Conservatory design ideas

Not everybody wants to extend their home with a double-storey extension. Sometimes, just adding a new conservatory can be enough to add the requisite amount of space and light, and provide you with just a bit more breathing space.

Conservatories are perfect for anyone who wants to have a little area that can either be used for moments of seclusion or a space to host and spend time with guests.

For others, it might be that they want to fill their homes with more light. Here are a few ways to use the most popular conservatory designs.

Lean-to

Lean to Conservatory

If you want more space added to your home, but aren’t looking for anything particularly grand and opulent, then a lean-to conservatory has multiple benefits.

You can fill it with glass panels and add plenty of light, but it won’t be as costly as some other, larger conservatory designs.

The ‘lean-to’ name comes from its slanted roof shape. It’s often a rectangular room, which could be used in a multitude of ways:

  • A dining room: if you’d much prefer to have a separate hosting space from your kitchen, then a lean-to conservatory could be an excellent compromise. Filling it with fairy lights and vibrant house plants will create a day-to-night space that feels cosy at any time of day or year.
  • Living space: adding stylish armchairs, bookcases, and maybe even a stereo player will add somewhere for you and your family to unwind. Not everybody wants to spend all their free time together either in the living room or separately in their rooms, so this adds another option for everyone at home.
  • Adding an area for plants and other botanical life could add a vibrant and creative dimension to your conservatory. Rooms with plenty of glass and trapped heat are often ideal for growing fruit-bearing plants, too.

Victorian (and P & B -shaped builds)

Victorian conservatories are incredibly popular in larger back gardens. The glass roof and large window panes make them incredibly pleasant to be in during the summer months and cosy in the winter, especially if you decorate it with delicate lighting.

With the space you potentially have with a Victorian conservatory (or a P or B-shaped build, which refers to the same style but with an extended dimension to it, forming a letter-shape), you can add multiple areas.

You could have a living area that has a space to eat with a themed dining table and some sofas and armchairs for comfort.

Georgian and Orangeries

Orangery

Georgian-style conservatories and orangeries have far more brickwork involved, which makes them feel like more of a traditional living space.

In fact, it’s advised that you think of your orangery more like an extension than a traditional conservatory as such. Thinking this way adds much more possibility.

Rather than turning it into just a dining room, why not make it more of a grandiose hosting space? It could even become an entertainment room of sorts.

Try not to think too traditionally when it comes to how to use your conservatory.

While wicker chairs and a nice coffee table are always welcome, you now have the luxury of being able to use extra space. Be creative, and think about the multiple uses your conservatory could have.