In the last few months we’ve renovated the living room, the conservatory, and redone the garden. Today I’m sharing pictures from my new conservatory, which is actually old, as it was built before we bought the house, but with a new flooring, coats of paint, a couple of issues sorted, new hinges for the door and the handles. We also have new cupboards instead of the storage sofa we had before. I’m so happy with how it looks now and how useful it is. I don’t have pictures from before, as it wasn’t planed, it just sort of happened. Anyway, if you are curious on how it looked like, you can see pretty much all of it from when I shared pictures with Schrodinger, who was, for a while our feline guest.
The conservatory is quite small, but it gives us a place to enjoy a bit of fresh air when it is either too hot or too cold. With our garden looking amazing, it’s very likely that we will spend a lot of time in the conservatory. In the winter, as I don’t have to go to university and all the courses are online, I can spend time reading there, with a heater or a throw and just enjoy the peace and quiet.
We needed a better storage solution and this is what we came up with. It is the whole length of the conservatory and it is very useful. I keep all sort of things there, from kitchen stuff to a few gardening tools and seeds. The shoe section is great too.
These gorgeous door knobs are handmade, so each of them is slightly different. It’s such a nice feeling when I use them and I know that each one is unique and made by hand.
We’ve had these branches in the conservatory for a few years and they are still looking great. The lights were from Ikea, but they are so old that they are now discontinued or, at least, not on sale at our local store.
They look cute, but they are really good too. They offer enough light for a drink in the conservatory on a lovely evening.
I’m loving the new flooring. It is easy to clean and, despite its shiny appearance, it’s not slippery at all. It was worth the effort to make it.
I have herbs outside, in pots, but I like to have a few herbs in the conservatory too. I plan to have a few more pots in the windowsill, in the kitchen. In the conservatory, at the moment, I have, from left to right: Red Rubin Basil – Chives – Rock Hyssop – Chilli – Broadleaf Thyme – Icterina Sage – Basil. After I took this picture they grew more and I harvested from all of them. Thyme is the one that grows faster, but it is the one I use most anyway. I made pesto twice, cut leaves for salads, and the basil is still big. This is a basil plant from a supermarket, re-potted as soon as I bought it. In its original small plastic pot it would have died after a few days. In this new one, it is growing and producing lots and lots of basil. It’s not only more eco-friendly, but it saves some money as well. The same with chives, these can be found in supermarkets in pots too. It grows very fast, but it can be added to lots of dishes, from salads to soups and stews.
The rest are bought from garden centres, in pots and re-potted. After the initial hassle of moving them to a new pot, their maintenance is quite basic. I need to water them and that’s it. I can also harvest quite often.
On the windowsill in the kitchen I have Citroenmelisse – Lemon Balm. A member of the mint family, it works in all sort of recipes instead of lemon juice or lime juice. The label recommended not to cook the lemon balm through. I’ve used it and it is really nice.
On top of this small table, which we are keeping to use in the conservatory, I have two lovely cardboard boxes which I found in TKMaxx a few years ago. I like them, but they are very useful too. In the big one I have the bags with bird food. The pigeons, starlings, and magpies eat a lot, they go through a bag or two a week. In the small box I have the washing lines, which I keep outside only when I use them. I also have the cloth pegs in a fabric bag.
Festus has his own box of toys, besides the ones he has outside, in the storage underneath the benches. Here are his favourite toys: a bagel Goughnuts [this is the 2nd one, he managed to destroy the one we bought in 2016], a stick Goughnuts [from his 9th birthday, two years ago], and a ball [which is not with us any more, as it suffered a puncture].
This is my new conservatory from outside. I hope you’ve enjoyed the post as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing these pictures.
What a wonderful little room! I’m impressed with your row of herbs. My basil plants outside are past their prime, so I really need to try planting the seeds I have for the fall and winter (inside).
I like the personalized toy box for Festus. We’ve had the same plastic tub for years and someone (or maybe several someones) chewed all the edges.
Thanks for sharing these photos. I love how the room looks!
Thank you. I love the toy box too, it’s so cute and it keeps us tidy.
Your conservatory is lovely. I like the minimalist storage options, the white closets make the space look bigger. The flooring is gorgeous and the branches with lights are lovely. I imagine those lights add to the atmosphere on a lovely quiet night. It’s a great room for sure.
Your plants look lovely. I picked up some basil in the store the other day, it smells so nice.
Thank you very much. The lights are really lovely in the evenings, that’s true.
What a fabulous room. I love the idea of a room that has wonderful light for plants and a spot where you can go when it’s too hot or too cold outdoors but still feel that you are there a bit because of how it opens up. I love your plants (thyme and basil are my favorites — I’d be pretty happy with them in anything!). The cupboards are terrific. Very nice, Anca. How you will enjoy this!
Thyme and basil are very versatile, I’ve been using them a lot lately.