's structurally possible and plays by your local building rules, you're good to go.
When you build a conservatory from scratch it's easy to decide on a design to suit your interior decorating aspirations. L-shaped, freestanding and a combination of conservatory styles are all possible with enough space and budget.
Are you ready to upgrade to a conservatory that suits your style? Get in touch and let's talk.