How do you Use your conservatory?

[combust22]

I have just moved to a house with a large conservatory- no furniture in it yet- thing is I'm not sure how best to use the space.
How do you use yours? I do love plants but don't want it to become a greenhouse, do you have sofa and chairs and coffee table?
My ex neighbour used it for her OHs pool table and as an ironing room which seems a waste.

I have never had a conservatory before and not quite sure how to use the space.

We had one put on as I love the sub and ours is south facing. Dh is handy so he then knocked through into the kitchen so we use ours as a dining room. He has since boarded and insulated one wall and skimmed it so other than the roof it looks like a normal room. It was a lot cheaper than getting an extension built.

No, I think it could look OK if it was done properly and might actually make the room a lot more 'usable' if you insulate the ceiling. It's worth getting some costings done.

Sun not sub.

Its certainly worth considering for sure. Will start looking into that.

Agree with Latte - I can't understand the popularity of them.

Ours was already on the house when we bought it, and so many other things about the house ticked the boxes, but the conservatory is mostly too hot or too cold. No regulation at all.

Ours is used to store the ironing board / vacuum / bikes / hostess trolley and as a grand drying room for clothes on airers.

Mine is used to store spare chairs, toys, bicycles and the Hoover. It's too cold to use in winter and too hot in summer. DD will play out there when its not too hot/cold.

Basically it's just a store room. It was there when me and XH bought the place. We did use it as a dining room for a little while but freezing in winter so stopped.

I would like to extend it with the kitchen and make it a proper sun room but can't afford to. But it does let a lot of light into the living room.

Ours has washing machine, clothes horse and stores bikes and lots of rubbish. I would like to have it empty and have my coffee in there but that is not going to happen as I don't have much other storage.

Oh I use mine all year round. It's brilliant for hanging laundry I work full time and so can't be faff with hanging outside to just have them got rained on. We have the machine on during work hours, hang clothes in the evenings and they are dried when we come home next day. What's not to love?

The conservatory is 3x4m do other than the two massive clothes airer, we also have cane furniture, plants and laundry baskets in there. And lots of toys. But we never sit in it.

I wouldn't build one myself. But the OP inherited one isn't it?

I love ours - light and airy and spacious. There are very few days when it is too hot, but there is a fan/ac unit built into the wall when it is. Most warm days we just keep the doors open. In winter it is too cold at night but fine in the day.

Ours is a playroom come second living room and used a lot in the daytime. We have a sofa each end and 2 ikea poang(?) chairs. Recently got white ikea kallax units to store all the toys and we have bookshelves. No tv in there (the previous owners did though). It is where we host visitors the most. There is a kind of rail at ceiling height which is v handy to dry laundry on wet days.

Our 'inside' living room is for watching tv/evenings.

We inherited our conservatory as well and tbh I wouldn't choose to build one - I want to take it down at some point and replace it with an extension across the whole of the back instead.

Ours is effectively a playroom with a sofa bed and bookcase and it's great for drying washing in. It is west facing with no shade on the south side so is just unbearable after 10am for 4 months of the year. It does warm up really fast even in the winter with the slightest bit of sun. It doesn't ruin the room it's off but that's probably because the patio door is still there so you can shut it off when it's too hot or cold.

We built ours and we love it! 4 x 4 - v simple style to match the age of the house (v old house). We have solid oak flooring, lovely rug, small sofa and chair, old school cupboard and a dining table and 6 chairs.

We use it a lot, east facing, only have to put the heating on in there for 30 mins to use it in the winter if it is remotely sunny. Slightly too hot in the mid day sun in the height of summer but other than that it is a really nice room and overlooks our garden and paddock.

My parents have a log burner in theirs. They had an insulated panel put behind it. Makes it useable all year as it north facing and never gets sun.

I'd build a sun room if I had choice but I guess conservatories are cheaper.

How to use it? that all depends on your need for space. I have a spare reception room ( don't really need it, have two others) we have It as a library/ music room. It's a waste really, but it becomes a dumping room if not kept nice. but it's never used

Ours wasn't cheaper - wood, period design - we just wanted one and it was the right decision for us - we love it.

Thanks for your input- so not a write off then?

I'm guessing that although it may be cold in winter if it gets sunny the conservatory will get warm despite low temperatures outside?
It is such sa lovely big light room, with wooden floors I would love to make it a habitable space.

Husband loves it as lot brighter than rest of house. Lovely to sit in spring and autumn. We got cane furniture in it. We have a heater which soon warm room up over winter. Use it to sit in somewhere quiet away from tv. Dry washing on airer on damp day. Storage area.

I agree with Latte. Ours has been a playroom/toy storage room but is unusable in the height of summer and depths of winter.

Its days are numbered.

I won't give up just yet- we have only been in the house 3 weeks, and the sunny summer evenings have been lovely to sit in with a glass of wine ( albeit on cushions and random chairs).
Even if it's uesable only 50% of the time then it may be worth it. It's only 4 years old so don't really want to do anything drastic yet.

We have one that came with the house. It used to have those polycarbon (SP?) roof panels that lots have and it wasn't really usable. We changed the roof for a glass one with a coating to, allegedly, make it cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and it actually is just that. So now it's very usable. We have sofas in there, with a coffee table and tv etc, and it's a lovely room to sit in year round now.

Ours was here when we bought the house, I'd prefer they'd added another room but obviously a conservatory was much cheaper. It's OK, we used it as a playroom when DD was small and now it's a kind of second living room, useful when we have people here or if someone wants to read while the others are watching TV or DD has friends here. Also great for storage and drying washing.

It does get too hot/cold and I wonder about having the roof done but I worry it would make it very dark (and the kitchen which adjoins it). When it snows and the roof is covered it does get quite dark.

One nice thing is that it's a lovely space to enjoy the garden when it's not nice enough to sit outside - we use ours most in spring and autumn I think.

I mostly use mine for plants and we have a table and chairs for coffee time / lunch because it's the brightest room in the house - it's my favorite room. I would love to put in a wood burner to use it on non-sunny days in winter.

Ours is actually glass roof with those tinted glass. Problem is that it's east facing. It gets really hot in summer and quite cold in winter except midday. People mention heating and a/c. Ofc it's fine with that on. We have a heater in there and it's perfectly fine if we turn it on. However it feels like pouring money down the drain. Therefore we don't do it. The conservatory is separated with the rest if the house with double glazed doors. We just keep it close in winter nights and mornings.

We don't need the space except for laundry though. Only one living dining too.

Remember also anything in there - furniture, soft furnishings/ books will fade fast

Oh just read your last post. Yes it's useable more than 50% of the year. In summer it's fine if it's not too sunny and also fine in the evenings. In winter it's fine midday and afternoon. It's lovely in spring and autumn. It's just not a year round room like another living room.

Oh, ours has a tinted roof too. But you can't see it as it also has fitted blinds that we keep shut (the blinds look nicer than the roof) We have the same blinds fitted to each window, they are kind of concertina style and barely noticeable when open. Sometimes I shut one if the sun is strong on me. Also we close them in the evening in winter for insulation.

My neighbours on both sides have just built one. The neighbours on the right has kept the French doors from the kitchen and filled it with rattan garden type furniture. It's OK but ruined the kitchen/diner outlook I think and made the garden quite small. My other neighbour's on the other hand is amazing. She's taken out the French doors from the kitchen and made the floor flow from the kitchen diner so you don't feel you are stepping into another room. She has a blue tinted roof and has fitted shutters to match the rest of her house. It's more like a lovely extension of the kitchen diner and she says she uses the room all the time. She's brought normal, not cane furniture and modern chrome floor lamps. I love it.