The conservatory has long-since been the sanctuary of many homes. It’s on the ground floor, never too far from the living room, yet it’s looking out into the garden and under the sky. It’s one heck of a relaxation pad, as you can style it any way you want to. We have found that conservatories are often misunderstood. They’re not just for your grandpa to relax in and listen to his old jazz records. In winter, it’s a place where the whole family can sit, enjoy watching the snowfall and yet, be efficiently warm and cosy. But how do you style it to be this way?
Area rugs galore
Conservatories usually have hard floors because they have plumbing running underneath or they are rugged. The latter is because it’s a transition zone for outside to inside, so expect people to bring in the mud and dirt! But you can roll out an area rug for the winter and make the floor nice and soft. We believe that woollen area rugs would be sublime for your conservatory. There are three types of wool you can choose from.
- Merino wool. This comes from sheep that are in Spain. The wool is often seen as the softest of all and very luxurious. Merino wool is great for a medium-thickness rug.
- Highland wool. It’s coarse, rugged and very, very warm! This kind of wool is taken from sheep in North Scotland. The sheep here have to put up with -5 or just above freezing temperatures for 4-6 months out of the year. It would be suitable for a heavy area rug.
- Lamb’s wool. Very soft and very thin. This is recommended for a conservatory with great heating and insulation. You don’t want the room to be too hot so have a nice simple, soft and smooth lamb’s wool rug instead.
Stylish shading
Conservatories are naturally much brighter than any other part of the house. They have lots of windows and thus, natural light penetrates the entire room. But rather than fitting curtains to your space, consider conservatory blinds instead. For one thing, they are highly adaptable, as you can set the height and choose how much light you want into the room. Secondly, they are very closely fitted so they can trap heat into the room. If you draw half of the blinds down, you can control the temperatures in the room a little better. The SmartFit blinds are a key example of this. You can select lots of colors and styles to fit your needs too.
Sofa pillows and pouffe
A conservatory is best used as a lounge room. And any grey lounge needs to have many sofa pillows. Consider getting duck down pillows, which are soft, smooth and they give you a lot of support. You can also have a pouffe for your footrest option. It’s stuffed with wool and can be adapted to give you just enough support without being too rigid like an Ottoman can be.
Conservatories in the winter need a little help to maintain their warm ambient temperature. With a good woollen area rug, you should be fine. Blinds and pillows help a lot to increase the comfort and style of your conservatory too.