Conservatories have long been used as garden rooms, allowing homeowners to stay warm inside while enjoying the view of their outdoor space. However, with space at a premium these days, many people are making the most out of their additional space.
Here are just some ideas of what you could use your traditional conservatory for in a family home, at a time when buying a bigger property may be out of reach.
Reception room
Even though house prices are starting to decline, the average cost of a home in the UK is still as high as £281,684, after years of escalating. What’s more, mortgage rates have remained high and lenders are being cautious about offering mortgages, making it difficult to get on, or climb, the property ladder.
Consequently, homeowners may find themselves unable to purchase a bigger house. To help boost their deposit, they could turn their orangery into the main reception room and let out their living room to a lodger.
Alternatively, transforming their lounge into an extra bedroom could help an adult child, who has had to move back so they can save money to get on the housing market themselves.
Family room
For parents with younger children, it is important to have a space where you can all be together. Often, mums and dads spend most of their time in the kitchen, which means they aren’t able to watch their kids if they are in the living room or their bedrooms.
However, by transforming the conservatory into a playroom or family room, this helps keep the youngsters nearby so you can either keep an eye on them or take the opportunity to chat about their day.
Use the playroom to store all the toys and fancy dress or, for older children, get a dart board or football table so they can hang out with their mates near you.
Snug
There’ll come a day when children will stay awake for just as long as you do, in which case, you can’t send them to bed so you can catch up on your favourite soaps or films. But if you don’t fancy watching the same things as your teenagers, it is helpful to have a second TV room.
Furnish the orangery with a comfy sofa and TV, so they can chill out with their friends there and you can both watch what you fancy. This is a great idea if you aren’t keen on getting TVs for the kids’ bedrooms and means you can still have a chat with them in between programmes.
You could even make it a regular thing to invite their friends around, get some pizza or make a big bowl of popcorn and put a movie on. That way they can have fun with their pals without getting up to mischief on a night out.
Homework space
Everyone is turning spare rooms into home offices at the moment, but it is also important to have somewhere peaceful and quiet for children to do their homework. So, why not make it a homework zone for your kids?
Instead of sending them to their rooms to study, where they will easily be distracted, they can hit the books downstairs. It also creates a distinction between their work and relaxing space, so they can truly unwind when they go to bed at night.