How do I make the most of this conservatory?

[Chopchopbusybusyworkwork]

I have a conservatory on the back of my house, it’s an ancient dark brown aluminium monstrosity. It leaks a bit in the winter (not from the top or around the glass/doors- there is a small two-brick high wall at the bottom and water seeps in through there) and the floor is tiled.

Also has lots of odd little hidey holes/ledges so the spiders webs are unbelievable. Think Miss Havershams dining room, even after a fortnight following a thorough clean and de-scuzz.

It currently has a white 4x4 ikea Kallax unit with boxes, a brown leather 2 seater sofa and a large wicker toy basket. It just looks so, so shit.

I can’t afford to replace it, or to dismantle it and make the footprint good. Any ideas on what I can do to make it usable or at least not shit?!

could you possibly share some pics?

It’s very much like this but dark brown, and the double doors are on the front not the side (single door is in the same place)

I would only think to do what you’ve already done, and make a nice little ‘snug’ from it. Sorry I know that’s not helpful. Could you put a bookshelf in there or a desk, and make a bit of a peaceful study spce

I’d string some lights up.

What about giving in to the whole nature/spider thing and just grow things in it - tomatoes etc? Treat it like a green house?

I worry that stringling lights up will just make it harder to clean! It would look good though. A few plants might make it nicer- but maybe more spidery too 🙈

Honestly it’s just a hovel and makes me so deflated when I look at it.

Could it be painted white inside? Might it brighten it up a bit.

Have you got any money to spend on it at all? I think you could make it ok tbh. Conservatories are notoriously bug graveyards and spider houses, you just need to deal with it every now and then.

I’d use that clear sealant stuff where the bricks leak.

Put a sail shade up internally if it gets too hot - or two. Like this but you can get them cheaply.

Put a rug down, doesn’t have to be expensive.

Fairy lights or nice lighting, nice cushions.

Sail shades

Sealant

Basically, I’d do lots of neutrals and textures to lighten everything, so cream/natural sail shades, natural rug (washable if necessary) and cushions.

Laminate wooden flooring on top of the tiles would give it a lift.

If its a long term addition to your home, plastering the internal brick and painting it in a neutral colour would brighten it up.

It seems like with all the insects and water coming it it's wanting to be an outside place more than inside. Can you go with that and put in an outdoor rug and garden furniture, some plants perhaps with fairy lights in the plants. You could put trellis on the internal walls with a pot underneath and grow something up it.

If you are thinking of selling the house any time soon I would definitely not plaster and/or paint the back of your house. I'm looking to buy and keep seeing houses with terrible old conservatories which I'd like to take down. That would be ok, but where they've rendered and painted the wall that will leave an odd patch on the back of the house which will be expensive and difficult to get deal with.

Depending on where it is can you make it into a dining area rather than a sitting are? Go with a botanical theme like a Victorian glass house. I have a whole Pinterest board of these so am actually quite envious, this article has a few images of the kind of thing I mean...http://frommoontomoon.blogspot.com/2016/04/green-house-garden-room-dining.html?m=1

Some plants will really cheer it up.

Thanks for the plants ideas- like the look of the Pinterest links and pics! I

Id get rid of the brown leather sofa and Kallax boxes that make it sound like a 1990s student flat. Sell them on gumtree and buy some cheap garden furniture ( or quality stuff if you can afford it but they are not cheap ) .

Cover with some cheap garden cushions and throws ( try Matalan, Primark, Ikea , Asda and Dunelm ). Don’t use anything expensive as it will get faded quickly with the sun and sprayed with water from the plants.

Get some cheap old fashioned looking prints in frames from your local charity shop and put up on the wall. You might need a masonery bit to drill holes for nails. they look better in a group.

Keeping to a loose colour scheme for your soft furnishings makes it look more coordinated. Go for something traditional like pastels or neutrals.

Get an indoor / outdoor rug to cover tiles . This also helps with the acoustics.

Add fairy lights or other small lights , candles if you have no kids .

Lots of REAL plants - keep well watered if it’s hot and mist with water . I buy old fashioned wooden Side tables on gumtree - people will sell them off for a fiver if they are damaged on the top . I use rattan mats or washable table cloths to cover the damaged tops and cover with plants / old magazines / random ornaments that don’t mind the heat / light / damp .

Accept that is more more outdoors than indoors and yes there will be some spiders and bugs and that you will need to vacuum more often.

I’d also get really nice plants, lots of big tall ones floor standing ones like palms, small ones, medium ones, etc, different varieties. And I’d string up fairy lights

then if I could afford it I’d change the sofa, if not, I’d add lots of lovely cushions, palm prints, creams, blush pinks, some throws, and a little table with candles on.

Another vote for growing things, tomatoes are obvious but you could have herbs and other veg.

It only takes 10 mins for a spider to spin a web so it doesnt matter how much or thoroughly you clean, you'll still have them.

Our conservatory is very small, but in it I have a white fabric sofa, wingback arm chair with white throw, and small wooden arm chair with a striped bedspread as a throw. Lots of white cushions, striped. I have a big jute/sizal (cant remember which is which) rug which I cut so that it covers all of the floor. A couple of footstalls. We use it all year round but it is north facing so we have a small radiator tucked behind the sofa.

I have jute/sizal runners running across the rug to the door way as this is where the rug would see the most traffic.

We have side tables with lamps.

Because of the colours, its light and bright, the best room the house. Gets lots of spider webs etc and because the furniture is all white(ish) it doesnt matter that there is bleaching from the sun

First of all you need a tube of sealant to block up all the spidery cracks and holes. I have a similar problem and I blocked it all up and its been much better.

And much less mouldy too!

You can even get ready made interior plaster in a tub and a quick sweep over the cracks will make it look quite nice. Paint and voila. (I used this stuff to even out the kitchen wall. I applied it with an old spatula 😂)

Twinkly bulb lights, an outdoor rug on the floor (nice for conservatories!)

You can paint the frame with UPVC metal paint. I painted ours and it looks quite pretty & is much more usable 😊

You should be able to stop the leak with beading and silicone outside and in. If you want to grow lots of plants you will need to shade the roof as it will get too hot and bright for almost anything. You can do this with net curtains if you can’t afford ( very expensive ) blinds. As it is metal you won’t be able to attach them to the frame, you will need a rod or curtain wires to hold them . I have done this, and we had led fairy lights behind the fabric , it looked really exotic at night.

you could use voile which would be more upmarket, but net will be much easier to work with.

I also had cutwork panels on the sides, Jali made them but you could use small gauge trellis if that would be more in budget. That stopped the glass box feeling.

I'd ask friends to help me dismantle it. Take the 'remains' to the tip. No real cost involved. Unless you really want a greenhouse heating up the main house in summer???

I have one of these and I’ve made it into a garden room, got a wicker garden rocking chair, a big neutral outdoor rug and strawberry planters as well as a couple of fruit trees with some solar lights around the top and a big wicker solar light, it’s actually a lovely place to sit in the evening!

I would hand calico on one side, and have neutrals, a big (possibly fake) but looks very real to break up the square ness of it

I love sitting in mine too. Especially when it rains. It's so soothing!

https://www.sun-x.co.uk/

This stuff is amazing if it gets too hot, or too cold in Winter

Surely you can seal it so water/bugs can’t get in? Then, make it into the dining area with greenery as someone above has suggested. That will free up the current dining space in the house.