Conservatory design: a modern and elegant house extension

Creating a modern home extension : anything is possible

The conservatory has evolved into much more than just a poorly insulated, traditionally styled add-on to the house and today this extension can be laid out as a living room, a sunroom, an office or even a bedroom. Designed to be flooded with light and to open out onto the garden or terrace, the conservatory is a room in its own right to house a host of projects. This living space can be styled and decorated as you see fit to create a bucolic, bohemian or contemporary mood, adding a touch of character to any house. A conservatory is real architectural feature that creates a space to rival any project, whether pushing back the walls or raising the roof.

It is a wonderful way of creating a kitchen that opens out onto the garden for sublime indoor-outdoor meals. A conservatory is also the ideal candidate for a welcoming sunroom that invites you to curl up and relax on XXL cushions. This additional room can be transformed according to your wishes and needs. It is also a natural environment for an office, with the view over the outside terrace providing inspiration during those long working days. Or this house extension can be devoted entirely to pleasure, a living room fit for get-togethers and parties with family and friends.

Building a designer conservatory: high-quality materials make a difference

The designer conservatory is suitable for all projects. Once the ideas have been thrashed out and the plans drawn up, the next step is to pick the right materials. Depending on the purpose of the extension, various options are available: an extension partially made from wood or even masonry walls.  Some materials provide better thermal and sound insulation, while others allow for more privacy.

If your conservatory project is intended as a living room or kitchen that opens out onto the outside, aluminium stands out as the ideal high-end material. It offers great flexibility in the design of the extension and lets in light thanks to its narrow profiles. Aluminium structures can easily be fitted with sliding doors, allowing the windows to be opened completely. The interior then merges with the exterior. The modern wooden conservatory is a nod to mountain chalets where comfort and authenticity prevail. This type of extension is the perfect match for a more modern interior. The idea is to play with different styles to make this room unique, adding fully retractable blinds to influence the light for example.

The size of this new room open to the outside will also depend on its function. For a bedroom, standard volumes are sufficient. If the idea is to create an extension to the house with a sense of grandeur, the volumes can be doubled, as can the surface area of the glass sections.

The roof chosen for a conservatory influences the style you want to give it. There are a number of possibilities, whether a sloping roof or a flat roof. The designer conservatory plays on volumes with a fully customisable ceiling height. For more light, a sloping roof with a high window is ideal. This configuration offers a real feeling of well-being and grandeur.

Inspiration from outdoor living trends

The conservatory can also be designed in line with the hygge movement. A concept that comes to us from Denmark, hygge is both a way of life and a trend that puts the emphasis on creating a cosy atmosphere of simplicity and well-being. Designing a conservatory that follow this concept is therefore very simple, with cushions in cream tones and geometric lines. The furniture is very modern and made from a combination of steel and wood. Lush green plants can also be arranged or hung to perfectly round off this furnishing style.

To find ideas for conservatory design and layout and to get a feel for the styles available for creating a contemporary or more traditional conservatory, there is no better way than working your way through the showrooms and their displays.

The conservatory models on display in the showrooms in Belgium

Based in Wallonia, Veranclassic has the largest covered showroom in Belgium. Here, future conservatory owners can discover around fifty models of conservatories, pergolas and pool houses. Browsing the 3,000 m2 of exhibition space makes it easier to choose the right style and volume for a house extension that fits in perfectly with the existing architecture.

In Tournai, the Verandair showroom also allows you to see the various conservatories available for installation in real size. It is the perfect place to touch the materials and imagine the layout of a future conservatory or pergola.

Pouleyn, located near Kortrijk, also offers luxury conservatories in which the traditional is perfectly combined with the modern. The conservatories designed in this way play on the glass elements, offering a magnificent view of the garden or terrace and resulting in magnificent and authentic house extensions.

Sunrooms also come to life with products from the Belgian brand Skylux. This light-flooded additional space becomes an oasis of comfort.

Garden furniture that connects the inside of a house with the outside

Once you have chosen a conservatory model or drawn up a plan for a custom-made conservatory, you need to find ideas for its interior fittings. The outdoor living trends are the perfect source of inspiration for creating a space opening out onto the garden.

Roda has created Italian-style designer garden furniture made from premium materials. Their aim is to transform outdoor spaces into places of relaxation surrounded by greenery. The outdoor area becomes a harmonious extension of the indoor living space.

The Suar sofa by Italian designers Camilla Lapucci and Lapo Bianchi Luci for Il Giardino di Legno, transforms a conservatory into a relaxing and convivial space. Its structure in fine sanded teak wood makes it particularly resistant and lends it an authentic style.

The garden furniture by the design duo Yabu Pushelberg is the perfect way to blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors. The Nodi sofa designed for Tribù is made of stainless steel and is upholstered with the eco-responsible Canax weave (a mixture of hemp and synthetic fibres), which turns a modern conservatory into a cosy cocoon.

Some Italian brands known for their interior furniture also offer outdoor collections that are perfect to furnish a conservatory. This is the case with Minotti‘s Indiana line, made of solid iroko and finished by hand. It consists of a variety of matching elements: sofas, loungers, footstools and small tables.

Andrea Parisio, designer of the Meridiani brand, plays with high-quality materials and shapes to offer furniture that divinely dresses up indoor or outdoor spaces. The open air elements such as the Noa lounge bed, the Zoe armchairs and small sofas are inspired by the mooring ropes found on pleasure boats.

The outdoor collection from the Italian Flexform makes a point of relaying the sophisticated style traits already present in its interior designer furnishings. The elegance and comfort of their outdoor furniture are coupled with a robust design. The brand offers qualitative and durable products.

Nature then invites itself into the house extension with the addition of plants of different sizes. Decorative planters from the Italian brand Talenti complete this green incursion and create a living or relaxation space.

The play of light in a conservatory design can either warm or cool the atmosphere of a room. Outdoor lighting from Flos and Royal Botania adds an elegant and contemporary touch to a house extension.

The conservatory thus becomes part of an interior design that blends in with the exterior. This modern extension is a bright architectural feature that brings out your creativity while bringing in the light.