Conservatory Ideas for Every Kind of Home

The best conservatory ideas start with two decisions: what the room is for, and what the house is asking for. A Victorian conservatory with a faceted bay suits a period house and a dining table; a flat-roofed modern conservatory with a full wall of sliding glass suits a contemporary kitchen extension. Choose the use first, then the style, and the details tend to choose themselves.

Below are the ideas we return to most often when designing luxury conservatories, grouped by architectural style and then by what the room will do.

Which conservatory style suits your house?

Victorian. A bay with three or five facets, a steeply pitched roof, cresting and finials. It suits houses with bays and detail of their own, and the faceted end makes a natural place for a round table. Our Victorian conservatories follow the original proportions.

Georgian. Symmetry, restraint, a rectangular plan and a hipped roof. It suits square-fronted houses and farmhouses, and it is the easiest period style to furnish.

Edwardian. A square or rectangular footprint that uses every square metre, with slightly more decoration than the Georgian. The practical period style.

Modern. Slim aluminium frames, a flat or shallow roof and sliding or bifolding doors across the garden. The light is the feature. Our modern conservatories are designed around frame depth, roof form and glass.

Dome. A circular or octagonal plan rising to a glazed dome, the most architectural style. Our dome conservatories are designed as one-off structures.

Winter garden. An insulated aluminium glass room specified like an extension, for use in every month.

Conservatory ideas by what the room will be used for

A kitchen conservatory. The most valuable use of a conservatory is to open up a kitchen. Put the working kitchen against the solid house wall, the island or table in the glazed part, and the doors across the garden. A lantern or a glazed roof brings light down onto the worktop. Underfloor heating is close to essential, because a kitchen is used at seven in the morning in January as well as on summer evenings.

A dining room. A faceted Victorian bay or a Georgian rectangle takes a table for eight comfortably. Keep the floor solid and warm, plan the lighting for evenings and choose glazing that stops the room overheating on a June afternoon.

A garden lounge. The room most people picture: sofas, a low table, a view. Orientation matters here more than anywhere. A south-facing lounge needs solar control glass and shading; a north-facing one needs the roof to carry as much glass as it can and the heating to be designed rather than assumed.

A study or studio. A conservatory is a fine place to work if glare is managed. Position the desk side-on to the main glazing, use blinds in the roof and consider a solid section of roof over the desk itself. A winter garden specification is the right one for a room used all day.

A link. A glazed link between the house and a garage, an annexe or a garden building is one of the least obvious and most rewarding uses of conservatory construction. It turns two buildings into one and adds a corridor full of light.

An orangery instead. If the ideas keep leading towards brick piers, a lantern and a room that feels like part of the house, the answer may be an orangery.

Modern conservatory ideas that change how the room feels

A handful of design moves make the difference between a conservatory that is used and one that is admired from the kitchen.

Bring the floor level through from the house with no step. It makes the conservatory part of the home rather than a room you go out to.

Run the same floor finish inside and out, with a level threshold at the doors, so the paving continues the room into the garden.

Put the roof glass where the sky is and solid where the sun is. A part-solid roof with a lantern gives shade over the seating and light over the table.

Use one large pane rather than several small ones in the garden elevation. Slim frames and large glass are what make a modern conservatory look calm.

Light it in layers: low-level lighting in the floor or plinth, concealed strips in the roof structure, and a single pendant over the table. Conservatories lit only from the ceiling look like greenhouses at night.

Interior, colour and flooring ideas

Frame colour. A heritage green, grey or off-white on a hardwood frame ties a period conservatory to the house; anthracite or black aluminium frames the view on a modern one. Match the frame colour to the house's windows unless the conservatory is meant to contrast.

Flooring. Porcelain tile or natural stone over underfloor heating is the most practical choice, and running the same tile outside makes the terrace part of the room. Engineered wood gives a warmer look.

Furniture. Keep it low and light so the glazing stays the feature. Our guide to how to furnish a conservatory covers layouts and materials.

Blinds. Pleated roof blinds or solar control glass stop the room overheating; perfect-fit blinds suit doors and opening windows.

Plants. Citrus, olive and climbing jasmine are the conservatory's original residents and still the best.

Small conservatory ideas

A small conservatory has one job: to make a small house feel larger. A lean to conservatory or compact Georgian plan, doors that fold fully back and a floor that continues outside do most of the work.

Period conservatory ideas for older houses

On a listed or older house, the conservatory should look as though it could always have been there. Hardwood frames painted in a heritage colour, a base of matching brick or stone, a roof pitch that follows the house and glazing bars that respect its window proportions. Decoration should be taken from the house rather than from a catalogue: a finial that echoes the gable, cresting only if the house has ornament of its own. Our guide to period conservatory design goes into the detail.

Conservatory ideas questions, answered

What is the most popular conservatory style?

Victorian and modern styles are the most requested. Victorian for houses with period detail and for clients who want a room with a distinct character; modern for kitchen extensions and for houses where the addition should be quiet and the light should be the point.

How do you make a conservatory look expensive?

Fewer, larger panes of glass, slim frames, a floor that runs through from the house, a level threshold to the garden and layered lighting. Ornament adds cost but not necessarily quality; proportion and detail do.

Should a conservatory match the house or contrast with it?

Either works when it is done deliberately. A period house usually suits a matching hardwood conservatory; a contemporary aluminium addition can also succeed on a period house if it is clearly of its own time and does not try to imitate. What fails is the middle ground.

Is a conservatory still a good idea?

Yes, when it is designed as a room rather than a bolt-on. A modern hardwood or aluminium conservatory with proper glazing, heating and shading is used every day of the year.

Talk to our design team

Most of the ideas above start life as a sketch on a site visit, looking at where the sun goes and how the house is used. That conversation is where we would suggest starting, and you can talk to us about your project whenever the ideas feel ready to become a plan.