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Original poster

What do you do in your conservatory?

57 replies

Leavethedooropen · 09/04/2021 12:28

I live in a small 2 bed terraced and could do with some extra space. I am thinking of a small conservatory off the kitchen at the back of the house, small being the operative word. I’ve just had someone out to give a quote which was £7-10,000.

I am now trying to imagine it and what I would do with the space eg dining table for everyday eating, small sofa for a coffee/tv?

I know lots of people say they don’t use their conservatory so I’m wondering what you do with yours?

OP posts:

Figgygal · 09/04/2021 12:32

We use ours every day
We have lots of toys in ours
Sofa and chairs
No tv

We read and play.

It’s true we don’t use it so much over a few winter months but maybe only nov-feb and even then we do use it with the heating on

beguilingeyes · 09/04/2021 12:33

A few people I know use theirs as a dining room.

LlamaDrama20 · 09/04/2021 12:34

Well ours is more of a 'garden room' - it is not all glass.
It's an expensive drying room . Since it gets warm in the sun we put the laundry rack of wet clothes in there. And the ironing board.

It also has our bigger dining table in there and we use it for bigger group meals (family gatherings etc)

I wanted to put a small sofa and full blinds in there, as it feels like a lit up goldfish bowl at night, but DH was very anti .

So basically it is an expensive waste of space!

Misty9 · 09/04/2021 12:34

I use mine as a playroom and also it's perfect for somewhere to sit in weather like we're currently having - all the benefit of the sun's warmth but without the wind

It is absolutely freezing in winter though and I bought thermal curtains to screen it. Possibly not such an issue if it's tacked onto the kitchen.

Misty9 · 09/04/2021 12:36

But... I wouldn't buy another house with one. It's expensive to get rid of or change to something more useable. So I'm stuck with it for now and it sucks the heat and light out of the rest of the living space.

BlueCherryBlossom · 09/04/2021 12:37

I should think the reason most people don't use them is because they are too hot to enjoy in summer and too cold in winter.

Ours is large and has decent heaters/air con fitted but it's expensive trying to control the temperature of a glass box, a bit like pissing into the wind

If it's useable living space you want you'd be much better off with a proper extension. Our conservatory contains a large dining table and we do splash out on heating it up to use when hosting guests in the winter etc but for the most part it's used as a glorified greenhouse. Dining table is currently home to trays and trays of seedlings.

FionnulaTheCooler · 09/04/2021 12:37

I had a small conservatory at a previous house it was really only big enough for a couple of Ikea armchairs and a coffee table but it was a nice peaceful space to sit and read in.

LlamaDrama20 · 09/04/2021 12:41

oh yes, I forgot about the use as a greenhouse too - I grew 3 pepper plants in mine last year and started off all the tomatoes!

corcaithecat · 09/04/2021 12:43

Conservatories aren’t that great, cold in winter and too hot in summer. I wasn’t keen on our old one, but I liked the extra light you got in the room. I can’t stand dark north facing rooms, which our main living room was, unfortunately.

When we moved house, we built a sunroom onto the new house instead of a conservatory. Three proper walls with triple glazed windows, two sets of French doors and a well insulated roof with a large roof light window. We also have a small wood burning stove in it as I like a real fire in the winter evenings.

It’s a large room and by far my favourite room in the house.
Everyone who visits comments on how lovely it is. If we ever sold up, this alone would probably sell the house.

RaiseTheBeastie · 09/04/2021 12:45

We have a large conservatory off the living room.

We used to use it as our dining room but it's a 'long' walk from the kitchen and you have to go right through the living room to get to it. Plus if you want to eat in there at 6pm through the winter you need to remember to go in 10 minutes before to put the electric heaters on. It was a faff.

We've moved our main dining table into the kitchen and now have a small table with 2 chairs, an easy chair and a drinks cabinet in the conservatory. We still use the space for big family meals as it's big enough to take a v. Long extendable table which fits 14 people around at Xmas.

But for most of the year it's hardly used. Handy for drying washing and chucking in kids garden toys if I cba to put them in the garage when it starts to rain. I would never add one to a house tbh, I'd wait and save and do a proper extension.

Misty9 · 09/04/2021 12:45

@corcaithecat can I ask how much roughly that cost please?

ItsSnowJokes · 09/04/2021 12:46

Ours is our dining room. When we moved in (January) it was freezing in there, but they had put the smallest radiator possible. We upgraded the radiator to a double panel and a bigger one and it has been perfect ever since. It is hot in summer but we have the windows or doors open and it's fine.

Dementedswan · 09/04/2021 12:47

Ours has been a godsend this last year. It's now dh office.

SlothMama · 09/04/2021 12:52

Ours is quite big so on one end we have a sofa and TV with the Xbox, and the other end is my dog storage bit where I keep the grooming table, their dry food and I have a storage unit to fit their crap in

cariadlet · 09/04/2021 12:52

I'm in mine now, enjoying a cup of tea and struggling with the crossword in the newspaper. It's too cold to use in the Winter but I love it in the Spring and Summer.

corcaithecat · 09/04/2021 13:03

This is similar-ish to mine although the stove was already in the dining room and so we moved it to the outside wall to make use of the existing chimney.

@Misty9. I don’t know how much it would cost on its own because we did quite a bit of work to this house and spent around €150k.

I moved to Ireland from the U.K. and bright spacious sunrooms are quite common over here and you rarely see a glass conservatory.

CoffeeWithCheese · 09/04/2021 13:06

@Dementedswan

Ours has been a godsend this last year. It's now dh office.

This - mine is my study/craft room/woman cave. TV wall mounted in here, my desk and storage for my craft bits and bobs. It's not what I'd have ideally as a place to work (right now I'd consider a moat, piranhas and drawbridge to keep the rest of the family OUT and get me some peace) but it does us OK. I have a radiator in here and put a heated throw over my knees when it gets really cold - and the door tends to be open to the garden most of the summer but it does the job.

We haven't had the money for proper fitted blinds so we have some of the Ikea roman type magnetic blinds which fit the windows up.

Myglueattack · 09/04/2021 13:07

Husband works in there, kids play on there, we have TV and comfy sofa, I like to read in there. We use ours loads.

Original poster

Leavethedooropen · 09/04/2021 13:16

I am imagining myself relaxing with a coffee and a book in the spring/summer and hoping it doesn’t end up just for drying clothes and growing tomatoes or it will be a waste of money!

OP posts:

SnowdaySewday · 09/04/2021 13:33

I don't have one currently, but in a previous house I used the conservatory as my sewing room as it was the brightest room in the house. Also as pp said, a laundry drying and ironing room.

Pupster21 · 09/04/2021 13:34

My parents use theirs as a second sitting room with a sofa and chair in there. They listen to their music and it just feels warmer, brighter and happier than their lounge in summer.

Norugratsatall · 09/04/2021 13:35

When the kids were young, it was their playroom.

Now we have it back as a lovely relaxing (no TV!) room to read in, watch the birds, relax, chat and entertain guests etc.

It's unusable in the depths of winter (unless a sunny day) and the height of summer though (unless a dull day!). Have thought about replacing the roof but we don't plan on being here long term so decided against that.

HouseyHouse21 · 09/04/2021 13:37

We've just moved into a house with one but are planning to knock it down quite soon. At the moment we use it as a (very hot) dining room but it's also great for drying laundry. It's sweltering even on chilly days as it acts as a huge magnifying glass.

EverythingsComingUpRoses · 09/04/2021 13:40

I used to use mine as a playroom and had a sofa in at that point

Now it's a dining room in theory but only really used for big family dinners

Most of the time I dry clothes in there

Geranibum · 09/04/2021 13:43

Mine is south-facing and completely uninsulated and unheated. It's freezing in the winter and boiling in summer but I love it all the same as I'm a gardener, and I use it as a sheltered extension to the garden (rather than as an extension to the house if you see what I mean). I overwinter plants in here, sit in here when it's sunny but a bit too breezy to sit outside, or on a summer evening.

Don't put one on to your house expecting to use it as an extra room, because unless you spend a lot of money on heating, cooling and shading, you'll be disappointed. And whatever you do, don't remove the door between the house and the conservatory because at some times of year you will need to close it off.

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