How To Make Your Conservatory A Perfect Summer Venue

We’re not long into summer, but already we have had the hottest day of the year so far, which, hopefully, bodes well for the weeks that lie ahead, seeing as most of us will be spending it at home. 

Get the suntan lotion splashed on when it’s cracking the flags outside, but when rain strikes, make a hasty retreat into your conservatory or orangery. 

There will be a fat chance of that option for some extension owners though if their home extension is poorly set up for summer and time spent in its confines when it’s warm just leaves them a sweaty mess. 

Overheating is a common issue in conservatories with very traditional glass and polycarbonate roofs, but there is a solution to that – solid roofs. 

Taking the UltraRoof 380 as an example, one of several solid roof products. 

This lightweight solid tiled roof, with built-in, glazed panels, can be custom-made to take the place of existing glass and polycarbonate roofs, and will deliver the precise thermal efficiency a conservatory needs in all weathers. 

Solid roofs are so lightweight, that original windows and doors can often be kept. However, you may want them replaced if they provide minimal thermal efficiency. 

Happy to keep your windows and doors in the event of adding a solid roof, but sometimes get too much warmth coming through them? Buy yourself some Venetian, Roller or Pleated Blinds to shut out the sun. 

To make any hasty retreat into your extension easy, have French, patio or bi-folding doors incorporated into a facet of the structure that connects it to your garden. Any of these doors will also come in useful for when you want an opening to allow a breeze to blow into the space. 

Are you a real garden-lover? You won’t be too disheartened when the rains falls in summer and you can’t use it if you have some greenery in the extension. 

Courtesy of Gardeners’ World Magazine, here’s their countdown of what they believe to be the 10 best conservatory plants:

• Mandevilla

• Bougainvillea

• Hoya

• Plumbago

• Sarracenia

• Lapageria

• Strelitzia

• Hymenocallis

• Aristolochia

• Cacti and succulents

We would also temporarily remove any thick textures from the conservatory until winter and put down lighter, thinner, floral-patterned coverings on any seated areas you have. 

If we can offer any more advice on making your conservatory or orangery summer-ready, you could have a Private Appointment in our showroom with an Orion consultant.