How I transformed my dated conservatory
Welcome to my conservatory which has really come into its own this summer. I was asked by a journalist the other day, which was my favourite room in the house- which is ordinarily so hard to answer. On this particular day, I was sat in the conservatory, in the tented shade of the sail blinds, looking at the garden in full bloom, and the answer was easy. But it didn’t always feel that way. When we bought the house the bright white plastic conservatory, which takes the best south-facing position was earmarked for demolition. It looked dated and plastic and as anyone who owns a conservatory will have felt the frustration, almost unusably hot and bright in the summer and cold and uninviting in the winter.
The old conservatory
The design and transformation
After the decision was made to shelve our extension ideas, my attention went back to the tired, tatty conservatory. It had become Toms tool store, plus a dumping ground for bikes and even the guinea pigs came inside during the winter. So we needed to make it work. First thing I did was to kick back that awful shiny white plastic, by painting it all out using an All Surface Primer. We used Little Greene, as it had done a brilliant job on our UPVC windows. I then chose a soft greeny blue for the top coat as I wanted to try and help the conservatory visually disappear against the garden and sky beyond, rather than stand out in my signature bright colour.
I did an absolute tonne of research into conservatory blinds as controlling the heat and light is the number one priority in a conservatory. But the options, I’m going to be frank were pretty dire. I don’t like the aesthetics of pleated blinds, because they lack softness and look too modern in my traditional farmhouse. Pinoleum blinds (made with thin strips of wood) were my final choice, but unfortunately, they were out of our budget. I needed to come up with another solution.
We removed the dusty pleated blinds and painted all the plastic UPVC with an All Surface primer from Little Greene. Top coat in Celestial Blue, wall painted in Pleat.
The ‘sail-style’ solution to all of my problems
After much internet googling I came up with the idea to fashion fabric sail-style blinds. This was utterly perfect as it timed with the launch of my new fabric collection with Harlequin. I called on the help of soft furnishing expert and seamstress Liz (@theroominteriors on Instagram) who along with her installer, Adam, drew up a measured plan for the sails, especially for the tricky triangular windows. It would have been so much easier if it was all rectangular – and I may have even attempted it myself, but with all the different angles required, this one was for the experts. Before the blinds were installed I invested in having the roof panes covered in solar film. I googled a local company who came and installed it. It’s a fine clear film, with a slight tint and mirror effect that essentially cuts out 85% of the sun’s glare, so cuts down on the heat of the sun too. It’s like having sunglasses for your conservatory! I’d recommend it for the windows too if you have a lot of glass, as it protects your fabrics from fading. It has been a huge success in controlling the heat, I’m super impressed.
Vintage armchairs upholstered in Woodland Floral; Cushion left, Basket Weave Coral/Rose; Cushion right, Wilderness Peridot all Sophie Robinson x Harlequin.
Sails in Wildflower Meadow, Sophie Robinson x Harlequin; Roman Blinds in Basket Weave Emerald/Aquamarine; Rafita 50cm raffia ceiling pendant, La Redoute; aku Hemp Ceiling Light, La Redoute.
The sails are held in place with hooks, simply screwed into the frame and attached onto an eyelet positioned on each corner. This means I can take them down at any time to wash the fabric. The rest of the conservatory windows are shaded with adjustable roman blinds. The most important thing is that it actually works!
The room still feels beautifully light but is shaded from the hot sun and is an absolute pleasure to relax in. In winter it’s also cosy enough to use, especially in the daytime when the room naturally warms up using solar gain, with the wood-burning stove roaring in the room next door. But I’m not going to lie, it’s not used that much in winter, only when we have a lot of people over and the fire is on. The solar screen does not insulate the room, but it still provides a beautiful view from the kitchen all year round, wouldn’t you agree!
Adding the maximalist wow factor!
The conservatory presented a new design and decoration challenge for me, and of course it is a riot of pattern and colour! Despite the number of different patterns going on, it all works because I’ve kept it to a limited colour palette; green, aqua, pink and then a few pops of red and yellow to keep it looking fresh. The patterns have different scales; from small to large florals, stripes and geometrics adding a punchy contrast. I chose the Wildflower Meadow fabric for the sails as I love how the light dapples through the flowers. I then added a coordinating Basket Weave check for the roman blinds, which gives a more tailored look against the busy florals.
The artwork is by one of my friends, artist Becky Blair, which pulls in all the colours of the room scheme and looks fabulous against the brick wall painted in Pleat by Little Greene. The existing natural terracotta tiled floor brings some warmth to the scheme alongside the beautiful vintage rug from The Rebel House.
Brick wall painted in Pleat by Little Greene; Artwork by Becky Blair.
If you want to learn more about using pattern and colour in your own home and help making bolder design choices, do check out my online design school here. Finally sign up for our free newsletter where I give regular design inspiration, tips and advice on how you can create a home you love, plus I have a very exciting new course launching in September, and you should be the first to know about it!
Rafita and Yaku raffia ceiling pendants, all La Redoute; Footstool, Sofa.com; Teal scalloped tray, Addison Ross; Yellow tray, Zazoo; Rug, That Rebel House.
